COLDS AND FLU
Many essences can be used to fight the common cold virus. Even lavender alone is good. My mother (who is now in her eighties) called me once a few years ago to say that she had a very bad cold and was worried that she might have to cancel her holiday (booked for one week's time). I told her to rub lavender oil under her jawbone, down the sides of the neck, on the muscles of the shoulders, and across the upper chest.

She rang again two days later to say that she was very much better, and that the pain in her shoulders (which was like a dull ache) had been eased as soon as the lavender was applied.

Here, it is safe to use the oil neat on the skin (unless of course, you have hypersensitive skin).

By using the essences in massage and in the bath, as is most popular in the UK and USA, we are helping our bodies to let go of stress and tension, both of which interfere with our appreciation of life. Too much stress will also lower our immune systems, making us more prone to illnesses.

I had not suffered from a cold for almost two years, until the week before I was due to fly around the world on business. The week before my intended departure, I developed a heavy cold, and as I had a meeting, which involved waiting for trains and taxis, by the time I arrived back home I was feeling pretty rotten. My symptoms were a very sore head, painful sinuses, and a very runny nose. My neck felt quite stiff, and my throat was sore. Determined not to 'get ill', and as I was too busy to take to my bed for a day, I set to work with my essences. Lavender was rubbed into my neck and the base of my skull, and across the sinuses. Sandalwood was massaged under the jawbone (where there are lymph nodes), and internally I took three drops of lemon oil on a little brown sugar. At night I put a drop of myrtle oil on a tissue, and went to sleep with this across my nose and mouth, so that I was inhaling the vapours.

The next day I repeated the procedure, whilst working as normal, and when I awoke on the third day, my cold had gone.