Ep. 99: Geranium Oil Benefits You Didn’t Know You Needed—Until Now
SHOW NOTES
In this episode of the Vetiver Vibes podcast, Rachael and Nikki dive into the fascinating world of geranium essential oil, which happens to be Nikki’s second favourite oil.
Nikki shares her personal journey of how she transitioned from disliking geranium to craving it during her last pregnancy. Rachael, on the other hand, remains skeptical about geranium, humorously challenged to use it this week.
As we explore the benefits of geranium, we highlight its chemical constituents, particularly citronellol, which contributes to its anxiolytic and anti-inflammatory properties. We discuss its uses in skincare, women's health, and emotional support, emphasizing its ability to help with anxiety and stress.
In a fun twist, we pull a card from the Oracle of the Essence deck, landing on Juniper Berry, which encourages self-reflection and balance. We wrap up the episode with affirmations that resonate with both the geranium and juniper berry, inviting our listeners to embrace their journeys.
Thank you for tuning in! Don't forget to check out our sponsor, Essentria, for more resources on aromatherapy, and if you enjoyed this episode, please share it with someone who might benefit from it.
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00:00:00 - Welcome to Vetiver Vibes
Introduction to the podcast and hosts, Nikki Fraser and Rachael Dean.00:00:14 - Sponsor Message
Information about Essentria, an online school for aromatherapy.00:00:29 - Geranium: A Favorite Oil
Discussion on geranium as Nikki's second favorite essential oil.00:00:42 - Personal Experiences with Geranium
Nikki shares her journey from disliking to loving geranium during pregnancy.00:01:48 - Milestones and Reflections
Rachael reflects on her oldest child turning 18 and the emotions that come with it.00:02:45 - Celebrating 18th Birthdays
Nikki and Rachael share memories of their own 18th birthdays.00:04:18 - Grounding Oils for Life Transitions
Rachael discusses the essential oils she’s using to cope with life changes.00:05:10 - Stress and Immune Support
Rachael shares her experience of stress during her child's tournament and the oils she used for recovery.00:08:03 - Taking Care of Yourself
Discussion on the importance of self-care, especially for mothers.00:09:35 - Geranium Challenge
Nikki challenges Rachael to use geranium over the next couple of weeks.00:10:21 - Chemical Constituents of Geranium
Overview of geranium's chemical properties and their benefits.00:11:49 - Physical and Emotional Uses
Discussion on the various uses of geranium in skincare and emotional support.00:13:38 - Spiritual and Subtle Aromatherapy Uses
Exploration of geranium's effects on the navel chakra and its calming properties.00:15:13 - Fun Facts about Geranium
Interesting facts about the production of geranium oil and its historical uses.00:17:14 - Affirmation for Geranium
Sharing of the affirmation related to geranium.00:17:33 - Card Pull: Juniper Berry
Rachael and Nikki pull a card and discuss the properties of juniper berry.00:20:07 - Affirmation for Juniper Berry
Sharing of the affirmation related to juniper berry.00:21:08 - Closing Remarks
Wrap-up of the episode and thanks to listeners. -
Rachael: Welcome to the Vetiver Vibes podcast, where your hosts, Nikki Fraser and Rachael Dean, certified clinical aromatherapists. We are excited to have you here on today's episode, where you know that you'll get the best essential oil scoop.
SPEAKER_02: This episode is brought to you by Essentria a leading online school for aromatherapy. If you want to learn more about how to become a clinical aromatherapist, check out the courses at www.schoolofessentia.com.Nikki: Welcome to this week's episode of Vetiver Vibes. Nikki Fraser here with… Rachael Dean. And this week we're talking about geranium, my second favorite essential oil.
Rachael: And how did it become your second favorite essential oil? Because it's not even in my top 20, not even top 25. I don't know. It's just not there. How?
Nikki: It went, well, it went for my second worst right after patchouli. So like geranium and then patchouli were like two that I wouldn't touch with a 10 foot pole. And then my last pregnancy, um, I, I needed it. I craved at the end of pregnancy, I was like, give me all the geranium. Uh, it was after I actually went and saw my naturopath and we were talking about different things and, She's like, well, you know, these are some of the oils that I typically recommend for people. I don't remember what it was specifically. I think it was just general support. And I was like, I was like, I hate geranium though. And she knows that I'm an aromatherapist. So she was like, well, you know, it's typically what I recommend. Try it out. And so I, and I just like fell in love with it.
Rachael: All right.
Nikki: Well, I don't like it.
Rachael: It's yeah.
Nikki: Get pregnant again and maybe you'll fall in love with it.
Rachael: No! Oh my god, Nikki! No, no, no. My oldest just turned 18. Like, no. Definitely not going back to babies and diapers and all that stuff. If anything, I'm trying to figure out how my oldest, Clara, got to be 18. How did that happen? How do I have an 18-year-old? I am… You know, I don't know if I'm okay with this. It's a big milestone, honestly. It is a big milestone. So many other milestones in my life. I didn't care when I turned 20. I didn't care when I turned 25, 30, 35, 40, as I was seeing all my friends spiraling as they were hitting these milestones. None of them effaced me. The last week, it's been intense, man. And it's weird, because I'm so proud of them. I'm so happy. Everything is positive and great, but I'm like, holy crap, I have an 18-year-old. And I don't know how that happened. And it's a lot. They're going to vote. We're going to vote this month. And they're going to vote. And I'm thrilled. It hit me a little bit when they turned 16 and they could start to drive. That was probably a precursor to seeing that things were going to happen that were going to throw me off the ledge this month when they turned 18. Yeah, anyways, here I am.
Nikki: Well, that's good. It is. It's a big milestone. I remember celebrating my 18th birthday going to buy lottery tickets. My friend was older than me, so she could buy them already for quite a while. But yeah, we went to the corner store and bought some lottery tickets, some scratch-off bingo, and we celebrated that way. It was great.
Rachael: Yeah, I used to work at a store called the Dollar Mart, and we sold lottery and everything. And yeah, I used to love, I treat myself when we were like doing ship changes and stuff, and you're allowed to buy them. Love that. I haven't done it with Clara yet, but you know what, that sounds like a fun little thing we could do together.
Nikki: Another transition into adulthood.
Rachael: Yes, you know, just spend my money.
Nikki: So what oils have you been using to help yourself with this life transition?
Rachael: That's a good question. I've been using grounding oils because I feel like I just need to center into myself. I've been using frankincense. I made a blend of frankincense, balsam fir, and cedarwood and a little bit of sandalwood and it's been great. I really find that it's, it's helping and just to like, you know, get rid of some of those like physical feelings that you, that you feel. Um, and then, uh, of course I always have my happy oils around too. So my citrus at the different times, those don't always go.
Nikki: Yeah. No, and that's just it, right? Some days or some moments in the day you want grounding, whereas other moments you want that uplifting. That's why it's nice to have multiple. As much as that's nice, I'll take your week over mine. My nervous system went completely kaput. I was in complete overdrive. My oldest had his youth provincial darts tournament and so we were away for the weekend, staying in a hotel, lots of people. But not even that, just being stressed to the max, watching your kid compete for first place is a lot because he went up on stage for Tykes and he went up on stage for juniors, which he's actually three years younger than what you're supposed to be for juniors. So he's playing against He's doing really well. You're still super stressed about it. Yeah, he won first place in both. He's doing amazing with partners for both of them. Of course. But even when he did singles, he still did amazing. I think he got joint fourth, if I remember correctly, um, just out of, just out of running for, for a trophy on that one. But it was like, my nervous system was just on edge the entire weekend. So that by the time we came home Sunday, it was just like crash and burn. You cannot get out of bed is pretty much what my mind and body decided to tell me. So I was bedridden for, uh, until Wednesday morning. So we came home Sunday, bedridden until Wednesday morning. And it was just like, survival mode and that's it. So I was using all my immune support oils, especially eucalyptus, a lot of eucalyptus. It is my go-to when I'm feeling sick. It just helps lift me up so much. Rosemary, thyme, and some firs. Firs are really, really great also to help with respiratory support and that type of thing. I wasn't really coughing. One, just for a little tiny amount, I started to cough and so I grabbed my cypress So it's always my go-to for coughs and it kind of like nipped it in the butt and then it just kind of stayed with just the respiratory and like aches like full body aching pain.
Rachael: Yeah, you got hit. I did. Yeah, you were like dead. You disappeared like normally we meet every Sunday night, which we didn't do because you were away for the weekend. But usually then by Monday, we're touching base and whatever. And I'm sending messages. And you're like, I feel like you replied, but they were just very quick. And I'm in the emails, and I'm checking the emails, and I'm replying. And usually, we're overlapping and going, oh, I was just going to reply to that or whatever. And then nothing, just quiet. I'm like, well, whatever. It's cool. But then Wednesday morning, you're like, oh my god, I'm alive. You just came back. You were like, you were sick. I was gone. I was gone. Yeah, I haven't had one of those in over a year. Like knock on wood.
Nikki: I haven't either. I haven't either. I think honestly, the last time was his youth provincials from the year before. So we're saying that we are work on your
Rachael: Prepping for this provincial's like boosting the immune system. Maybe having some oils out with you You're gonna be you're putting yourself in a situation.
Nikki: There's like a lot of people like you got a prep girl So the worst part is my kids I got them their elderberry syrup every day for about a week and a half leading up to it We upped our vitamin D. We upped our magnesium We did I did all that for my children to ensure that they, knowing that they were going to be stressed out.
Rachael: Did you do any of that for you that week?
Nikki: I did it like sparingly, not consistently. Like I had my children being like, take this, take this, take this. And they loved Elderberry syrup. So as soon as they would ask for it, be like, okay, great. And then I would remember to take everything else out. But then it was usually like, well, I'm making lunches or things. So then I,
Rachael: That's why we have to remember, like, you know, it's like, put the oxygen mask on yourself first, right? Like, like, and we have to remember that, like, especially as moms and stuff, like, to make sure, like, we're taking care of ourselves, because we can take care of ourselves and our children, like, we can do both. And in this case, clearly, you could do both, you could have just put, like, three shot glasses out or whatever, like, you know, like, you would have been fine, just so if any takeaway is, is take care of yourself too. And as we need to just keep reminding everybody else, cause it's, it's hard for us to do that for sure. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So coming back to geranium, geranium, I like, it's probably still one of my least favorite oils. I don't, I don't, tend to use it unless I'm forced to somehow. I don't know.
Nikki: Well, I'm going to challenge you because you challenged me with patchouli a bit ago. So I'm going to challenge you to use geranium this over the next couple of weeks at one point. All right.
Rachael: That is your challenge. I'll report back on that. I will. I will accept the challenge just because that seems fair. And I will report back. But just know that I do not really love geranium. and I will find some joy in it because that's my goal, is to find joy in everything at some point.
Nikki: Just one drop in something, right? That was my thing of one drop of patchouli, so just one drop of geranium in something. And it is a very strong aromatic profile, which is why people either kind of have that love it or hate it.
Rachael: I love it outside. Like in the spring, I put it in my planters. Like I love it outside and I enjoy it there. So it's not that I'm like completely anti-geranium. I just don't love it. It's not my go-to. And you know, most florals aren't. So to be fair to geranium, most florals are not my go-to.
Nikki: They're not typically my go-to either, but you brought up a good point of, you know, the flowers are so different than the oils because the oils are so concentrated. Right. So that's why like, it's kind of more of that punch to your face of like, bam. Here's the aroma, take it. Should I keep them diluted? Yes, absolutely. So the botanical name for geranium is Pelargonium graveolens. And I remember reading when researching around geranium that it actually, it almost became a different name. I don't remember what it was exactly, but it was a little bit of back and forth with the botanical name a couple hundred years ago. And then they eventually kind of solidified this for the botanical name. So it's always interesting when you kind of see some of that history with it.
Rachael: Of course, yeah. So countries it's harvested from are Egypt and China. The part of the plant is from both the flowers and the leaves, so both of them.
Nikki: And then, when we look at the oil for the science, the chemical constituents of it, it's high in alcohols, especially citronellol, which means it's really good for anxiolytic, antimicrobial, antifungal, anti-inflammatory. all relate directly back to that high amount of citronellol. And then it's also really good as an astringent and really stimulant for the adrenal glands. So again, right, when we are tired, when we are maxed out, stressed out to the, you know, we've hit our top wall for stress, our adrenals kick in. And if we don't have enough support, then it makes it even harder. So it's really, really helpful for the adrenal support.
Rachael: So physical uses, I do know that drain is very good in skin care. It helps balance the production of sebum. So that's great. It's very often used in anything women's health related. So PMS, perimenopause, fertility, pregnancy, postpartum. Postpartum. I was like, postpartum. See, that's not the way to say postpartum. Um, so definitely it's a go-to for all of that. Um, acne can help with it with, so back to the skincare stuff, acne, it helps and bruising can help with bruising as well. Um, and then emotional helps reduce anxiety, nervous exhaustion, nurtures creativity connection with the body, mind, and spirit. Hmm. And if you work too much, life is frantic and busy. This will help bring clarity. That is like literally me. If you work too much, life is frantic and busy. This will help bring clarity. Okay, I'm gonna try geranium.
Nikki: I think the universe is like telling you, and when we wrote these notes, you know, it was a bit ago also. So I mean, it's like the fact that it's lining up a lot right now for you, the universe is telling you like,
Rachael: it is challenges on use geranium at me right now i will try geranium i will use geranium i will see if it helps maybe i just add it to that grounding blend i have to that might just be like a nice little like yeah because you have other really great oils that are in there that'll help kind of mask
Nikki: When we look at the spiritual and subtle aromatherapy use, it's really supportive for the navel chakra. It's considered cool and moist, so if you have a lot of excess heat in the body, it'll help calm that heat, help calm the mind. And again, conveying feelings of calm, strength, security. And if you are into Ayurveda, it really helps to balance out the Veda and the Pitta.
Rachael: Geranium is really nice because it doesn't really have any safety concerns. So the max dilution is 17.5%. So you do need to dilute it, but you do not need, which we're not using at 17.5% anyways, so it's fine. Um, the only other contraindications are for oral use, which we're not using things internally. Um, so there's nothing we need to worry about. So topically you're good. Just obviously dilute still.
Nikki: Yeah, absolutely. Uh, and then some fun facts. It takes about 250 to 500 kilograms, which is about 550 to a little over a thousand pounds of plant material to make 15 milliliters of essential oil. So that's a lot of plant material. which again is why it smells nice when it's in your backyard, but it's so much stronger when you even just have one drop of oil. Of course. Of course.
Rachael: Um, and then there's hydrolats for geranium as well, right?
Nikki: Yep. Yeah, really nice way of using it because it is much more subtle, that aroma.
Rachael: Yeah, I was thinking I'm like that much is being made. There's a lot of hydrosol.
Nikki: Absolutely. The fun thing about geranium is that it's nicknamed the poor man's rose because it is very, very similar to rose, but it's way more friendly on the pocketbook. It's yeah, it's which is why I mean, I don't I actually I'm actually not a huge fan of rose because I think it's just too much versus I prefer the dreamy one. And I think maybe I need to try Rose, because I haven't tried Rose in quite a while. And so now that I like Geranium, I actually might like Rose more. I'd have to try that out.
Rachael: Well, we'll challenge that at some point, but it's not important today. That was an expensive one. But yeah, Geranium's great because it's very similar to Rose, and Rose has a lot of the same. It's great for your face and the aroma and everything. So Geranium, I know, does balance out blends really nicely. There's no doubt. It's just not usually my go-to, at least by itself.
Nikki: And then in ancient Egyptian time, geranium was used to promote radiant skin as part of their beauty rituals. So again, not the same oils that we have today. That's not what we're saying. They actually used to infuse a lot of oils into fats and that type of thing. So that's how they used it back then.
Rachael: And our affirmation for geranium is, I embrace balance and calm nurturing my body, mind, and spirit with clarity and strength. And that feels like a really good affirmation for me today. So, and then are we doing a card pull? What are we going to use? Which cards are we using today?
Nikki: So, do we want to use, I will have, let you pick. Um, so we have the Akyarama cards or we have Oracle of the Essence.
SPEAKER_01: Let's do Oracle of the Essence. Okay. So these are by Monica the Enchantress. A little shuffle shuffle. Oh, you started hopping out at me there.
Nikki: Let's start. That's the one then. Juniper Berry. I love Juniper Berry. I love Juniper Berry. It's funny because I was, reading something and it was saying and then it went into juniper and the benefits of it and for detoxing and I remember what it was but it was an oil that you don't typically associate with detox and then it went into this whole thing about detoxing and then they were really like talking about juniper berry so it's funny always when it's like you read something earlier that day and it just comes back again This is for Jennifer Berry really supports mirrors awareness. So wise words, everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves. That was by Carl Jung. The Juniper Berry personality is filled with confidence, inner wisdom, and openness. It is the essence of the night and assists those who are not willing to look at their shadow side. It is linked to the third eye and the subconscious self. When we stop battling the things that we don't like about ourselves, we realize that there is much wisdom in these aspects that we can learn. The fear of an honest assessment of the self-creation mirrors in the physical world to bring awareness to the soul. When the juniper personality is imbalanced, the individual can be sleepless, insecure, and low on vital forces, wanting to hide from society during the day and be awake late at night. Juniper berry helps restore balance in between light and the absence of it, not by bringing color, but by acknowledging that we need to accept what we don't like about ourselves. Juniper berry is a great essence to support the liver and kidney health, as well as assisting with sore joints and muscles. It can be of great help with feelings of depression. This essence blends well with grapefruit, bergamot, and cypress. The divinatory meaning. What are you not wanting to see in your life? Turn around and open your eyes. The things that you don't want to confront are the things that stalk you. There is a great teacher within your shadow's side. Embrace it. And then they actually provide an affirmation also. And so the affirmation for this one is, I am in the process of becoming a better version of myself. So you got two affirmations.
Rachael: Yeah, a geranium affirmation and a juniper berry affirmation. So whichever one you're drawn to today, you can take that with you. Absolutely.
Nikki: I think that's a great spot to wrap up this episode of Vetiver Vibes. Thank you for tuning in. Have an amazing day. Bye, everyone. Bye.
Rachael: Thank you for spending your time with us here at Vetiver Vibes. This episode was brought to you by Essentria a leading online aromatherapy school. Don't forget to check out some of our free resources at www.schoolofessentia.com.
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Rachael: This podcast is for information purposes only. We are certified clinical aromatherapists and holistic health professionals. If you have a medication concern, please refer to your health team. Everyone's health is unique to themselves, so the topics and suggestions stated may or may not apply directly to you.
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This podcast is for information purposes only. We are certified clinical aromatherapists and holistic health professionals. If you have a medication concern, please refer to your health team. Everyone’s health is unique to themselves, so the topics and suggestions stated may or may not apply directly to you. Please reach out to an aromatherapist to work with or consider training to become one yourself!
Show music: Happy Dreams - By David Fesliyan
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