CategoriesAromatherapy Energy Clearing & Feng Shui Tips & Advice

Aromatherapy

Welcome to this fortnights blog. Today we are taking a look at aromatherapy. Aromatherapy has ancient origins and can be traced back to several ancient civilizations. The practice of using aromatic plants and their extracts for healing purposes can be found in the traditions of ancient Egypt, China, India, and Greece. The Egyptians were known for their use of aromatic substances in religious rituals and embalming practices. In India, the use of plant essences and aromatic oils is deeply rooted in Ayurveda. The Greek physician Hippocrates also utilised aromatic plants for their therapeutic properties. The term “aromatherapy” was coined in the 20th century by René-Maurice Gattefossé, a French chemist, who extensively studied the medicinal effects of essential oils. Since then,aromatherapy has gained popularity as a complementary therapy worldwide.


Benefits of Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy is a holistic healing practice that utilises the aromatic properties of essential oils to promote physical, emotional, and mental well-being. Some of the benefits of aromatherapy include:

  • Stress relief: Certain essential oils, such as lavender, chamomile, and ylang-ylang, have calming properties that can help reduce stress, anxiety, and promote relaxation.
  • Mood enhancement: Aromatherapy can uplift mood and improve emotional well-being. Citrus oils like lemon and bergamot are known for their energizing and mood-boosting effects. A favourite of ours at Quest is May Chang.
  • Improved sleep: Essential oils like lavender and chamomile can help promote better sleep by inducing a sense of relaxation and easing insomnia symptoms.
  • Pain relief: Some essential oils possess analgesic properties and can help alleviate pain and discomfort. Peppermint and eucalyptus oils are often used for relieving headaches and muscle aches.
  • Enhanced cognitive function: Certain scents, such as rosemary and lemon, are believed to enhance concentration, memory, and mental clarity.
  • Respiratory support: Essential oils like eucalyptus, tea tree, and peppermint can provide relief from respiratory issues, congestion, and promote easier breathing.
  • Skin care: Many essential oils have beneficial effects on the skin. Tea tree oil, lavender, and frankincense are often used for their anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and healing properties.

It’s important to note that while aromatherapy can offer various benefits, individual experiences may vary, and it’s essential to use essential oils safely and consult a qualified professional for guidance if required.


How to Enjoy Aromatherapy

There are so many wonderful ways to enjoy the benefits of aromatherapy in your own home. One of the simplest ways is to dilute a few drops of your chosen oil into a diffuser, which creates a beautiful scented mist and can a powerful way to lift your mood. You could also try adding a few drops of your chosen oil to a warm bath to create a relaxing and aromatic experience – perfect for releasing daily stresses. If you enjoy massage, why not try adding a few drops with a carrier oil. Just remember to perform a patch test first.

If you aren’t sure about using essential oils, there other things you can try. For example, incense, scented candles and reed diffusers all make excellent alternatives. Don’t be afraid to explore all options until you find the one that is right for you.


We’ve Got You Covered

At Quest, we have so many wonderful aromatherapy options for you. In store we have a wide selection of essential oils (our own brand and Star Child), diffusers (electronic and tealight burners), scented candles, incense and incense burners. So, if you’ve been thinking about exploring aromatherapy, look no further. Below is just a small selection of items we have available. As always, remember, if you aren’t local to Epsom, we can still offer advice over the phone on 01372 878606.


Upcoming Workshops

We’ve got online meditations, workshops and in-person courses running. Please contact us on 01372 878606 if you’d like to book or require any further information.

CategoriesEnergy Clearing & Feng Shui Spirituality Tips & Advice

Energy Clearing for the New Year!

The New Year is the perfect time to clear out any negative, stale energy that has built up in the home – especially as we’ve all been spending more time indoors these last few years – and get your home ready for a healthy and happy new year!

If you’ve never heard or done a space clearing before, we’re here to help. To begin, you need to understand that everything is built up with the same energy – meaning that you are the same energy as your home. Because of this, our energy can impact our homes and vice versa. For example, think of a time where you had an argument in your home. Do you remember feeling the tension in the air? Did you feel uncomfortable? This is because our negative energy has changed the energy within our home.

Another important aspect is that negative energy can build up and become stale in your home. This is when your home’s energy can impact you. Do you ever come home from a hard day at work and instead of finding comfort, you feel heavy and stressed? This is the build-up of energy within your home weighing you down.

This is where energy clearing comes in. By removing all this stale negative energy, you’re helping other positive energy flow freely through your space. You can make your home feel comfortable, safe, relaxing and full of love. And the best thing is, it’s so easy to do and anyone can do it!

The first thing you need to do is assess and become aware of your home – do you have any clutter, do you have anything that is broken or not working? Do you have clothes or other things that you no longer use? What areas of your home need your attention? Are there any areas that need repairing? Clutter is great for collecting stale, negative energy so it’s better to have less. Clear out your clutter to make room for new, positive energies.

The next step is to clear any stale, negative energy around your home and fill it with positive energy. To prepare for this you will need a sage stick, some Silver Nitiraj incense or Basilica granule incense. Our Energy Clearing Box has everything you need!

Before you start the clearing, spend some time thinking about how you would like to feel in your home – how would you like your family to be? Maybe you want it to feel calm, peaceful, happy or loving? Next, think of a symbol that represents what you want to feel – for example if you want to feel love your symbol could be red hearts, or if you want calm it could be an amethyst. You don’t need to buy these things but it’s important to hold these images in your mind.

Once you’ve done this, light your weapon of choice, go round every room and visualise the energy being cleared. Make sure you waft the smoke into all the corners and crevices with your intention to energy clear firmly set in your mind! Do this until you feel like it’s done. At this point, you can either stump out up the sage/ incense or let it burn down.

Now that you’ve energy cleared, there will be a void left in your home. If you don’t fill it, then the negative energy you’ve just removed is going to creep it’s way back in! This is where those symbols we thought of earlier come in. Find a quiet space in your home and think of those symbols again, but this time imagine them filling the spaces of your home. Think of those red hearts expanding in your living room, and the amethyst sparkling in your bedroom. This is you filling your home’s energy with love and peace. Again, do this until you feel it’s done.

And that’s it! Your home’s energy is now working with you rather than against you. You’ve set yourself up for an exciting 2022 full of opportunity, love and happiness. At this stage, you can also work on the Feng Shui of your home – but that’s for another day!

For now, sit back, relax and enjoy being at home.

 

CategoriesSpirituality

The Power of Incense

Whether it’s a holiday in India, a ceremony in a church or a visit to your local holistic shop (e.g. us) then you’ve definitely smelt incense before. Taken from the Latin word Incendere, which means burning, incense is used to define all the woods, gums, plants and resins that release a scent when burnt. Because of this, incense can take many different shapes and smells.

Incense has been around for thousands of years, dating back to Ancient Egypt and the Roman Empire. It is commonly used in sacred rituals in all religions and cultures and is found in many temples and churches – it’s mentioned in the Bible as one of the gifts offered to Jesus. There is even an old legend that a Queen lost her kingdom after an attack, and that during her escape she asked God for a gift to console her for the loss of her children and lands. So with every one of her tears, trees with fragrant gums began to grow.

There’s so many different scents of incense with all different properties, so you are bound to find something to create the mood you desire – whether you want to be relaxed or energised or cleansed. So how does this work? Well it’s all down to the smell receptors in the nose, which send messages through the nervous system to the limbic system. This is the part of the brain that controls emotions!

At Quest, we have two main brands of incense: Stamford and Satya. We’re often asked what the difference is, and it’s all down to how it’s made. The Stamford incense is dipped – a stick is put into a liquid form of incense. The Satya is hand rolled – a powder form of incense is clumped around a stick. Both use natural ingredients, the only difference is that Stamford uses essential oils whereas Satya uses resin, herbs and spices.

So now you know you what incense is, lets tell you how it works! It’s simple – all you need is an incense holder, an incense stick and a lighter or match. Place the stick in the hole of your incense holder and light the end so that it’s alight. Once it’s established, blow out the flame so the stick is a burning ember. And there you go – keep your stick away from drafts and let the aroma fill your space!

So now you’re an expert in incense, all that’s left is to pick a scent! Go for whatever you fancy. The thing with incense is that you don’t really know what it smells like until you burn it. We will link some of the popular ones below, so try them out and you may find your new favourite too!

CategoriesSpirituality

Making Your Home Work With You!

Every building has its own energy, and it is really important that you connect to this energy so you can feel relaxed and comfortable in your home. We want our home to be somewhere where you feel at ease, especially after a hard day at work, so you need to make sure that the energy within your home is working with you, not against you. There are several things you can do to strengthen this connection so that you and your home are one. You can either work on a particular room that you feel needs attention, or you can focus on the whole house.

Declutter

The first step is to remove any clutter that is in your home, Clutter doesn’t serve any purpose, and can hold onto negative energy in the room. By removing any clutter, you are creating space for fresh, new, positive energy to flow through easily. Think about your drawers and cupboards too. If you haven’t used it for ages or it’s broken, then bin it, sell it or give it to a friend. 

Energy Clear

The next step is to clear any of the negative energy that has built up in your home. This could have come from the clutter, arguments, emotions etc and could have a detrimental affect on your life. To do this, we would recommend lighting some incense or sage (over a heatproof dish) and walking slowly around your house in an anti-clockwise direction. Waft the smoke from the sage/ incense into the corners of every room, setting your intention to remove any negative energy. Do this until you feel like it is complete.

Bring in Positive Energy

Once you have removed the negative energy, there will be a void in your home. If you do not fill this void with positive energy, then the negative energy will come back in. We do this by thinking about what you want to feel in your home – whether that’s love, connection, happiness. Think of symbols that represent these feelings, for example if you want to feel love then imagine big red hearts. Sit down in the central part of your house and in your mind, fill your house with your symbols. Make sure they are in every room, every corner.

Feng Shui

There are different types of Feng Shui, but Carolina uses the Tibetan Feng Shui which uses a Bagua. Feng Shui is the moment of energy and how it flows through your home. Each corner of your house or your room represents a different aspect of your life, for example the right hand corner of your bedroom, with your back against the door, is your relationship corner. The state of that area in your home may affect that aspect of your life. For example, if you have a bin in your relationship corner, you may be having trouble with your partner. If your front garden is overgrown and messy, then you may be having problems in your career. To improve these aspects of your life, make sure each area is clear from clutter, tidy and clean. It’s also important to have something that represents what you want from life in that area, for example you could have a piece of rose quartz in your relationship corner. For more details regarding Feng Shui, then look at Carolina’s videos here.

Here is the Bagua. Your back should be towards the door with you looking out into the room/ house.

Front door/ door of the room



Connecting with Your Home

As mentioned before, having a connection with your home is very important in creating a relaxed environment where you feel safe and at peace. Carolina has recorded a meditation to help strengthen this connection, which you can find here. You can do this meditation whenever you energy clear or when you are feeling disconnected from your home.

CategoriesSpirituality

5 Steps to Start Your Spiritual Journey!

Do you want to start your spiritual journey but unsure where to begin? We’ve been there. It can be so overwhelming, with so many different aspects of spirituality such as crystals and tarots and meditation. Just remember that this is your journey – there’s no right or wrong way, just make sure you’re doing what feels right. We’ve put together a little list with a few options to get you started. We are always here if you have any questions, so give us a ring or email, or drop in the shop and say hello!

Space Clearing

You have obviously decided to start exploring your spirituality for a reason. Maybe you feel like things haven’t been working out for you, or you’ve had a series of negative moments happen, or perhaps you want to change and access your higher power. Whatever the reason, it is always a good idea to clear the energies around you and your home first.

Grab some sage or incense, light the end of it and gently waft it around your home and your aura, seeing the negativity clear out and leaving you and your home clear. Afterwards, visualise the abundance of positivity, good vibes and anything else you want to attract to yourself and your home – this is going to fill the void you’ve just created. Choose a safe place to leave the sage to burn out and sit in the centre of your home, making wishes, thinking of the good times ahead and contemplating what you want to get out of your spiritual journey.

Meditation

Meditate a little every day. Doing this will help quieten your mind, and will allow you to access answers and guidance with more ease. Simply take a few minutes in the morning, evening or whenever you will be least disturbed. Sit upright and make sure you are comfortable. Straighten your spine, close your eyes and breathe. Focus your thoughts entirely on the in and out of your breath. If any other thoughts drift into your head, welcome them in and just let them be. It’ll be tricky at first but after a few days, you’ll know exactly how to do it and after a few weeks, it’ll come naturally to you! Carolina has done a brilliant online series of 21 Guided Meditations which has meditations for every need; whether that’s sleep, self-esteem or connecting with your spirit guide! Find it here.

Crystals

There are so many different crystals, all with so many different properties. Crystals are wonderful to have around as they each have their own vibration that is constantly being radiated, for example rose quartz steadily radiates energy filled with love. To start off your collection, we would suggest getting a piece of Rose Quartz for love and relationships, Amethyst for peace and protection, Citrine for abundance and happiness, Black Tourmaline or Shungite for absorbing negative energies and Clear Quartz for light and healing. These are the perfect start to your crystal collection. After you’ve got the basics down, you can move onto the hundreds of other crystals! When picking crystals, it’s really important to go for the ones you are drawn to as they will be the right ones for you at that time. Keep them in your home, in your bag, or on your person, depending on what you feel comfortable with. We will be doing a more detailed blog on crystals soon – so keep your eyes peeled!

Forgiveness

To be able to move forward on the journey of life, it helps to let go of the past so you don’t find yourself stuck with those negative feelings. Forgive those who have upset you or made you angry. Forgive yourself too. Everyone makes mistakes or is too harsh to themselves. Now is the time to forgive yourself, be kind to yourself, nobody is perfect. Let go of the blame, anger, hurt and upset to welcome in love, nourishing thoughts, kindness and happiness.

Listen To Your Heart

The number one rule for you on your spiritual journey (and with life in general) is to listen to your heart. Spirituality is about going within and listening to your true wants and needs. Our intuition is powerful. When you’re making a decision, you can consider all of the logic and list all the pros and cons; however you must make sure to listen to your instinct. You’ve got to use your intuition and do what you know will be right for you. Follow what tugs at your heartstrings and fills you with excitement and passion.