This woody mediterranean shrub has been used for thousands of years to improve memory, relieve aches and pains in our muscles and to soothe our digestive system when drunk in tea form. And, as it has wonderful antiseptic qualities too it is a very useful ingredient in skin and haircare. This herb and essential oil seems to be ticking all my boxes at the moment so I am all over rosemary essential oil right now and you may find it helpful for you too so keep reading to the bottom for ways to incorporate it into your day.
As it is exam season, not only for my kids but for me too, and we are all finding it hard to sit down for long stretches to focus on our studies, I have been trying to find natural ways to help improve our memory and concentration at this busy time. Lets face it, if my teenage kids brains are frazzled from all that synapse activity then my poor brain cells are well and truly groaning and stretched to capacity on a daily basis at the moment with my studies. I wonder if any of you lovelies out there are having the same trouble too ?.
When I started researching this fantastic herb particularly in essential oil form, I discovered to my surprise that greek scholars were using it thousands of years ago so, it was pretty clear in my mind that we really don’t need to question the evidence and that Rosemary Oil is a bit of a winner, I mean those greeks were mighty bright weren’t they. Rosemary is sited as being an excellent enhancer of performance in the quality of our memory and helps to keep us more alert (useful when we are sat studying for hours on end..). And, as the aroma fills us with a feeling of contentment when we smell it that goes a long way in helping with the usual angst and stress around exam time too.
Here are some simple ways to take Rosemary as a natural remedy:-
For a herbal tea:- Simply steeped a fresh spring of rosemary in your mug or teapot for five minutes to gain all
the benefits, leaving it brewing longer only creates a bitter taste and doesn’t increase the medicinal benefits.
To make a simple pulse point oil:- Put a few drops of Rosemary Essential Oil into your preferred carrier oil (almond oil is great for this). I just use a 2.5ml sample bottle (see photo), fill it with almond oil and then add several drops of the rosemary oil into it. Start with a few drops, you can always add more if you wish but this essential oil is very strong so go easy to begin with. I then dab this on my wrists or on my temples, it is also great on a tissue to smell or on your bed pillow too to aid memory whilst you are sleeping – great for those cramming late into the night.
To make a body rub for sore muscles:- You can mix 3 drops of your Rosemary Oil with 2 drops of Peppermint Oil and a teaspoon of coconut oil and rub in to you aching muscles.
Just as an aside rosemary is wonderfully detoxifying to our digestive systems and it is thought to help lower cortisol levels and can stimulate our circulation to banish that weak at the knees feeling when we feel light headed too which I will touch on another time but as this is such a versatile herb its well worth trying to incorporate it into your daily life.
And as I have had Rosemary on the brain of late, the wonderful aroma of our fresh rosemary bushes out in the garden with there vibrant green new growth drew me to them last weekend when I was throwing lunch together. It got me to thinking that if the rosemary sprigs were so good for us, how about the flowers too. After trying them and then checking in my trusty herbal book that I was not about to poison myself, much to my delight I found that you can indeed eat rosemary flowers and they have a delicate taste with all the medicinal benefits too.
So I made this lovely fresh spring salad to go with our bbq meats and I will pop that up on my recipe section of the website when I can figure out how to do that…… so please bare with me as I learn how to do all these bits and pieces online as my knowledge of web building is on a steep learning curve right now !!
Asparagus, snap pea and rosemary flower salad Thats me making a pot of rosemary tea
Have a fantastic weekend. xo