Petitgrain and an apology.

In the Jane Buckle CCAP course, in Module 2, Petitgrain is taught as a substitute for Neroli, to use in treating Anxiety.  Nope.  I didn't believe a word of it.  Accept no substitutes.  Neroli is the specific for anxiety; I have seen it work amazingly more times than I can list. So I respectfully disagreed with my beloved instructor, made the appropriate notes on the handout and said "nope."

She also said that Petitgrain was wonderful for "Monkey Mind"... you know the time that it's 2:30 AM and you have a big day tomorrow and need a good night's sleep and, after napping for an hour, you are WIDE awake with your mind running in a hamster wheel chasing tomorrow's todo list. That kind of "MonkeyMind."

OH.  yes.  this  use of Petitgrain would be worth investigating. *Whenever* I have a long and possibly stressful day ahead of me I wake up between 2:00 and 3:00 am and there I am, wide awake for hours.  So I brought home some samples of a new Petitgrain from a new supplier. ITALIAN Petitgrain!

Petitgrain Oil being measured in

A few days later I had an "important" day ahead. At bedtime I put a few drops of either SleepEase or Relax in the aromastone beside my bed.  And fell asleep almost instantly.  And at 2:45 AM my to-do list was running. The list had sublists, and bullet points, and subcategories. And the whatif's... if I didn't get the list completed PERFECTLY the consequences would be dire!  I didn't know what they would be, but they would be dire. (An elder in my community used to talk about having "Awfulitis."
I don't know what is going to happen but it's going to be AWFUL.  I had a full-blown case of "Awfulitis.")

Petitgrain!  I added a few drops to whatever was already in the Aromastone. The next thing I knew was the sound of my alarm. It was time to start the day.

Plaudits to Kathy Duffy, she was right about Petitgrain helping with "Monkey Mind."    Further experiments have shown that *for me* Petitgrain alone is not an effective sleep aid.  But for the "wake you up in the night with worries" type of insomnia, I won't be without it.

So, my teacher was right about that part of it, the "monkey mind."  But about anxiety?  I was still quite skeptical.

Two weeks ago, I was collaborating on a presentation with a colleague.  It was important to both of us.  I brought a small array of appropriate samples, and research citations backing up our selections. She had done a ton of homework. Had stacks of paperwork. We got together perhaps a half an hour before the appointment to go over our plans. She started to show me the research she had done, and just lost it.  Too many papers, too much information, too much stress and anxiety. Totally overwhelmed; a full blown anxiety attack.

One of the samples I brought along was our new Italian Petitgrain.   Uncap the wee sample vial, hand it to her,  "Here, breathe this."   I sat and watched a wave of calm sweep over her.  In less than a minute she was a different person.  I have seldom seen such a powerful reaction to an essential oil in all my years of playing with them.

My humble apology to Kathy Duffy, Dr. Jane Buckle and all the CCAP teachers who teach the use of Petitgrain for anxiety.  I was wrong.

And we promptly ordered another five kilos of this amazing oil.

Our Petitgrain bigarade is extremely high in esters, so I would expect it to be a wonderful relaxant. As well as being over 50% Linalyl acetate, it contains significant amounts of Neryl acetate and Geranyl acetate. Based on the chemistry, alone, it should be more sedating than Lavender, for example, and the other oils usually recommended for relaxation.  I'm taught that in fairly strong dilution it is an antispasmodic.  (For this, I would blend it with Sweet Marjoram.)

Reach for it when someone needs calming.

Petitgrain bigarade blends aromatically with Bergamot, Cedarwood, Clary Sage, Geranium (I prefer the “Reunion” geranium, rather than my Rose Geranium with it), Jasmine, Sandalwood, Ylangylang, and all Citrus Oils.

Oh.. what I forgot to say, above. this new Italian Petitgrain (which, apparently, we could/should be calling either Neroli Petitgrain, or Neroli bigarade, but it's already labeled and we are not changing those labels!) what I forgot to say it that it is not muddy!  It is a beautiful soft green aroma, with hints of citrus and perhaps hints of floral.  I *like* it!.

And more about the confusing nomenclature to follow in a future post.