Across the globe people incorporate song, dance, food, music, and plants into their traditional events when you want to create a sensorial depth of meaning to your experiences. This is what you usually describe as creating ceremony. When you do this mindfully with great awareness and intention, this ceremony becomes further enhanced as a sacred ritual.
Every yoga practice has certain components of ritual incorporated into it. When you look to enhance your practice, you can add other elements, so that all the senses are involved to make an even greater impact. You can add singing bowls, gongs or background music, scents or incense, and certain color lighting or decor, to generate an ambiance that you feel will encourage a more mindful experience.
Scents for the senses
It is with this knowledge that adding essential oils to your yoga practice can bring about unique desired results on many levels. Utilizing different essential oils can create different effects on the senses.
- Invigorating essential oils such as rosemary, lemon, or peppermint will awaken and refresh.
- Earthy scented essential oils like marjoram, patchouli, or geranium can help create an atmosphere of security and comfort.
- Grounding essential oils such as cedarwood, juniper, and laurel can help to generate sensations of stability and assuredness.
- Enlightening essential oils such as sandalwood and frankincense help to relax the mind and allow for spiritual liberation and tranquility to engulf one’s being.
Application methods
1. Diffusing
Essential oils can be diffused into the studio or room where you are practicing. There are numerous diffusers on the market, but it is typically best to use a nebulizing diffuser without the addition of water, so there’s less dilution of the oil in the vapor.
2. Anointing
Applying a dab of safely diluted essential oil onto one’s third eye chakra or on the corner of a mat or towel, will allow one the opportunity to inhale a whiff while moving through yoga postures.
3. Room Mist
Creating a mist to spray on your mat or towel, or on your body is also a nice enhancement without being overwhelming, as you only need a one percent dilution to be effective in this form.
Create your own room mist:
- Fill a 1-ounce bottle with ¾ distilled water and ¼ aloe vera gel.
- Add 5 to 8 drops of your favorite essential oil into the bottle.
- Mix the solution well before spraying onto your mat.
4. Lotion
One can also create a lotion, oil, or cream with a 3 to 4 percent dilution of essential oils. Rub the oil on the bottom of the feet or on the heart chakra before or during your practice to bring about these sensory changes.
Incorporating these oils extracted from plant parts also brings the high vibration of the plant world right to your mat. This helps you to connect to something much greater than yourself, and yet touches that very same inner light within you, that reminds you are all part of the same.
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