Essential Oils: My First Experience

The air was humid and hot. Ancient pecan trees provided highly sought after shade from the summer sun. Sweat dripped down the cheeks of four young children as they played baseball in their grandparent's back yard. The smell of dirt and sweat,  and the sight of grass stains gave life to the unspoken camaraderie among the four cousins. Although vastly different in personalities and ambitions, the great American pastime of baseball proved once again to bring individuals together in sportsmanship and fun.

That hot summer in Houston was my last great attempt at anything remotely athletic. Both of my cousins are athletic people. My brother and I are not. But playing baseball builds character, right?

Houston summer afternoons have a way of leaving your skin pink. As soon as we stepped inside my Grandma's kitchen I knew I was sunburned. The cool air inside was intensified by the hotness of my burned skin, and although my skin was warm, I remember instantly feeling goosebumps on my arms. I was sunburned.
 
My grandma is a practical woman. Upon noticing my newly pink skin she went to the aloe vera plant on her back porch and broke off a stem. She rubbed that aloe vera stem all over my arms, neck, and face. I remember my skin being sticky. But the soothing sensation of the aloe vera was worth it.

That was my first experience with essential oils. The nectar inside that aloe vera plant, the soothing juicy stuff that left my skin feeling soothed, that's essential oil! It is the life blood of the plant. It nourishes and protects the plant just like blood protects and provides life-giving nourishment for us.

 

  
Try this at home: Squeeze the peel of a ripe orange. The fragrant residue on your hand is full of essential oils.

Or you can pick a leaf off a tree and tear the leaf. You will see a little liquid drip out of the vein  of the leaf - that is the essential oil of the plant, it is the Immune System of the plant. These little drops of oil have powerful healing properties and they are very compatible with the human body!

I bet you have a testimony about essential oils. Tell me about it!