Lavender – the healing plant for body and soul

Almost everyone knows what lavender looks like and how it smells, but not everyone knows that lavender is a well-known medicinal plant.

The deep violet blossoms of the real lavender combine a breathtaking scent and many ingredients, which are a blessing for the body as well as for the soul.

As far back as ancient Egypt, people used lavender as a medicinal plant and gave the pharaohs pots of lavender ointment to take with them to the grave. When the royal tombs were opened 3000 years later, the scent of lavender was still perceptible.

Today, the purple flowers serve as a remedy for various diseases and lavender is still a proven natural remedy.

What makes lavender so successful?

There are many different varieties of lavender, which contain more than 2000 active ingredients. Not all of these active ingredients are beneficial to health, only about 400 have a significance for body and soul.

Thus, lavender also contains linalool, an active ingredient that can inhibit inflammation and neutralize pathogens. Also a component in lavender is linalyl acetate, which can positively influence the soul, it also calms the nerves and ensures a peaceful, restful sleep.

Another important active ingredient in lavender is cineol, which has the property of reducing fever and effectively relieving respiratory problems.

The essential oil in the lavender flowers is also a good sleep aid. Those who have problems falling asleep should put one or two drops of the oil on a small piece of cloth and place it next to the pillow.

Lavender oil takes the fear

The Egyptian pharaohs were anointed with lavender oil and the Roman legionaries were given a small bouquet of lavender before an important battle. The scent of the purple flowers should take away their fear and calm them down.

Unfortunately, it is no longer possible to prove whether this strategy has worked, but it has been scientifically proven that lavender, and especially the essential oil from the flowers, takes away fear.

However, lavender oil plays a special role in massages. Massaged into the skin, it prevents inflammation and helps minor injuries heal better.

The fragrant oil has mainly a soothing effect on the skin and muscles. Tension is relieved, muscles are relaxed and even the worst sore muscles lose their fright thanks to lavender oil.

Even a mild sunburn is painful, and insect bites are not pleasant either. In these two cases, the oil from the flowers of lavender can also help.

Not a pleasant scent for everyone

Lavender is not only appreciated for its many positive properties for body and soul, its scent makes it a declared enemy for insects of all kinds.

If you use a spray bottle to distribute the oil from the lavender flowers diluted with water in the room, you will have no problems with mosquitoes or spiders.

Lavender flowers in a small bowl also ensure that pesky pests leave the room in a hurry. Especially mosquitoes do not like the scent and since the little bloodsuckers have a good memory, they do not come back so quickly.

Clothes moths are something very unpleasant. They usually have a large appetite and love to eat large holes in jackets and coats, dresses and pants. To prevent this, lavender is also a very good choice.

Simply sew lavender flowers into a small linen bag and hang the bag in the closet. The moths will take flight and won’t be seen again anytime soon.

A little tip: To keep the lavender flowers fresh longer, periodically hold the sachet over steam before returning it to the closet or dresser.

Lavender is suitable for internal use?

The healing and effective power of lavender is not only for external use, the plant is also suitable for internal use.

A good example is lavender tea, which not only tastes great, but can also help in many ways. To prepare it, put the dried flowers in a tea infuser, boil water and let it cool for a few minutes.

Then put the tea infuser in a teapot, pour the water over it and let the lavender tea steep for a maximum of ten minutes. Put a spoonful of honey in the cup, pour the tea and just enjoy it afterwards.

In the meantime, you can even buy ready-made lavender tea in practical tea bags. This makes it even easier to drink a cup of the soothing tea more often.

Lavender tincture is also intended for internal use, but here it is always advisable to consult a doctor in advance, because not everyone can really tolerate this concentrated tincture well.

Since the correct dosage is always important here, the doctor should decide how to use the tincture.

Conclusion

Lavender is a well-known, proven and popular medicinal plant with a long tradition, but unfortunately it is not completely free of side effects.

How severe these side effects are, and whether any occur at all, depends primarily on the quality of the product in question.

With the oil and tincture of lavender flowers, the worst case scenario is an allergic reaction. Therefore, it is always important to test beforehand with a few drops in the crook of the arm, whether there is an intolerance or not.