five sixteenths blog: How to Expertly Blend Essential Oils // Fall Edition

Today marks the Autumn Eqiunox. During each equinox - one in the spring & one in the fall - the length of the day and of the night are nearly equal. It officially marks movement into fall and gives you the proper permission to wear those boots you've been wearing since September first. And you can officially hang your fall wreaths and sneak in Halloween decorations (don't worry, I do it to!) If you'd like to get a little woo woo, this day also marks the start of Mabon one of three harvest holidays of the Wheel of the Year. This holiday asks us to make time to express gratitude & observe balance (as night and day are nearly equal). Since this is a harvest time, we can celebrate our successes or reap what we have sown through the past year. We can also reflect up on what hasn't worked for us - what crops, ideas, or projects may have fallen short.

Ultimately this time is a great big full moon. If you follow along with the lunar cycles the New Moon (Spring) is a time for setting intentions, the First Quarter Moon (Summer) is a time for action, the Full Moon (Fall) is a time for gratitude and realization, and the Last Quarter Moon (Winter) is a time for reflecting & releasing. Mabon marks the realization phase where we can celebrate the accomplishments towards our intentions or goals of the year. Kinda like a check in with our resolutions.

You may be wondering why I'm throwing some woo woo into this blog post (or woo woo into this blog in general). I've found that honoring cycles to be the best thing for my mental clarity right now. Since mindful has been my word of the year, I've connected so deeply to it. Mindfulness is being aware. Connecting to this word has made me realize that there are cycles to everything. I mainly focused on this word in order to get a hold on my emotions and to swing fluidly through their cycles instead of getting overwhelmed and lashing out. I want to experience and express the full range of emotions I am capable of feeling in a controlled, mindful manner. I've realized there are cycles to this range of emotions. Stress and overwhelm at my job, if not dealt with head on, will result in a manic uncontrollable episode where I am unable to control what I am feeling & end up exploding and running to the bathroom in tears. This has happened multiple times. The lighter emotions I can deal with, it's the cycle of the darker ones that I have trouble with. So working with these cycles has become important to me it just so happens that there are already naturally occurring cycles - the moon phases, for example, as well as the seasons - that I can work with in this personal growth. It just so happens that these cycles happen to fall into a traditionally woo woo area. So this is the woo woo I bring into the blog because I believe this woo woo can help us all in our personal growth to our highest good. Now onto the real meat of this post....essential oil blends!

Essential Oils for this Season

The best type of oils to work with during this season are ones that bring warmth, are grounding, & are uplifting. Spicy & herbaceous oils like cinnamon, clove, basil & oregano will bring in warmth. Grounding oils like root, wood and tree oils - cedarwood, vetiver, and fir oils - will connect you to the earth. And citrus oils are uplifting, so mix in something soft & bright, like orange. These are all the types of oils you can mix and match this season.

Warm Oils

There are several oils that are considered 'warm'. This is for a multitude of reasons, but we're going to focus on two primary reasons - they can physically feel warming to the touch or their scent can evoke a sense of warming. This is most commonly associated with spicy oils like cinnamon or clove, but can also extend to herbaceous oils like oregano. Since we're going to diffuse these oils, we're not too concerned with a skin reaction here. But be sure to use essential oils safely when applying them topically.

Diffusing different oils will have different emotional effects:

Spicy oils are known to affect the Sacral Chakra and evoke or balance energies associated with this center. Spicy oils give connect us to our sense of self & our sense of empowerment and help us feel supported and protected in our community. The Sacral Chakra has both to do with our relationship with ourselves and our relationship with others. The spicy oils I like to use are the On Guard blend, Cinnamon, Frankincense, Ginger, & Clove.

Herbaceous oils connect with our Heart Chakras and evoke or balance energies associated with this center of love, kindness, & forgiveness. Oils like Basil and Oregano are oils of emotion & contentedness. Something I love to think about with these types of oils is that they come from herbs that we use to cook. When cooking we're infusing our love & caring into the meal. These are oils of nourishment and work great with the idea of harvesting crops.

Grounding Oils

These oils are made from roots & trees. Because these oils are harvested from trees & roots, the emotional association is grounding, balance, and support. Grounding oils connect with the Root Chakra. This center connects us to the basic needs for life, it connects us to the earth. Perfect for this season where we grow fond of the changing leaves and walks in nature. Oils in this category for this season are Cedarwood, Vetiver, and Douglas Fir.

Uplifting Oils

Most citrus oils are bright & uplifting. Uplifting oils connect with our Solar Plexus Chakra to bring a feeling of happiness to us. They bring spontaneity, excitement, and creativity to us. Warm, uplifting oils to use this season are Wild Orange, Kumquat, Tangerine, & Citrus Bliss.

Blending Essential Oils

Diffuser blends are rather easy to create & the best ones come from a bit of experimentation! A blend of 3 oils is best to begin with, and honestly the simplest blends often work the most effectively. To start, choose 2-3 oils (one from each category) and unscrew the caps. Hold the bottles towards your nose and move them around so that you're inhaling a blend of each of the scents. You may find that two of the scents blend well together while the third may make the whole blend seem off. You may choose to stick with just those two, or keep subbing in a different third oil until you find a blend that smells divine. You may want to make a note of the blends you like so you can refer to them later.

When it comes to adding the oils to your diffuser start off with 2 drops of each oil. If you want one scent to be more powerful, add more drops. If a scent is too powerful, reduce the number of drops. For example, I love Douglas Fir but I find the scent can be overwhelming so perhaps starting with one drop is better. I find this same effect with Oregano. Be sure to record how many drops you've used so that you can recreate your blend in the future.

Another tip when creating blends is to think about the emotions you'd like to align with & how you personally identify with each oil. I've generalized the oil groupings here in this post, but you can use this as a base to research the emotional associations with each oil. Or you can throw that all out of the window and go with your gut! The later is my favorite way to work with oils!

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Feel free to add in any other oils you feel called to add when creating these blends. Cypress, Peppermint, Juniper Berry, & Myrrh are great oils to add into this season. I get my oils from Doterra to ensure they are of high quality. If you'd like to learn more about getting started with the spiritual & emotional ways essential oils can enhance your life, I'd love to talk to you! We can even get you set up with a Wholesale Account so that you can start to save some moolah on your essential oils! If you're just looking to dip your toes in the water. join the email list below and grab your free copy of the ebook Getting Started with Essential Oils - Practical & Spiritual Uses.

Even if you only get a wonderfully scented home from this post, that's enough for me! My goal is to share with you how essential oils can enhance your life....your job is to take that info and make it your own! If you'd like to find more essential oil posts on the blog, find the articles here. And don't forget to join the Five Sixteenths Blog | Live Creatively group on Facebook for more creative inspiration + some other fall blends!

xoxo, Moe