We are officially on the run up to Christmas now - and that can only mean one thing: mince pies, ginger bread, egg nogg lattes, Christmas pudding and chocolates galore - and, of course, the increase of invitations into celebratory drinks at festive parties.  Christmas is that time of the year where we typically “feast” (and I know it well - often our eyes can be bigger than our bellies).  And there’s nothing to shame in that - because we are human, after all.  No matter how ‘holistic’ we are (I am vegan and gluten free, and I will still feel the call of Christmas goodies) we most likely eat somewhat less traditionally ‘healthy’ options at this time of year.  

And that’s not anything to judge ourselves for, because that only adds to the pain (if that’s something we don’t actually like about ourselves).  Instead, I’ve become acutely aware that we have been somewhat conditioned into the idea of being a “human dustbin” (which is what my naturopath calls it when we hoover up the food we don’t really want) - with old stories of “not wanting to waste food” and eating to “fit in” at Christmas - because, well, everyone else is eating. 

The thing is, as we begin to notice that this is what we are doing, it gives us an opportunity to choose differently (if it is, indeed, aligned for us to eat more healthily - which it may also not be, and that’s ok too).  So, this year, we thought we’d have a bit of a spotlight - for those that do want to support healthy eating this Christmas - on how to superpower this intention with essential oils.  Read on for more spellcasting and rituals around how to support healthy eating this festive season…  Because it’s helpful to remember that we are always the spellcasters - and we just have to learn to harness our power properly (and it’s always good to use essential oils to do that!).

Disclaimer: Before we dive into this topic, I just want to clear up a common misconception here - because it’s an article about healthy eating and essential oils - and that’s that I’m absolutely NOT advocating we ‘consume’ essential oils.  There’s often much talk about adding them into water, or food, or putting them on our tongues - and I’m not an advocate of that (you can see we discussed this in a previous article HERE).  So, what we share in this article, are oils that can be used to help us superpower our intentions and let our bodies know that there’s another way - not one that involves physically consuming oils themselves!

Healthy eating spellcasting: healing shame around food

I believe that one of the biggest things that stops people from changing their eating to healthier habits - especially at Christmas - is shame.  Shame is the route of all the things we fear.  And, really, it is a call for deeper love.

So, for those of you who really shame your eating (which, by the way, is likely most of us - you aren’t alone), then I firstly want you to know that you are so loved.  The more we shame ourselves for eating what we feel we ‘shouldn’t’ - which is really common at Christmas (and the very opposite of what this festive time is all about!) - the more we will likely do it more.

I recommend doing some work to really distil the shame that is coming up for you - which parts of you want some love?

One of the best ways to heal shame so that we can begin to choose to eat more healthily is to pamper ourselves a bit more.  Often, we don’t go into our shame, because it is hard to look at - so, if we can create a bit of time to be with ourselves and meet the needs that aren’t being met because we aren’t allowing ourselves to hear them, then we can begin that process of nurturing our shame.

I’d recommend creating a beautiful aromatherapy bath blend and spending some time checking in with yourself over what the deeper shame is here - allowing yourself to feel it all.  And, you can also use some beautifully supporting digestive detoxifying oils in this blend, as well as nurturing ones that are healing for shame and confidence too.

Shame Healing Bath Oil:

Add 3 drops Rose, 2 drops Bergamot and 2 drops Fennel into 15ml Bath Oil or Shower Gel and mix into your warm running bath water.

Close all the windows and doors, turn off your phone and allow yourself to be present to whatever comes up around the shame that you feel about your eating - and love yourself in it.  Be kind to yourself.  And contemplate, with love for yourself:

• What’s the fear that wants to be known that drives you to eat unhealthily, when you don’t really want to? 
• What’s the unconscious need that’s not being met, that has you choose to eat food you don’t want, instead?
• Can you love yourself in that innocent pattern, that’s been conditioned into you?

The Fennel will help you detox the unhealthy foods, and also detox any shame - and the Rose and Bergamot will feel deeply nurturing.

Healthy eating spellcasting: transforming our thinking around choice

One of the things I see the most with eating patterns is that there can be a lot of THINKING about what we eat - almost to the point of obsession.  I understand this as I had disordered eating growing up, which I’ve healed.  And one of the most healing ways to work with this is to realise that we are the ones creating the spells of our life - we choose everything (even if that choice is sometimes unconscious).  Ultimately, we always have the power.

So, if this is something you struggle with, then one way you can combat this is to begin to learn that you have a choice.  I know it can really feel that we are out of control with food - especially around Christmas - but my naturopath’s statement “what I eat creates me and what the body creates it can uncreate” really brought it home to me that we eat to nourish and create our bodies; and that we are the ones in charge of that.  Knowing that really helps bring us back to our choice over what to eat.

That said, it can be helpful to create a reminder of that, so here is a beautiful blend of some empowering essential oils that will help bring you back to your capacity to choose.  I’d recommend making this into a spritz that you can spray each time you forget that you have choice - and to superpower it, you could even label the bottle with the intention “CHOICE”, too.

Empowering Choice Spritz:

Add 20 drops Grapefruit, 5 drops Lemon and 5 drops Rosemary to 100ml Orange Flower Hydrolat or water in a spray bottle and shake well before each use.  

Each time you are tempted by something you know just isn’t really truly aligned for you to eat, spray yourself with this Choice Spritz - and watch the magic that happens as you remember that you have options as to what you put in your body and create.

Healthy Eating Spellcasting: detoxification

Of course, we couldn’t write an article about healthy eating without including a section on detoxifying - because essential oils are SO powerful for supporting that (they work with the lymphatic system really well, and that’s all about detoxification).  

We typically wait for January - after we’ve over-eaten during all the festivities - to start the ‘detox’ calendar off - but why wait?  If you are committing to choosing to eat more healthily this season, you could most definitely begin to detox now, to superpower that really intentionally.

I’d recommend creating a massage oil to use as a daily body detox each morning, so that you can start your day with a consciously chosen reminder that you are cleansing and creating your body in a healthy way.

Detox Oil:

Add 3 drops Peppermint, 2 drops Lemon and 1 drop Cinnamon to 15ml of Grapeseed Carrier Oil and blend well - before applying to your body in slow, gentle stroking movements in the direction towards the heart.

You could repeat the mantra, “with every stroke I detoxify and cleanse my body, I choose to eat what nourishes me” – to really turbo-charge the ritual.

One final tip is that you could also diffuse some oils that are good ‘appetite curbers’ – oils like Grapefruit and Peppermint are good for this, and they smell yummy too - some beautiful aromas might be enough to stop you reaching for things you don’t really want.  Add 3 drops of each to water in your aromatherapy diffuser or candle burner and diffuse as desired throughout the day.

Whatever you do, remember, it is you in charge this festive season; it is you that can feel into the alignment of whatever you put into your body.  And this is really all an invitation into choosing the most juicy choices for yourself.  If eating healthily feels like a fun thing for you to embrace this Christmas, then great - that doesn’t mean you can’t choose to eat anything that’s seen as ‘not healthy’; it just means you can superpower your body and your mind - and, more importantly, eat in alignment with your soul (whatever that looks like for you).

Happy festivities.

Nicole Barton
Consultant Aromatherapist

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