Lavender (Lavendula Angustifolia) has over 400 chemical constituents and is fondly called "the swiss army knife" of oils.
I recommended Lavender to my friend's father,who had a stroke and consequently was bed-ridden and had memory loss. The following day, after Lavender was applied to his forehead and neck area, he got up! Please read this story in my Healing stories.
I had good experience using both Lavender and St.Maries Lavender for my skin in the summer.
It also helped me eliminate bruise instantaneously on a little girl's forehead.
http://eugeniyamusic.blogspot.com/2014/03/lavender-and-nervous-system.html
Lavender Aromatherapy May Prevent Falls in the Elderly
Please read pages on Lavender from the Essential Oils Desk Reference attached below for complete information.
THE AMAZING VERSATILITY OF LAVENDER
from Raindrop Messenger Archive
by David Stewart, PhD, DNM
posted at http://www.raindroptraining.com/messenger/v9n1.html#oils
Fortunately Gary Young had the forsight to grow lavender in Utah on the YL Farm. So we have a supply for a few years. But with demand increasing, the price will climb considerably within Young Living.
Lavender is a "universal oil" that can be used for restoring balance to nearly every type of body-mind condition. The phrase "when in doubt use lavendar" is a truism often acted upon in the YL oils community.
From my background as a psychotherapist and a psychologist, I have found lavender to be particulalrly useful in affecting the limbic system--the area of the brain where traumatic emotion is stored, and from which the rest of the body-mind is modulated.
The limbic system's traumatic store of negative experience is central to the "cell memory" and "dis-ease" programmed into all the other body-mind systems (hormonal, cardiovascular, immune, digestive, hepatic, muscular-skeletal, etc.). Lavendar is a great tool in our natural arsenal to counter traumatic cell memory and its negative effects on the body and mind.
For example, I've found lavendar more useful than the Peace & Calming oil blend (or other typically-recommended essential oils or blends) for alleviating muscle cramps when inhaled through the nose (rather than applied on the site of the spasming muscle). Inhaling lavender this way (through the nose) goes directly to the limbic system, where modulating effects on muscle (tension) occurs. Try it yourself the next time you're awakened by leg cramps and can't sleep, or after a chill, tiredness, or overactivity leads to cramping!
In general, I've found lavendar especially good for restoring balance to the autonomic nervous system and its two subsystems, the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems, which often go askew under trauma, usually resulting in serious mind-body problems.
Lavender's ability to reduce inflammation is also well known & researched, which speaks to its universal ability to influence all body-mind systems, much like the other great anti-inflammatory, frankincense, which has long been used in Europe for decreasing inflammation in cancer cases and other diseases. Dr. Suhail, MD, our frankincense distiller from Oman, spoke about the anti-inflammatory effects of frankincense at the Young Living Convention in Salt Lake City this last Fall. Like lavender, I consider frankincense to be a universal oil, able to bring balance to most any unbalance. So lavender, like frankincense, is a potent anti-inflammatory.
Lavender is often also very effective for anxienty, depression, and emotional imbalance, being found in many of the blends targeting the brain, emotion, and the psyche. YL blends containing lavender include: Brain Power, Awaken, Dragon Time, Egyptian Gold, Envision, Estro Tincture, Forgiveness, Gathering, Gentle Baby, Harmony, Highest Potential, Motivation, M-Grain, R.C., SARA, Surrender, Trauma Life).
Because of its "universal" nature, positively effecting all systems of the body-mind, lavender is a great stress buster! It's effects on restoring immune function (because of its stress-busting ability) are usually under-appreciated. We've become so overwhelmed and conditioned by stress in our lives that we are largely unconscious of stress and its bad effects. And so stress, in all its dimensions, largely goes unrecognized.
To" wake up and smell the lavender" is to take a big step toward wellbeing! What a great way to start your day, every day!
Using Young Living Lavender Essential Oil
Perhaps ancient peoples intuitively knew what researchers are finding out about lavender...it calms anxiety and provides natural stress relief. And that's not all -- lavender has a long list of medicinal properties, making it a natural health superstar. Lavender not only smells good, but it can also help you look and feel great! Lavender is enjoying renewed popularity as an alternative to conventional drug treatments.
Lavender and Relaxation
Lavender is known as a calming and relaxing herb and has frequently been used for insomnia, anxiety, depression, and natural stress relief.
One recent study discovered that the scent of lavender increases the time you spend in deep (slow wave) sleep, though the effects were stronger for women than for men. 1 Other findings suggest that lavender reduces the severity of depression when taken concurrently with an antidepressant.2
While lavender aromatherapy can help with your sleep and mood, it also has a wide range of health benefits.
"I refer to Lavender as the Universal Essential Oil. Our family keep a bottle of Young Living's therapeutic grade lavender oil in every room in our home. It's simply magnificent." Teri Williams, International Cover Model, Author, and Health Lecturer
Lavender and Your Health
Throughout history, people have turned to lavender for all kinds of ailments including acne treatment, skin disorders, digestive complaints, pain relief, and to prevent and treat infections.
While much of the evidence that supports the medicinal use of lavender is anecdotal, scientists are starting to research the effects of lavender on the body and have discovered that lavender has anti-microbial, anti-fungal, and anti-inflammatory properties.3,4
Lavender has also been shown to reduce the progression of candida albicans and may be an effective treatment for other infections.5
In combination with other oils, lavender was found to slow the growth of breast cancer tumors in mice.6
Aromatherapists feel that lavender essential oil is the most versatile because of its many healing properties and considers it one of the best essential oils to have on hand.
"My son had problems for years being able to fall asleep. He would lay there for hours it seemed. He had gotten into the habit of taking something over the counter before bedtime each night. He is 21 yrs old with a mind of his own, and I was really worried. One day, I asked him if I could put Lavender on the bottom of his feet at bedtime and he agreed. He slept like a baby and now he uses it every night. He no longer takes anything else!" Regina Danley
Lavender has been used for:
Pain relief
Headaches and migraines
Muscle aches and sprains
Menstrual cramps
Allergies
Relaxation
Sleep
Burns
Acne
Insect bites
Dry skin
Muscle relaxant
A deodorant.
Rub several drops of Lavender oil into the scalp to help eliminate dandruff.
Place a few drops of Lavender oil on a cotton ball and place in your linen closet to scent the linens and repel moths and insects.
Place a drop of Lavender oil in your water fountain to scent the air, kill bacteria and prolong the time between cleanings.
Place a few drops of Lavender oil on a wet cloth and throw into the dryer, which will deodorize and freshen your laundry.
Put a drop of Lavender oil on a cold sore.
Diffuse Lavender oil to alleviate the symptoms of allergies.
Spritz several drops of Lavender oil mixed with distilled water on a sunburn to decrease pain.
Drop Lavender oil on a cut to clean the wound and kill bacteria.
Apply 2-3 drops of Lavender oil to a rash to stop the itching and heal the skin.
The air was fragrant with a thousand trodden aromatic herbs, with fields of lavender, and with the brightest roses blushing in tufts all over the meadows. . . . William Cullen Bryant
Disclaimer Notice: The information contained in this announcement is intended for educational purposes only and is not meant to substitute for medical care or to prescribe treatment for any specific health condition.
Sources
1 A Pleasant Scent Can Lead to a Good Night's Sleep, Sense of Smell Institute. http://www.senseofsmell.org/feature/sleep/index.php
2 Ingels, Dr. Darin, "Lavender as Therapy for Depression," BastyrCenter.org. http://bastyrcenter.org/content/view/683/
3 Sahelian, Dr. Ray, "Lavender Oil," RaySahelian.com. http://www.raysahelian.com/lavender.html
4 Anti-inflammatory activity of linalool and linalyl acetate constituents of essential oils, Phytomedicine. 2002 Dec;9(8):721-6. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12587692&dopt=Abstract
5 Sahelian, Dr. Ray, "Lavender Oil," RaySahelian.com. http://www.raysahelian.com/lavender.html
6 The History of Lavender, LavenderFarm.com. http://www.lavenderfarm.com/history.htm
7 Sanghavi, Darshak, "Preschool Puberty, and a search for the causes," New York Times, 17 Oct 2006. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/17/science/17puberty.html?ex=1318737600&en=ed072921988bcaee&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
ScienceDaily (Feb. 16, 2011) — Lavender oil could be used to combat the increasing incidence of antifungal-resistant infections, according to a study published in the Journal of Medical Microbiology. The essential oil shows a potent antifungal effect against strains of fungi responsible for common skin and nail infections.
Scientists from the University of Coimbra in Portugal distilled lavender oil from the Lavandula viridis L'Hér shrub that grows in southern Portugal. The oil was tested against a range of pathogenic fungi and was found to be lethal to a range of skin-pathogenic strains, known as dermatophytes, as well as various species of Candida.
Dermatophytes cause infections of the skin, hair and nails as they use the keratin within these tissues to obtain nutrients. They are responsible for conditions such as Athletes' foot, ringworm and can also lead to scalp and nail infections. Candida species coexist with most healthy individuals without causing problems but may cause mucocutaneous candidosis -- or thrush -- in some people. In immunocompromised patients, Candida species are able to cause serious infection if the fungal cells escape into the blood stream.
Currently, there are relatively few types of antifungal drugs to treat infections and those that are available often have side effects. Professor Lígia Salgueiro and Professor Eugénia Pinto who led this study explained why novel fungicides are urgently needed. "In the last few years there has been an increase in the incidence of fungal diseases, particularly among immunocompromised patients," they said. "Unfortunately there is also increasing resistance to antifungal drugs. Research by our group and others has shown that essential oils may be cheap, efficient alternatives that have minimal side effects."
Essential oils distilled from the Lavandula genus of lavender plants are already used widely, particularly in the food, perfume and cosmetic industries. Studies of the biological activities of these oils suggest Lavandula oils have sedative and antispasmodic properties as well being potent antimicrobials and antioxidants.
This group has demonstrated that these oils work by destroying fungal cells by damaging the cell membrane. They believe that further research into the mechanisms by which this essential oil works could have significant clinical benefits. "Lavandula oil shows wide-spectrum antifungal activity and is highly potent. This is a good starting point for developing this oil for clinical use to manage fungal infections. What is now required is clinical trials to evaluate how our in vitro work translates in vivo," said Professor Salgueiro.
posted at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/02/110214201842.htm