Right from the first whiff, I was hooked !
I was at my very first aromatherapy class in the year 2000, exploring the art of blending essential oils…and became enthralled by their profoundly healing qualities.
I could hardly wait to adopt and share these underestimated treasurers.
I purchased a selection of oils to sell in my massage office. I created instructions and suggestions on how to enjoy them…and I happily presented them to my clients.
But they didn’t share my enthusiasm!
Busy people just don’t have time to figure out how to use essential oils. But I so wanted my circle of friends and clients to benefit with them.
There was nothing else for it. I’d have to create ready-made products.
So, I ventured into the world of manufacturing complete products, and discovered that …. I loved it! The perfect venue for my interests: herbal medicine, personal spaces, wholistic lifestyle, creative design, relationships.
A lab of my own design.
Surrounded by hundreds of bottles and containers of oils, herbs, flowers, roots, seaweed, moss and more — stirring, grinding, mixing my own concoctions — I continued to study with the Atlantic Institute of Aromatherapy.
I experimented. I found what worked, sometimes by what didn’t work. Designing the packaging and presentation to convey the intention of my creations was thrilling.
A line of products is born.
Over a period of 10 years, I formulated and produced a variety of original hand-crafted, hand-packaged organic products with essential oils as the primary active ingredients.
* Custom salves for pain relief and assorted turmoil, both physical and emotional.
* Skin care, scented gifts, soaps, creams, bath salts, massage lotions…
This collection, simply called Scents & Botanicals, moved consistently through my shop and office, A Touch of Wellness in St Thomas, US Virgin Islands.
Then…it all stopped.
In January of 2011, I moved to Florida and started over. Building a new therapy practice as well as a new facility for products was too much all at once. So, as I moved to Tampa Bay, I chose to focus on my touch therapy/massage and wellness coaching practice. My precious essential oils I kept for my personal use and closest friends.
Until a need arose four years later!
A friend’s athletic past suddenly struck him with a fierce, immobilizing back spasm! Waaay too severe to respond to massage. What to do? How could I give him the pain relief I knew was possible?
I whipped out my oils and some other ingredients and made him a gel.
Not only did it ease his back pain, it profoundly soothed his arthritic wrists and hands; a legacy of his pole-vaulting days.
I watched him happily wiggle his fingers as the gel took care of the pain, swelling and ‘crispiness’ of the joints. It turned out to be so effective he insisted that I HAD to share it !
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