How to enliven your mind

Ever feel like your brain is drained? You’re not alone. It’s a common complaint. Most of us tend to do too much and are pulled in many directions during the day, demanding that our brain be at peak performance at all times. Even a single task requiring intense concentration, whether a serious, jobrelated task or an enjoyable hobby such as sewing, knitting, canning vegetables, painting, or writing, can be mentally exhausting.

There are several things you can do to recharge your brain power. Perhaps most importantly, your brain requires a higher amount of energizing carbohydrates or natural sugars than any other organ. So, one way to help prevent mental fatigue is to stoke the brain’s fire with a fortifying complex-carbohydrate snack such as fruit, granola, oatmeal spiked with dried fruit, vegetable sticks, nuts, or seeds.

Adding spices such as cayenne, ginger, jalapeños, and cinnamon to your diet will stimulate both your digestion and your circulation. A few cups of green tea with fresh ginger slices go a long way toward keeping you wide-eyed and bushy-tailed, plus they provide your brain and body with a boatload of antiaging antioxidants.

A 5-minute exercise break several times a day is a great way to reoxygenate your brain and stimulate mental circulation. Simply take a quick walk around your workspace or around the block, or walk up and down a few flights of stairs, or bend and stretch a few times and then do a dozen squats and a dozen push-ups — anything that will get fresh blood pumping to your brain.

Another thing you can do to enliven your mind is to take full advantage of the stimulating scents offered by the herb world. For example, crush a few fresh peppermint or scented geranium leaves between your fingers and inhale their crisp fragrance to instantly feel mentally and emotionally uplifted. Refreshing, revitalizing essential oils, in particular, can have an amazing energizing effect. The following aromatically pleasing recipes will help rejuvenate your tired brain, so give them a try the next time you’re feeling foggy and mentally drained.

BRAIN-CHARGER AROMA MIST

If, at any point during your busy day, you experience an inability to focus or lack of mental clarity, this sparkling, ultra-fresh aromatic room mist is just the product you’ll want to reach for to rev up your brain power. By their very light, refreshing nature, most citrus oils tend to be rather uplifting to the psyche and particularly good at stimulating a sluggish mind accompanied by stagnant circulation, which is why I chose them for the basis of this formula. I added rosemary essential oil for the sharp, energizing, mind-clearing properties that it lends. Note: You can spray your environment several times per day, but take care not to spray directly on plastic or lacquered surfaces.

½ cup unflavored vodka
½ cup purified or distilled water
15 drops grapefruit essential oil
15 drops lemon essential oil
15 drops petitgrain or sweet orange essential oil
10 drops rosemary (chemotype verbenon or non-chemotypespecific) essential oil

EQUIPMENT: Plastic or glass spritzer bottle
PREP TIME: 5 minutes
YIELD: Approximately 1 cup
STORAGE: Store at room temperature, away from heat and light; use within 1 year
APPLICATION: 3 or 4 times per day Combine the vodka, water, and grapefruit, lemon, petitgrain or orange, and rosemary essential oils in a spritzer bottle and shake vigorously to blend. Label and store.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS: Shake well before using. When in need of mental stimulation, lightly mist your surrounding area and breathe deeply. Bonus This mist is the perfect herbal disinfectant to use during cold and flu season. All of its essential oils contain general antiseptic properties that will help keep your work area and home free of sickness. Use it as a hand sanitizer as well.

“FOG LIFTER” MIND STIMULATION DROPS

Clean, green, sharp, and invigorating — this is exactly the type of aromatherapy your brain needs when “pea-soup brain fog” moves in. A mere few drops of this refreshing formula go a long way toward boosting mental activity and your ability to focus on the task at hand. Note: This is an aromatherapeutically concentrated formula, so use only by the drop as directed.

20 drops balsam fir essential oil
20 drops peppermint essential oil
20 drops rosemary (chemotype verbenon or non-chemotypespecific) essential oil
¼ cup jojoba base oil

EQUIPMENT: Dropper, dark glass bottle with dropper top or screw cap
PREP TIME: 15 minutes, plus 24 hours to synergize
YIELD: Approximately ¼ cup
STORAGE: Store at room temperature, away from heat and light; use within 2 years
APPLICATION: 1 or 2 times per day Add the balsam fir, peppermint, and rosemary essential oils drop by drop directly into a storage bottle. Add the jojoba base oil. Screw the top on the bottle and shake vigorously for 2 minutes to blend. Label the bottle and place in a dark location that’s between 60° and 80°F for 24 hours so that the oils can synergize.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS: Shake well before using. Once or twice a day, when in need of mental stimulation and clarity of thought, apply a drop of this oil blend to each temple, the nape of your neck, the base of your throat, and behind each ear. Breathe deeply. Bonus Use these aromatic drops as an aid in healing cuts, scrapes, bug bites, blemishes, infected ingrown hairs, blisters, rashes, boils, minor burns, or any minor to moderate skin infection. A wonderful addition to your herbal first aid kit!