A new year potentially means a new list of resolutions and perhaps a subsequently fresh mindset. If you’ve made a resolution that involves reading more throughout this year, it can be hard to know where to start and what to read. Why not use this resolution as an opportunity to discover new ways to find presence and mindfulness, connect with your higher self, and be educated on aromatherapy and how it can be implemented in your everyday life? We have compiled a list of books that we recommend if this is the sort of growth you’re hoping to achieve in 2023.
Books on Aromatherapy
Power of the Seed: Your Guide to Oils for Health & Beauty by Susan M. Parker
As an herbalist and creator of herbal skin care products, Parker goes in depth on the sources, uses, and types of oils used in cosmetics and commercial beauty products. She provides education on how one can use oils to create their own massage oils, cosmetics, or skin care in a way that is both safe, shelf stable, and effective. She offers valuable information on carrier oils and how they can be utilized in your home-made applications. For the essential oil user interested in creating their own recipes and products for personal use, this book is ideal.
Hydrosols: The Next Aromatherapy by Suzanne Catty
Catty provides in-depth information on what aromatic hydrosols are, as well as their uses and their benefits. This includes detailed guides on the ways in which hydrosols can be seamlessly implemented into your life, as well as over a hundred recipes and formulas using hydrosols. She illustrates the advantages of using hydrosols with children, animals, or anyone with weaker immune systems or sensitivities to oils, as these are much safer and still provide many of the benefits of aromatherapy without the margin of error and potential for inadvertent unsafe practices. For a basic introduction to hydrosols and the ways they can be utilized, consider this book.
Lawless presents a comprehensive guide to essential oils. She touches on the different kinds of extraction methods for essential oils and what those different methods mean, how to safely and effectively use essential oils in a way that ensures one will reap the benefits, what ailments different oils can specifically address, how to utilize essential oils in homemade products, and much more. If you want an overall guide on the basics of essential oils and how to use them throughout your life, this book is a great place to start.
Essential Oil Safety: A Guide for Health Care Professionals by Robert Tisserand and Rodney Young
Tisserand and Young are notorious for having created one of the most comprehensive guides on essential oil safety, referencing dozens of studies and peer-reviewed articles in order to provide the most reliable information on how to be as safe as possible when utilizing essential oils in any environment. With cited sources and science as their foundation, Tisserand and Young go in-depth on potential hazards and risks of specific essential oils, as well as how to properly use them. Whether you’re a seasoned user currently or if you plan on utilizing essential oils beyond entry level usage, this book is a must-have.
Tisserand has made our list again, and there’s definitely a reason for it. In “The Art of Aromatherapy”, he gives a detailed explanation of essential oils as they’ve been used throughout history and as far back as Ancient Egyptian times. He provides information on evaporation rates, therapeutic index, and more scientific data for essential oils. He goes on to give details about the uses and benefits of essential oils, even providing recipes for his readers to utilize their essential oils on their own. To further understand the science behind essential oils, their historical context, and how they can be used safely, consider this book.
Bell talks about the history of using aromatherapy to assist with the healing and care of animals and about both the potential risks and benefits that can ensue from using essential oils or hydrosols with animals. She proceeds to explain the science behind aromatherapy and why she considers it one of the most reliable holistic care methods for our pets and livestock. She then details safe practices for aromatherapy with a varied list of animal species. If you have animals and use essential oils, it’s immensely important to know the risks and safe practices.
The Heart of Aromatherapy: An Easy-to-Use Guide for Essential Oils by Andrea Butje
Butje (LMT and Clinical Aromatherapist), discusses 40 essential oils in her comprehensive guide on understanding and using essential oils safely. She describes the different properties of the oils as well as safe and effective use of each oil. Rather than an overwhelming index of every oil that currently exists, the simplicity in only focusing on and discussing the select 40 oils in this book lends itself to easier-to-digest content for the essential oil beginner. She discusses different distillers around the world and instructs you on how to select quality essential oils. Her guide also includes over 100 recipes for natural-cleaning, skincare, relaxation, and more. For a beginners guide to what essential oils are and how to use them safely and effectively, this is a perfect read.
Books on Mindfulness
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk
Bessel van der Kolk, M.D. is one of the world’s foremost experts in trauma. He uses recent scientific advances to explain how trauma can seriously impact the body and the mind following a traumatic event. He touches on different treatments that can be used to assist someone after trauma and explores the different benefits and results from those various treatments. This is a perfect book for someone that wants to understand how they have potentially been mentally and physically impacted from trauma in their life and who wants to explore the different ways in which they can treat and address it in a healthy, natural way.
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck
Renowned psychologist Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D. talks about the power and meaning of ‘mindset’ and how every aspect of our lives can be impacted substantially simply by the way that we think about it and frame it within the context of our perspective. She teaches about a growth mindset vs. a fixed mindset and guides her readers towards having a deep-rooted growth mindset. This book is perfect for those that want to feel in control of their circumstances, discern which of those circumstances are within their realm of control, and want to subsequently flourish in life.
The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment by Eckhart Tolle
Tolle is a spiritual teacher who writes about how to find and connect with your truest and deepest self. He explains enlightenment and how the mind is one of our greatest enemies in the pursuit of it. He teaches how to live a happy, pain-free existence and how to be present in every moment. This is the book for those who feel lost in life and want to know how to find their true selves and find peace in every moment.
The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself by Michael A. Singer
Also a spiritual teacher, Singer talks about how to free yourself from the limitations you have given yourself and live a life without your boundaries. He teaches about the practices of meditation and mindfulness and how those relate to freedom and fulfillment beyond what you may have thought possible. He helps his readers understand their relationship with their emotions and thoughts and helps them avoid being limited by them. This is the perfect book for someone that feels stuck and wants to experience life through a different lens.
Think Like a Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Every Day
Tara Brach, Ph.D., talks about the limitations and constrictions of self-doubt and feeling as if something is wrong with us. She explains that these thoughts and feelings lead to nothing but great suffering that will follow us our whole lives if we are unable to ‘trust our innate goodness’. She uses personal stories, Buddhist fables, and guided meditations to help her readers heal from those toxic ideas and feelings and instead to find compassion and love within themselves. If you find yourself regularly being down on yourself, practicing negative self-talk, or are having a hard time feeling like you are in-touch with yourself, this is a perfect read.
Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday
A New York Times Best-Selling author and philosopher, Holiday explains that most people tend to blame their lack of happiness or success on outside factors in their life but, in reality, it is the ego that impedes us from achieving either of these things. He uses examples from literature, philosophy, and history to support the idea that our ego is our greatest enemy when it comes to trying to find fulfillment in life. If you constantly feel that it is circumstances outside of your control that are undermining your success and happiness with where you are in life, consider this book.
We can achieve incredible growth milestones when we fill the free time in our life with reading and learning. Reading more and making self development is a very noble resolution to hold and one with very rewarding results. Here at Jade Bloom we encourage you to continually push yourself to progress and flourish in life and consider this to be a surefire way to do so. We hope you take some time to explore these book suggestions and potentially discover new passions or new ways of looking at the world.
