Featuring all of our titles, including books on Chinese medicine, qigong, martial arts and complementary therapies, the Singing Dragon catalogue has something for everyone. Feel free to browse, share and email the catalogue to anyone you think might be interested. Click on the catalogue to view full-screen. You can find out more information and order the books by clicking on the titles.
If you would like any physical copies of the catalogue please send an email to post@intl.singingdragon.com
In this extract, the authors describe the early development of Kinesiology, and the unexpected discoveries which informed the basis of many branches of the practice. They also look at how Kinesiology fits within the idea of truly holistic medicine, showing how it can bring change and restore balance in people’s lives.
Click here to read the extract
Praise for the first edition of Principles of Kinesiology:
“A well-crafted book, ideal for newcomers to the subject, whether lay or professional…an accurate and balanced guide to this fast-growing area of healing.”
– Leon Chaitow ND, DO, MRO, naturopath, osteopath and acupuncturist, and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies
“A much-needed book…to get help with your pain, stress and improve your performance with energy balance and muscle facilitation.”
– John F. Thie DC, founder and author of Touch for Health
Maggie La Tourelle has worked in the field of holistic healthcare for thirty years as a practitioner, teacher and writer integrating kinesiology, counselling, psychotherapy and NLP. She is an honorary member of The Kinesiology Federation, and a member of The Association for Therapeutic Healers, The British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy, The Scientific and Medical Network and the Guild of Health Writers. She lives in London, UK.
Anthea Courtenay is a freelance writer, journalist and translator based in London.
When your hair is falling out, you are not just having a problem with your hair, but also something else in your body, no matter whether you have other symptoms or not. As I’m explaining in my book Regrowing Hair Naturally, there is a reason why your hair is falling out. This reason is some form of toxicity.
Water and hair loss
Toxicity in your body makes your body too acidic. While some acidity is very important for body processes to function correctly, over-acidity is a problem and can lead to hair loss. If you then also don’t drink any water during the day, the acidity stays in the body undiluted and this is where damage occurs.
If you are worried about your hair at the moment, it would obviously be important to find out which toxins are causing acidity in your body, but even if you don’t want to do this, at the very least start drinking good quality water. Increase your water intake every few days from 1 glass a day to 8 large glasses a day (approximately 2 litres a day). This helps dilute the acid in your body, no matter what has been causing the acid in the first place.
Drinking water is the first phase of detoxing. The second phase would be to take particular supplements (these are different for each person) which bind with the toxins and then take them safely out of the body. A hair sample test can establish exactly which supplements your body needs to carry out this conjugation phase of detox.
When you drink water, make sure the water is good quality. Filter it with a charcoal filter (Brita or similar) or have a water filter installed under your sink. If your water supply is fluoridised, I would suggest to drink bottled water as fluoride is not a great substance to have in your body. Don’t drink unfiltered tap water, no matter what your water company tells you. Chlorine in water needs to be filtered out, and your charcoal filter will do that for you.
Wheat and hair loss
Over 80% of my clients who have my hair/nail sample tests done have a problem with wheat. Some of them have a problem with all grains (rye, barley, oats etc).
Have a think about what you are eating for a typical breakfast, lunch and dinner. If your diet consists of muesli, sandwiches, pizza and pasta, this will have a major negative impact on your hair, even if you don’t have a wheat intolerance. What you need to eat is a little meat, plenty of vegetables and some carbs such as rice or potatoes. I know that this is inconvenient, especially for breakfast, but you are actually better off with bacon and eggs or an omlette for breakfast than with a muesli if you want to help your hair.
Foods you need to avoid are bread, pasta, pizza, biscuits, cakes, pasties and anything else that is made from wheat or gluten-free wheat. It is not enough if you change to gluten-free wheat as many people are not just intolerant to the gluten in the wheat but also to the rest of the grain.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Water:
Can’t I have juice instead of water?
Juice has a lot of sugar in it which makes the body acidic, and too much acidity is bad for your hair. Drinking juice also dehydrates you. There is really no replacement for water.
I find it hard to drink water. If I do, I have to run to the loo too often
Start with drinking sips of water throughout the day. If you need to pee a lot it means that you are completely dehydrated and / or that you are drinking too much too quickly.
Wheat:
I find it very hard not to eat pasta, bread and cakes. Do I really have to give them up for my hair to grow better?
I know it’s hard to give up wheat. Wheat is actually quite addictive, but if you want your hair back, you will need to at least drastically reduce your wheat intake. Wheat and other grains can actually stop the body from detoxing because they produce mucus in the body.
Is it OK to have glutenfree bread instead of normal bread?
Yes, gluten free is much better, but even that type of bread does not contain the nutrients your hair needs to grow, so make sure you have proteins and vegetables most of the time.
For more tips on hair regrowth, visit Vera Peiffer’s website: http://www.hairgrowthuk.co.uk/blog/ and read Regrowing Hair Naturally
Principles of Hypnotherapy
What it is, how it works, and what it can do for you
Vera Peiffer
This is an authoritative introduction to hypnotherapy explaining what it is, how it works, what its origins are, what to expect when being treated and how to find a reputable hypnotherapist. It also clarifies how hypnotherapy can help with mental and emotional trauma, anxiety, depression, phobias, confidence problems and unwanted habits.
© 2013 Singing Dragon blog. All Rights Reserved.
Make sure not to miss Singing Dragon’s latest UK Complete Catalogue. If you have not yet received a copy, please sign up for our mailing list and we’ll send a free one out to you ASAP.
Readers in the UK and Europe who request a copy of the catalogue before February 15th, 2013 will also receive a voucher for a 15% discount on the entire Singing Dragon list of books, with free postage and packing.
Take advantage of this opportunity to find new, forthcoming and classic books on Chinese Medicine, Holistic Health, Taiji, Qigong, Herbal Medicine, Yoga, Spirituality and more. Also, sample health-promoting recipes with The Functional Nutrition Cookbook, and Make Yourself Better with Philip Weeks’ books. Delve into the history of Ayurvedic Medicine and the Mudras of India, and discover the Five Levels of Taijiquan, Daoist Nei Gong and Chinese Medical Qigong.
To request your copy of our Complete Catalogue, please click here. To receive your 15% discount voucher, please be sure to click the checkbox for “Singing Dragon” under area of interest or else mention this offer in the “any further comments” section.
If you have previously received a copy of the catalogue, and would like to take advantage of the 15% discount, please feel free to request a voucher via email at post@intl.singingdragon.com.
‘An important part of what we do is trying to put parents and baby in a different connection, where the parents are more aware about the needs of the baby – and also aware of their own needs.’
In this interview, author and Shiatsu practitioner Karin Kalbantner Wernicke recounts the travels through Japan that helped her to compile the techniques that form Baby Shiatsu, describing the very real benefits that these techniques can bring to parents and to babies from both Eastern and Western medical practice.
What is Baby Shiatsu and why is it so important for young children?
Baby Shiatsu is a special form of Shiatsu which really looks into the development of the baby from both a Western and Eastern viewpoint. It follows what we know about infant development from Western medicine, but we also use the Eastern viewpoint to look at how the meridians develop. When you use both approaches together, they give a more complete understanding of a child’s development, and of the interaction between parents and children.
It is also really important, in our opinion, that Baby Shiatsu supports the child at the stage they are at in the present, without any preconceived ideas of what the child should be doing either now or later on in life. When doing Baby Shiatsu, we are just thinking about what is necessary for the child now, and what a parent can do now to help their child take their next step in their own time.
Baby Shiatsu also offers so much support for the little daily problems – when babies are teething, when they can’t sleep, if they have gas. There are so many simple techniques from Shiatsu that parents can use to support their child.
How did you develop this approach?
That’s a long story! Many years ago I studied Shiatsu and I lived in Japan. While I was there, I was of course influenced by their approaches to health. After coming back to Germany I met my husband who had previously worked as a doctor in the Philippines. As he was also interested in Oriental Medicine we went together to Japan where he studied Shonishin (special acupuncture for children). I’m also a physical therapist, and my husband is a doctor, and we both specialise in working with children and babies.
When we were in Japan, we wanted to understand how all of these different therapies help children and babies – where they differ and what they have in common. So we travelled around Japan, we made a film, and we analysed what different therapists were doing and the impacts that these different techniques had. We also met families who used techniques passed from mother to mother to mother, through the generations. During this time, we discovered many techniques and views, and we put them together with what we already knew from theory and practice. You see, in Japan one thing that we saw was that sometimes, even though the techniques worked wonderfully well, the therapists themselves couldn’t explain why they worked. We, with our education in oriental medicine, modern physiotherapy and western development could really see how these varied approaches support one another, and how they work together. This is what Baby Shiatsu is based on, but it is growing year by year. New studies and observations continue to bring out new ideas and techniques, and we take this all in, as well as feedback that we get from parents and colleagues.
What are the changes that you see when you work with children?
You can see many changes – for example, when you do Baby Shiatsu in the hand and arm with a baby, suddenly the baby can develop a real consciousness of their hand – you see them realise ‘this is my hand!’
But what is really important for us is to teach parents to see what their baby or young child needs – when it’s time for a break, when it’s time to cuddle, when it’s just time to do nothing. When this baby becomes conscious of their hand, he or she needs time to lay there, to look at their hand, to touch their hand, whereas most of the time the parent just wants to go on. It’s difficult to understand when to slow down. Nowadays, parents want so much for their baby. An important part of what we do is trying to put parents and baby in a different connection, where the parents are more aware about the needs of the baby – and also aware of their own needs.
In your book you show that Baby Shiatsu can also be used to help parents support themselves – can you tell us about that?
There is a Japanese saying: ‘If you want to strengthen the baby, strengthen first the mother or father.’ When we are doing mother-baby shiatsu classes it’s very important to always work on the same developmental theme, or Qi flow, with both baby and mother. Nowadays, more and more fathers and mothers are coming together to sessions with baby and that’s great – it really supports the whole family and many of these techniques get great feedback from the parents. Parents can even use the techniques that we teach them on each other if they have any problems.
Baby Shiatsu is so simple to use, and because we don’t use oil and the baby remains clothed you can do it everywhere – if you have a few minutes to spare you can do it with the hands, or with the feet. It’s really very practical.
© 2012 Singing Dragon blog. All Rights Reserved.
Author photo: Robert Taylor
The ultimate goal of meditative practice is to reach the state of pure awareness that is known as Nirvana, enlightenment or truth. However, it is the secondary benefits of meditation that are regarded as more achievable, and these are improvements in physical, mental and emotional health. Meditation allows us to detach ourselves from the transient realm of the mind and emotions, and enter a mode of awareness and allowing, or receptivity. There are two main approaches – concentration (associated with Yoga) and mindfulness (or insight, a Buddhist practice).
Scents, in the form of oils, candles or incense, are often used to enhance meditation. An appropriate fragrance can encourage a meditative state. Indeed, the preparation of the scent, such as lighting the candle or joss stick might even form part of a personal ritual that precedes meditation. However, despite this close association, scent is usually an adjunct, not the focus of the meditation. The focus might be concentrating on a flame, a mantra, or the breath, or, in the case of mindfulness meditation, allowing an unbroken, detached attentiveness to any thoughts and sensations that arise.
So, how has scent become linked with meditation? The use of aromatic substances to elicit particular responses via the sense of smell was integral to many cultures and life practices. These early uses included sacred and ritualistic practices such as anointing with fragrant oils and offering rites to gods; embalming and medicinal practices; as cosmetics, fumigants and mood-altering substances; as spiritual and philosophical healing systems; and for ritual stimulation of dreams and visions. Therefore aromatic substances were from the earliest times used as a means to alter mental states as well as for pleasure. It is now well established that scent can alter moods, perhaps by imparting a sense of calm, or clarity, or vitality. Some fragrances can even bringing about altered states of consciousness. For example, many shamanistic practices involve burning aromatic plants to alter consciousness and allow communication with the animal, plant and spirit worlds. It was priests and shamans who were the first healers of the psyche…
Meditation often begins by focussing the mind and attention on a sensory stimulus –usually a visual or auditory one. From there, you progress to the point of being alert and receptive, and eventually the division between the self and the focus of the meditation becomes blurred and disappears. As the mode of consciousness changes, different perceptions come and go.
Therefore scent too can become the initial focus of a meditation. We can focus on the scent, becoming aware of the different layers, as the top notes fade while the middle and base notes emerge. Analysis is not needed, and this removes us from the ‘problem solving’ state of mind and aids the shift to receptiveness – so we become centred in awareness rather than our mind. The interesting thing about scent meditation is that it seems to encourage creative awareness.
The following scent meditation can be used with the fragrances of essential oils, and you might like to start with the oils that we have highlighted. It is best to dispense a couple of drops on a smelling strip or blotting paper to allow an even and unhindered evaporation; this allows the true fragrance to evolve. The meditation was originally designed by the artisan perfumer and psychotherapist, Mandy Aftel, and has been adapted from her original script.
Prepare your chosen essential oil, and sit in a comfortable position, in a place away from other smells and distractions. You might like to close your eyes and count backwards from 30 to help to still your thoughts, or take a few unforced, deep, slow breaths. Then, hold the scent to your nose; sniff a few times to gain an initial impression. Then, focus your attention on your sense of smell, and continue to sniff, as needed, for a few moments. Notice the different notes that emerge, and then let them go. The scent will keep changing, sometimes obviously, sometimes this will be subtle. Discard any mental distractions that arise and keep returning to the scent. Then, holding the scent to your nose again, inhale deeply three times. You might like to open your eyes while you imagine your consciousness dissolving outward to the scent, feel as though you can touch it, merge with it, flow into it. When you feel you have reached the point of saturation, close your eyes again, and detach yourself from all senses but smell.
Descend deeply inside, bearing the essence of the scent you have chosen, and touch it with your vision of the scent. Build an inner picture of the essence – the essence of the essence. Imagine it as an object, or something abstract, a sound, a colour or shape, a plant, an animal, a scene, a place – anything that seems to you to be conjured by the deep impression of the scent. Turn outward again, and consciously smell the scent again. Repeat the outer phase and inner phase until you feel that the experience has reached a natural conclusion.
You will find that each scent you meditate upon creates a different internal image and meditative experience.
Meditation adapted from Aftel, M. (2001) Essence and Alchemy: a book of perfume London: Bloomsbury© 2012 Singing Dragon blog. All Rights Reserved.
Author photo: Robert Taylor
The bitter orange tree, Citrus aurantium subspecies amara, has been cultivated for its fragrance products for many years – as we have already learned how its blossoms yield neroli, the leaves and twigs yield petitgrain (meaning ‘little seed; look for the suffix ‘fol.’ to indicate that it is derived from leaves), also an important constituent of colognes, and the small fruits (suffix ‘fruct.’) yield bitter orange oil from their peel.
These fruits have a long history of culinary and medicinal uses. The liqueur, Curacao, is flavoured with the unripe fruits. The tree is native to Asia; and so its flowers and fruits form part of Oriental medicine – mainly as remedies for the myriad of disorders of the digestive system, as a cardiac tonic and for anxiety.
So, unlike the other aromatics in this short series, we turn exclusively to perfumery to discover bitter orange’s tradition of use. The citrus oils are some of the most volatile of raw materials of perfumery – they form the top notes – the ones that reach the nose first. Bitter orange oil has indeed a citrus odour, but in contrast with its close relation sweet orange, it is subtle, fresh, with a fairly tenacious floral undertone, and is considered by artisan perfumers to be more interesting. In perfumery, bitter orange is used in eaux de cologne (like its close botanical relatives neroli and petitgrain), but it is also is important in many other categories of fragrance. It gives a light, green-floral citrus freshness to the top notes of a composition; however like all of the citrus oils, this is short-lived and rapidly disappears as the fragrance heart develops. The tenacity and persistence of the citrus oils is poor in contrast to most of the other natural aroma materials.
However, in aromatherapy this tenacity issue is much less of a problem. The carrier oil used for massage will help slow down the rapid evaporation of the citrus oil in the prescription, and the scent is strong enough to be noticeable when first presented to a client. There have been several studies investigating the impact of citrus scents on mood, and it could be reasonably assumed that some of the mood benefits identified would apply to bitter orange. Citrus peel oils can decrease autonomic nervous system arousal (characteristic of stress) and promote feelings of cheerfulness and vigour, so the use of citrus oils to alleviate depression and stress is now a well-established aromatherapy practice.
The only caution regarding bitter orange, and some other citrus oils, is that they are phototoxic. This means that they should not be applied to skin that will be exposed to ultraviolet (UV) light, because burning can result. Phototoxic compounds in citrus peel oils are present because they are obtained by an expression process (literally squeezing the volatile oil out of the peel) rather than distillation. These molecules are quite large in comparison to the small ones found in essential oils, and they are not volatile (that is, they don’t evaporate) so they cannot be distilled. The phototoxic molecules can also be absorbed in to the top layer of the skin, and stay there for a few hours. If the skin is then exposed to sunlight, the molecules can absorb the UV light and store it before releasing it into the skin in a quick burst. The IFRA (International Fragrance Research Association) issue safety guidelines regarding the levels of such oils in products; the maximum limit for bitter orange oil in fragrance is 1.4%, at time of writing.
When you smell bitter orange, the top notes will appear fast and fleeting – citrus zest first, then the green notes, the floral notes will appear, and the heart is sweeter and slightly fruity. It is difficult not to smile and feel more at ease when bitter orange starts to make its impact, frustration and anger can diminish, making space for clarity of thought and the energy for creativity and innovation, or simply leaving the negative behind and making a fresh start.
© 2012 Singing Dragon blog. All Rights Reserved.
This post continues Jennifer Peace Rhind‘s exploration of five essential oils and their roles in wellbeing. Click through to read earlier posts on Neroli, Benzoin and Cardamom.
Author photo: Robert Taylor
Although it is commonly called cedar, Virginian cedarwood essential oil is in fact derived from a species of juniper – Juniperus virginiana. This tree and its wood, and the incense derived from its wood holds an important place in Northwest/Pacific Indian tradition. The Cherokee tell that cedar wood holds powerful protective spirits. Pieces of cedar wood are placed in medicine bags, and also above the doors of homes to ward off evil spirits. Cedar wood was also used to make totem poles and ceremonial drums. In ceremony and prayer, cedar is burned – and in common with other practices involving incense/smoke this is to carry the prayers to the Creator. In traditional and contemporary sweat lodges, cedar wood is used along with sage and other herbs such as sweetgrass, having a purifying function, and similarly cedar branches are used in house blessing ceremonies. It is interesting that the Pacific Northwest tribes say that not only does cedar drive away evil and negative energies but also brings in good energies.
Virginian cedarwood oil is distilled from the waste, powdered wood from sawmills, as the wood itself is an important commodity. The main use is in the manufacture of pencils, but it is also used in furniture manufacture, including the traditional ‘cedar chest’.
In aromatherapy, it is the essential oil from a true cedar – Atlas cedarwood – that is used in preference to that of Virginian cedarwood. This is possibly because of the mention in some texts that Virginian cedarwood is not recommended in pregnancy – although this is an unsupported caution. However, it is widely used in perfumery to impart woody notes in scented soaps and other toiletries. In artisan perfumery it is a useful top note, contributing soft, fresh, woody and faintly earthy characteristics, giving a very ‘natural’ sensation.
When you engage with the smell of Virginian cedarwood essential oil there are no real surprises – it really is reminiscent of the wood itself – with a gentle, fresh coniferous, slightly resinous, woody top, a more balsamic woody body and a dry, woody dryout. The scent will be ‘familiar’ to many of us, and is reminiscent of the forest environment too, so perhaps this is connected with its ability to promote a sense of resilience and inner strength. The scent can be likened to having an ‘inner anchor’, and can help in times of transformation, such as when redundant negative habits are being discarded and replaced with independence of mind and spirit.
Read tomorrow’s post to discover the properties of Bitter Orange.
© 2012 Singing Dragon blog. All Rights Reserved.
Author photo: Robert Taylor
Cardamom essential oil is derived from the seed capsules of Elettaria cardamomum – native to Southern India, and a member of the same botanical family as ginger. It was exported from India as early as Hellenistic times, and remains one of the world’s most expensive spices, second to saffron. Cardamom has been used for thousands of years; it is a very important spice in Arabic cultures and in Eastern traditional medicine. It is still added to Turkish coffee to counteract acidity. Like neroli, it is often considered to be an aphrodisiac – but not quite to the same extent, and usually in combination with other aromatics. However, according to Vedic texts, it had a reputation as a powerful aphrodisiac. Cardamom was used as a mediaeval love potion, and was known as ‘the fire of Venus’ (Venus being the Roman goddess of love and beauty). Cardamom features in incenses too, for example in Tibetan practice it is used medicinally for anxiety, and in Hindu ceremonies it forms part of a powdered incense formula called ‘Abir’. In ancient Egypt, cardamom was sometimes included as an ingredient of the incense known as kyphi, as an alternative to cinnamon. However, the Egyptian texts do not have a word that has been identified as meaning cardamom; it was the early writers such as Plutarch, Galen and Dioscorides that made these comments about the mysterious and celebrated kyphi.
Cardamom has been distilled to yield the essential oil since the 16th century, and is used in perfumery to give spicy, warm notes in floral fragrances. Its use in perfumery has perhaps been eclipsed by its medicinal attributes. An ancient Roman perfume called ‘Mendesium’ included cardamom, along with ben nut, myrrh and galbanum; this was valued not only as a perfume, but as a treatment for sore muscles – an early aromatherapy preparation? The essential oil should have a fresh spicy character; if there is a harsh or strong medicinal eucalyptus-like note, the quality may be questionable. This medicinal note is caused by the presence of a constituent that is also dominant in many eucalyptus essential oils, commonly known as eucalyptol, that gives the typical eucalyptus, or cineolic, odour. It can be present in cardamom essential oil at fairly high levels, but too much is detrimental to the fragrance. Eucalyptol, or 1,8-cineole has been shown to increase blood flow to the brain – hence the reputation of scents such as eucalyptus as stimulants to combat fatigue.
In aromatherapy, the main psychotherapeutic use of cardamom is for mental fatigue. Other uses are for the digestive system (echoing the traditional medicinal uses), the nervous system (traditional and contemporary evidence to support this) and as an expectorant (because, partly of the influence of the 1,8-cineole which has this property).
When smelling cardamom essential oil, look for a strong, penetrating, slightly cineolic note at the beginning that quickly gives way to the aromatic, sweet, spicy body before the balsamic nature of the dry out starts to be revealed. As you might expect, the eucalyptus-like top note can confer a feeling of alertness and clear sensations, so this scent can be very useful to help promote mental clarity, vitality and serenity.
Read tomorrow’s post to discover the properties of Virginian cedarwood
© 2012 Singing Dragon blog. All Rights Reserved.
Author photo: Robert Taylor
Benzoin is an aromatic resin that exudes from the wounded bark of small shrubby trees that are native to tropical Asia. The botanical names for the sources are Styrax benzoin, Styrax paralleloneuris and Styrax tonkinensis. The second part of the name indicates the different species, but they are all members of a larger botanical group known as the genus Styrax – tall, rapidly-maturing, birch-like trees. Two types of product are obtained, depending on the geographical and botanical origins. Siam benzoin occurs in brittle, yellow-brown to white ‘tears’, while Sumatra benzoin is a milky resinous sap which hardens before it is scraped off the bark. Benzoin cannot yield an essential oil, because its odorous molecules are not sufficiently volatile to distil over. Instead, benzoin is solvent extracted to give the material used in perfumery and aromatherapy; this product is known as a resinoid, and it can be further treated – for example, it needs to be dissolved in alcohol to facilitate use in perfumery. Resinoids themselves are difficult to handle, as they are thick, sticky, usually brown coloured extracts.
Benzoin, sometimes called gum Benjamin, was well known in the ancient world, and it has a very long tradition of use as a fragrance. Benzoin resin was a valuable commodity in ancient Greece and Rome, where it was used as a fixative in perfumes. The Romans called it laserpitium, and it was valued not only for its own contribution to a perfume, but also because it helped prolong the odour profile of the perfume and increase its staying power.
Benzoin was introduced to Europe in the 17th century. Its popularity endured, with the result that Siam became a major producer and supplier. Although it had medicinal uses, in Hindu and Buddhist practices benzoin was one of the incenses used to drive away evil. It is interesting to note that one of the ancient practices was to burn the resin at the feet of the dead, so that their souls were lifted to heaven with the smoke.
Both types of benzoin resinoid have a soft, sweet, vanilla-like scent; both are still used as a fixatives and base notes in perfumery. Siam benzoin resinoid has a sweet, balsamic, chocolate-like scent, and Sumatra benzoin resinoid is warm, sweet and powdery. Balsamic scents are sweet and warm, with a soothing character. The term powdery is used to denote a note that is reminiscent dry powder. Benzoin resinoid has a low evaporation rate, and is classed as a base note. This means that its odour molecules are amongst the last to evaporate and thus it contributes more to the final phases of a perfume rather than the initial impact. However, the resinoid does have its own top and middle notes. In Siam benzoin, which is more commonly available, the top note has a floral character, and the body is sweet, balsamic and the vanilla notes begin to emerge; the vanilla character is the part that persists and really characterises this resinoid. The vanilla note is due to the presence of a constituent called vanillin – the synthetic version of this is widely used in modern perfumery.
As well as being a valuable perfume material, benzoin resinoid has many other uses, for example in pharmaceutical preparations for the gums and skin, and as a component of tinctures to aid the respiratory system such as ‘Friar’s Balsam’. In in aromatherapy, it is primarily used for its calming, comforting scent, for stress-related problems, for skin problems and respiratory problems. Benzoin does have a reputation as a sensitizer (causing an allergic type of skin reaction), and it is sticky to touch, so it does require care in skin preparations. However, sniffing and inhalation are completely safe activities.
The scent of oils from resins such as benzoin can be used to help impart a sense of inner peace and security, stability and equilibrium. The sweet nature of benzoin is also experienced as nurturing and comforting, grounding and calming.
Read tomorrow’s post to discover the properties of Cardamom
© 2012 Singing Dragon blog. All Rights Reserved.