While ‘forest bathing’ offers many health benefits, a clean local park or green space may not be readily available to everyone. In these instances, you can recreate being in a green space in your own home. By using potted plants and an essential oil diffuser, you can create a smaller version of a green space to do forest bathing. Your goal is to recreate a place found in nature that you feel is pleasing and relaxing. Pick plants that remind you of a place you’ve been or a place that you would love to visit. Using colored pots can mimic colorful blooms on plants. Putting a mirror behind your potted plants can give the appearance of lushness and foliage abundance. Once your space is pleasing to your eyes, you can work on what is pleasing to your nose. It is rewarding to do your own research on which essential oils you want to use. Find what appeals to you and makes you feel comforted, relaxed or rejuvenated. You can use single oils or a blend of several in your diffuser. Once you have added a few drops to your diffuser, sit in your space and allow the healing benefits of essential oils to waft around your space and breathe them in.  Let the visual of your plants and the fragrances of the oils take you away. If you are a person who does not have a green thumb and all plants die within a 5 foot radius, you can still benefit from diffusing essential oils. You can create a virtual green space by exchanging live plants for a recording of bird or Earth sounds. Playing a CD in addition to diffusing essential oils while your eyes are closed can transport you to a virtual outdoor space of your choosing.

While doing your own research on which essential oils to use is rewarding, a certified aromatherapist can be helpful in guiding you how to make the most of your essential oil purchase. Each essential oil has its own unique emotional/energetic qualities which provide individual therapeutic properties. A certified aromatherapist has studied essential oil delivery, safety parameters and their uses. Their knowledge of therapeutic properties of essential oils (and their contraindications) can help you design an essential oil blend that will answer many of your physiological concerns. Treating the emotional aspect of a disease or disorder can alleviate symptoms and assist a body in self-healing.