Fir is one of the quintessential scents of the season, known for its foresty, fresh, and somewhat sweet notes. For those of us who live and hike in the mountains, or for anyone who’s had a Christmas tree, the scent of fir is unmistakable. There are over 50 types of delightfully scented fir in the northern hemisphere, and the leaves, twigs, and cones are all rich in aromatics.
I’ll start by stating the obvious. When struggling with panic attacks, the approach necessarily has to be a broad one encompassing a whole network of support: A good therapist is helpful, nutrient-dense foods, mindfulness practice, physical activity, reaching out to loved ones and such. Speaking from experience. Anxiety has been a life-long companion of sorts, but full-on panic attacks didn’t start until my early 30s. This was pre-herbalism for me so I went through a whole slew of “azepams,” each losing effect after a few weeks.
We’ve got one more sense to work with when balancing dosha disharmonies in the Mind. Each of our senses are potent in their own right but, scientifically speaking, we’ve saved the most powerful for last.
Have you ever used rose water? Divine, isn’t it? Real rose water—one of the most popular cosmetics in the world—is technically a hydrosol, a scented water produced by distillation of fresh rose petals. Distillation is when you use steam to extract plant components, especially scented components. Hydrosols 
So many find themselves experiencing anxiety these days as the world seems to “fall apart” and leave one wondering what is real and what is transient.
Frankincense (Boswellia) is best known as incense to most folks. It’s been used for thousands of years as a wonderful aid for mood, medication, ritual, and prayer. As such, frankincense was extremely valuable in the ancient world and was a key part of the spice trade 2000 years ago, making the folks who controlled frankincense trees in the Southern Arabian Peninsula and East Africa extremely wealthy (1).
Frankincense is also great support for the digestive tract. More on this in a moment…
I recently wrote on citrus essential oils, my favorite oils for scent. Now, we’ll move on to conifer essential oils, another group I love. These are uplifting and motivating, and they blend beautifully with citrus oils for both scent and energetics.
Summer is finally here! Unfortunately, that also means you need to keep the mosquitoes at bay. Here are three completely natural bug repellent DIYs that will save you a buck and keep the bugs away. Bonus points: They smell good to you, not the bugs!