Journaling is a fantastic way to express your love for all things essential oils! It allows you to keep track of your stores, record your recipes and blends and document your experiences with different oils. Plus journaling about your essential oils can help you develop a deeper understanding and appreciation for your the oils in your collection.
Why Journal?
Our brain is divided into regions that process visual, emotional, auditory, verbal communication and so on. And each region of the brain processes this information differently. Though we all have our own best ways of learning, when we take notes, something pretty special happens. Written notes, and even drawings, are processed by a part of the brain that handles spatial tasks. Utilizing this part of the brain enhances memory retention!
Even though using your computer is an option for journaling, experts agree that sitting down with pen and paper is actually the most effective method for understanding new concepts and retaining information. This is because most people can type faster than they can write. When typing out your notes on a laptop, a person tends to document notes verbatim. A person who writes information in a notebook or journal has to work to summarize and filter relevant information in their own words which increases the ability to recall information. Sounds like a great reason to stick with pen and paper!
Meet Our Essential Oil Organizer
While any old notebook will absolutely do the trick, we have something tailor-made for you. Our Essential Oil Organizer is has everything you need! There are five sections included in this journal: My Single Oils, My Blends, My Recipes, EO Wishlist, and EO Education. The double-sided pages include specific prompts to ensure you are keeping track of useful information, such as purchase date, shelf life, therapeutic properties, cautions, ingredients, and anything else you want to record.
Bonus! You can even purchase refill pages if you ever run out.
What to Journal?
With a notebook or essential oil organizer, pens and your essential oils in hand, you can begin your journaling! Here are a few things you might want to add to your journal:
- Common and botanical name
- Safety concerns (KidSafe, Pregnancy Safe, Nursing Safe, Pup & Pony Approved, max dermal dilutions, contraindications)
- Purchase information (shelf life, lot #, company purchased from, purchase date, bottle size)
- Properties of the oil and what you would use it for
- Personal thoughts and experiences with the oil
- Key constituents and their individual properties (serious enthusiasts may even want to reference studies)
- Interesting facts about the oil
- Perfumery note
- Recipes
You can keep things as simple or detailed as you want. You can use a simple composition notebook or go for the Essential Oil Organizer. The important thing is to have fun. Journaling opens up so many possibilities to expand our knowledge and express our creativity while creating a treasured resource that you can refer to time and time again.
To join a community of fellow essential oil enthusiasts, be sure to check out our Safe Essential Oil Recipes (SEOR) Facebook Group.
References
1: Wax, D. (2018, January 03). Writing and Remembering: Why We Remember What We Write. Retrieved from https://www.lifehack.org/articles/featured/writing-and-remembering-why-we-remember-what-we-write.html
2: 3 Scientific Links Between Handwriting Your Notes and Memory. (2016, August 03). Retrieved from https://redbooth.com/blog/handwriting-and-memory
