Raining Feet's Blog

Tea-Tree Oil and Cats Don’t Mix

rainingfeet — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 07:51:17 +0000

Just a word of warning to everyone out there..reading from my faithful old aromatherapy book I decided to apply neat essential oil to my cat’s chin which has been affected by a good old bout of chin acne. I had been cleaning it up until this point and whilst it did improve sometimes, it would then revert back to look pretty crabby. I started putting tea-tree oil on it and for a day or two thought I could see an improvement. I decided to read up on the internet and was shocked and horrified to see that cats in the US have actually died from a toxic reaction to tea tree oil and that on no account should it be applied neat topically!! Whilst Max is still bounding about and shows no signs of imminent death, his chin is still looking rather unsavoury and so a trip to the vet is unavoided.. however, this does highlight the simple facts that essential oils are not to be trifled with!! Don’t just assume that you will get up to date and correct information from a book (this book is a well known and loved albeit dated book) – updates are constantly being applied the more we learn about the properties of essential oils, so if in doubt, contact a qualified aromatherapist!

Still Raining

rainingfeet — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 21:05:21 +0000

A busy and wet week so far. Have been enjoying using acupressure as a method to help relieve shoulder and neck pain that is such a common complaint. Was slightly sceptical in the beginning but I must admit that results are pretty instantaneous with regards to freeing locked muscle fibres that combined, can pull bones out of their natural alignments. Whether it’s a longterm solution I am yet to discover, having not used it often within my massages to date. I think one of the galling factors of being a massage therapist, is wishing you could do more to alleviate the discomfort and tightness that your clients suffer, but without further training you are not going to learn the advanced techniques such as trigger point and myofascial release massage that are supposed to help reduce the amount of referrals made to osteopaths and the like. Look forward to learning more about them in due course.

Have been enjoying using ingredients from me kitchen cupboard to make face masks and body scrubs. Honey mixed with tumeric is great for acne prone skin – it doesn’t dye your skin honest! or maybe that’s why I have been getting even more strange looks than usual on the school run! – and a vegetable oil (almond, olive etc) mixed with oatmeal and sea salt is another cheap option for exfoliating – especially when combined with a couple of essential oils for a scrumptiously added smelly bonus. Won’t be left with anything to eat at this rate…

Rain

rainingfeet — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 21:06:19 +0000

It’s done nothing but rain here in Worthing today. Complete contrast to yesterday which was almost spring like. Have had a productive week researching natural home-made remedies and thinking of ways to introduce new treatments when I have finished my aromatherapy course. Am thinking of doing some lovely aromatherapy facials and making some foot scrubs to use when I am up and running in that department.

Saw a new client this week who lives in the most gorgeous house in the countryside. She had two hilarious dogs who bounded around and spent most of their time throughout the massge either licking my hand, sniffing my bag or eating my shoe. Not to mention the cat who decided that the couch was surely for her.. couldn’t help but laugh knowing that if I practised massage at home, Seamus (cat) would definitely want to be in on the treatment. What is it with cats? They are so darn nosey…

So here we are..

rainingfeet — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 17:54:36 +0000

This is my first ever official blog. Not something I ever thought I would be doing.. but I can see it is going to be quite addictive. Whilst this is primarily a Raining Feet blog, I have no doubt that it will creep into other areas of my life, or rather, other areas of my life will creep into ‘it’. Careful editing will be the key to avoiding embarrassing mistakes methinks.

I am relaunching Raining Feet in Worthing and really pretty excited about it. Currently doing a course in Aromatherapy and feel incredibly inspired by the books I am reading. Having been interested in Aromatherapy since er.. the mid-90′s, my books are somewhat battered but there is nothing quite like reading a book from a different perspective. I now am able to create ‘blends’ with a little more knowledge and cannot wait for the time when I can create my lotions and potions, for my family, clients and THE WORLD!! (Evil laugh ensuing)… (mind you.. can’t think of anything much nicer than the world being taken over by Aromatherapy, can you? At least it will smell nice). Talking of smells, the waft of sausage and mash (and not just any sausage and mash – but sausage and mash cooked by a French Man. And a chef at that!) is coming up the stairs and so I think I shall do the polite thing and go and eat as much as I can bear.

Welcome to the new blog of Raining Feet and I hope you enjoy it’s progress as much as it’s author!

Cheerio.