Aromatherapy- Scent With A Purpose

Gratitude recognizes that something good has reached us. Generosity decides it doesn't have to end there.

What Happens When Kindness Doesn't Stop With You?

There is something very different about receiving something we expected and receiving something that was never owed to us in the first place. We place an order and expect it to arrive, celebrate a birthday and know there may be gifts, or help a friend who later returns the favour. These exchanges can be meaningful and generous, but we understand the pattern behind them. Then, every once in a while, someone does something kind for no particular reason. They thought of us. They noticed something we might enjoy. They had something they could share and decided to share it with us, with no debt to settle and no expectation that we would do anything in return.

Those moments can stay with us far longer than the size or value of the gesture would suggest, because unexpected kindness carries more than whatever is being given. It tells us that, for at least one moment, another person looked outside their own life and saw us. Someone considered what might bring us pleasure, make something easier, or remind us that we mattered enough to cross their mind. The gift itself may be worth very little in dollars and still feel enormous in another kind of currency.

Something else can happen after we receive that kindness. We begin looking outward ourselves. We may not give back to the person who gave to us, nor does the gesture need to be returned in equal measure, but experiencing generosity can remind us of what generosity feels like. We notice another person who could use encouragement or recognize an opportunity to give something of ourselves that we might otherwise have passed by. An exchange that appeared to involve only two people now has the possibility of travelling farther.

This is where gratitude can become more than something we feel.

What Do We Do With Gratitude?

Throughout this week's Wellness Letter, we have been looking at appreciation from several directions. We have considered what happens when our attention becomes so accustomed to what is good that we barely see it anymore. We have looked at the abundance represented by food on a table and at the remarkable work our bodies perform through movements we call ordinary. Allana has explored the possibility that gratitude does not always need to wait for a reason.

Aromatherapy brings us to one more question: What happens after we feel grateful?

There is value in recognizing that something good has happened and allowing ourselves to receive it without immediately moving on. Gratitude, however, can also create movement. Appreciation can become generosity, generosity can become another person's experience of kindness, and that experience can influence what happens next.

Human beings affect one another in ways we don't always recognize while they are happening. Research into what is known as prosocial behaviour has explored generosity, cooperation, helping and other actions intended to benefit another person, including what can happen after people receive or witness them. Human behaviour is far too complex to reduce to the catchy idea that kindness is automatically contagious, yet there is something important underneath it: what we experience from other people can influence what we carry into our next interaction.

Most of us have probably experienced this without giving it a name. Someone was patient with us when we were flustered, and later we found ourselves having more patience for somebody else. Someone's unexpected generosity reminded us how good generosity feels. We watched another person step forward when help was needed and became more aware of the next opportunity when we could do the same.

Kindness shows us something about what is possible between people, and sometimes it gives us somewhere to begin.

Growing Gratitude, the Casaroma way

Many years ago at Casaroma, we created a product around this very idea. We called it Growing Gratitude, and the thought behind it mattered just as much to us as the aromatherapy blend inside the bottles.

When you purchased our Happiness Spray kit, you didn't receive one spray. You received two.

Both contain the same blend of Lime, Frankincense, and Ylang Ylang. One was yours to enjoy, but the second spray was included free of charge; we also labeled it, explaining that it is a Gift of Love. That second bottle, we hoped you would give it away, not because you owed someone a gift or needed to return a favour, but because there was someone you wanted to surprise with a little kindness.

By including the second bottle ourselves, we could begin the gesture, but you would decide where it went next. Instead of Casaroma giving something to one person, the person opening the package became part of giving the next gift.

When we originally created Growing Gratitude, we had an enormous hope attached to two very small bottles: we wanted to reach one million people through gifts of gratitude.

That did not necessarily mean selling one million products. The bigger idea was to see how far generosity could travel if people kept participating in it. Looking back at the concept now, I think that may still be the most interesting part of Growing Gratitude. We created an aromatherapy product, certainly, but we also created a reason for one person to stop and think about another.

Scents make a memory

Our sense of smell has particularly close relationships with areas of the brain involved in emotion and memory, which helps explain why an aroma can unexpectedly bring a person, place, or period of our lives back into awareness with remarkable immediacy. Sometimes we smell something familiar, and the memory seems to arrive before we have even figured out what the scent is reminding us of.

An aromatic gift can therefore become more than something sitting on a shelf. We use it, experience it, and allow the aroma to become part of the environment around us. Over time, a familiar scent can collect associations with the people, places and experiences surrounding it.

Growing Gratitude combines Lime, Frankincense and Ylang Ylang into a bright and distinctive aroma created to bring a sense of lightness and enjoyment into the space around you. Scent can change our experience of an environment, catch our attention, and become connected in memory with the experiences surrounding it.

With Growing Gratitude, the aroma accompanies the gesture. Someone hands you a bottle and tells you that you don't owe them anything for it, and that experience may eventually become part of what the aroma means to you.

Generosity Requires Us to Notice Someone Else

There is another side of giving that deserves some attention because the person receiving the kindness isn't the only person involved in the experience.

Giving asks us to notice.

If I have that second bottle in my hand and decide I am going to give it away, I have to think about another person. Who would enjoy this? Who could use an unexpected bright spot in their day? Who would be surprised to discover that somebody had been thinking about them? For a moment, my attention has moved beyond myself and toward another human being.

Our own lives can become very consuming. There are bills to pay, people to care for, work waiting to be finished, and concerns that occupy far more of our attention than we intended to give them. We can become so involved in managing our own circumstances that opportunities to affect another person's day pass unnoticed.

Generosity interrupts that pattern because it asks us to look outward, and the gesture does not have to be large to matter. When we make generosity elaborate, we can accidentally make it harder to practise because we begin believing we need more money, more time,

or a special occasion before we have enough to give. Yet some of the gestures people remember longest are remembered because of the moment in which they arrived, not because of what they cost.

There is also something freeing about giving without arranging the return journey. If I give something while keeping track of what you now owe me, we have created an exchange. When I give and release the outcome, something different becomes possible.

Sometimes people have a challenge to receive.

Some of us find this side of generosity considerably harder. We are comfortable being the helper, the person who brings the food, gives the gift, makes the phone call, or steps in when something needs doing. Then someone tries to do something for us, and we immediately tell them they shouldn't have, explain why we don't need anything, or begin thinking about how quickly we can repay them.

But generosity needs somewhere to land.

Receiving a kindness does not have to place us in debt to the person who offered it. Sometimes allowing another person to give is part of the exchange. We can say thank you, enjoy what was offered, and allow the gesture to matter without immediately trying to balance the scales. Then, when another opportunity appears somewhere else, we can become the giver.

The circle does not have to close between the same two people. It can grow.

An Aromatic Welcome for Thanksgiving

There is another form of giving that happens around Thanksgiving, and it begins before anyone sits down at the table. We prepare a space for other people. We cook, tidy the house, bring out dishes, make room around the table,

and think about how our home will feel when somebody walks through the door.

An Aroma can be part of your welcome.

This week's recipe can be made in two different ways. The first uses ingredients from the kitchen in a simmer pot, while the second takes the aromatic character of those ingredients and creates an essential-oil version for your diffuser.

Thanksgiving Simmer Pot ( you can use this any time of year)

You will need:

· Peel from 1 orange

· 1 small apple, sliced

· 1 cinnamon stick

· 2 small sprigs of fresh rosemary

· 3 whole cloves

· Water to cover generously

Place everything in a saucepan and cover generously with water. Bring it just to a gentle simmer, reduce the heat to low, and allow the aromatic steam to move through the kitchen and surrounding rooms. Check the water frequently and add more as needed. Never allow the pot to boil dry or leave it unattended.

The orange peel contributes its bright citrus aroma, rosemary adds a fresh green herbal note, while cinnamon and clove bring the warm spice character many of us associate with autumn cooking. The warming apple rounds out the aroma and adds something particularly familiar to a kitchen at this time of year.

Thanksgiving Welcome Diffuser Blend ( You can use this any time of year)

If you would rather use your diffuser, we can take the aromatic idea of the simmer pot and create a related essential-oil blend:

· 3 drops Sweet Orange

· 2 drops Rosemary

· 1 drop Cinnamon Leaf

Use the number of drops appropriate for the capacity and directions of your diffuser. If your diffuser requires fewer drops, maintain approximately the same proportions rather than making the blend stronger.

You may have noticed that apple disappeared from the diffuser recipe, and there is a good reason for that: there is no true apple essential oil. Products that smell like apple are generally created as fragrance compositions rather than being a genuine essential oil expressed or distilled from apples. It is a useful reminder that a bottle carrying the name of a fruit or plant does not automatically mean the aroma inside is an essential oil.

We also specifically use Cinnamon Leaf essential oil, rather than Cinnamon Bark, in aromatherapy. Cinnamon essential oil is potent, so a little is plenty. Diffuse for limited periods in a well-ventilated space, and use additional caution when diffusing around young children, pets, or anyone who is particularly sensitive to aroma.

Whichever version you choose, the purpose is not to make anyone grateful or happy. It is part of preparing the space you are welcoming them into. Sometimes hospitality begins before the meal reaches the table, and aroma can become one of the ways our home says:

I'm glad you're here.

And From Allana and Me, Thank You

Writing about gratitude and generosity would feel incomplete if Allana and I did not stop here and acknowledge something that matters very much to both of us: Casaroma is still here because you continue to choose it.

A small business does not remain alive for more than thirty years because two people continue making products and showing up for work. It remains because people continue to walk through the door, even when that door changes over the years. You place an order. You book an appointment. You send us a message telling us what worked for you or ask a question that sends us in a new direction. You read this Wellness Letter, recommend us to somebody you care about, return for a product you have been using for years, or decide to try something we have just created.

Those choices matter to us personally, but they also matter in a very practical way. Buying our products and booking our services are what allow Casaroma to continue. They allow us to keep creating, blending, researching, writing, and working with you, and they help make it possible for us to still be here when someone who has never heard of Casaroma begins looking for what we offer.

From our side of the counter, we can see the longer line behind each purchase. One order helps us make the next batch. One appointment helps keep a service available. One recommendation may introduce us to someone we would never otherwise have met. Your continued support helps Casaroma remain here long enough to serve another person who has not found us yet.

So we want you to know that we see it.

We appreciate your purchases because they genuinely help keep this business alive, but our gratitude extends far beyond what you buy. We appreciate your trust, your questions, your stories, your humour, your encouragement,

and the many years that some of you have chosen to travel alongside us. Casaroma has grown and changed because of the people who have participated in it, and Allana and I do not take that continued support for granted.

Thank you for helping us remain here to serve you another day, and for helping make it possible for us to be here when the next person finds us.

We created a product, “Growing Gratitude,” years ago with Lime, Frankincense and Ylang Ylang, two little bottles and the rather audacious dream of reaching one million people. Looking at that dream again today, maybe it was never really about counting to one million. Maybe it was about discovering what could happen if enough of us allowed something good to keep moving.

Gratitude recognizes that something good has reached us. Generosity decides it doesn't have to end there.