A real friend and ally throughout the summer, lavender helps us to unravel stress and tension and remain cool and calm – even in the heat.
As June opens and the days reach their fullest light, lavender offers a quiet remembering – of how to soften, how to ease off, and how to release what we have been holding too tightly.
There is a particular fullness to June. The light is at its longest. The garden is abundant. Everything seems open, reaching, doing.
For many of us, something inside quietly tightens to keep pace with it – the shoulders, the jaw, the soft place behind the eyes, the breath that never quite arrives all the way down.
This is the season when we may need permission to soften… not to stop, but to stop holding… June is such a joyful month. To put down, even for a few moments, the residue of a day, a season, or a long chapter of carrying – and to return to ourselves a little clearer, steadier and more able to receive what comes next.
Lavender – the Medicine of Softening
Lavender is the oil that reminds us how to begin again. Last month in this column, we met Geranium – the Oil of Love and Trust, with the qualities of the sweet mother. This month on our Aromatic Soul Journey, we meet Lavender – the Medicine of Softening.
Most of us already know lavender. We have met her in a bath at the end of a long day, in a pillow spray, or in the gentle diffusion that helps a house settle towards calm.
We instinctively trust her ability to help us let go. Yet her work begins somewhere much deeper than relaxation alone.
Her name comes from the Latin ‘lavare’ – to wash. Lavender is the ancient medicine of cleansing, release and return. She helps clear what is no longer needed and creates space for something fresh. She reminds the nervous system that it is safe to soften – that we can begin again, as many times as we need.
What I love about lavender is her extraordinary adaptability. She is one of the great balancing oils – cooling where there is heat, warming where there is cold, settling where there is restlessness and softening where there is tension and holding.
She does not sedate or take us away from ourselves. She brings us back to ourselves – calmer, clearer and more able to feel what we have been carrying. There is something in this that reflects the plant’s own inner soul nature. Lavender grows through heat and cold, dryness and rain alike.
When we work with her, that quiet resilience becomes part of what she helps awaken in us – the ability to remain emotionally steady amid the changing rhythms of life.
Using AcuPoints with Lavender – A Precise Way of Working
This way of working with pure essential oils goes beyond simply diffusing oils or adding them to the bath. It brings together two ancient wisdom traditions: the soul nature of plants and the meridian system used for centuries within Chinese medicine.
When we understand how fragrance moves through the body and emotions – what I call the “biodynamics of fragrance” – and we combine this with locating and contacting precise acupoints on the body, something profound can happen.
Lavender carries two qualities that work together beautifully. Her sweet floral note gathers and harmonises, soothing body and mind, while her green herbaceous quality gently moves what has become stuck. Together they create a pattern of peaceful circulation – not shutting down or numbing out, but softening and moving at the same time.
This is the work I share on the Aromatic Soul Journey – working gently and precisely with ready-diluted pure essential oils on specific acupoints, allowing the resonance and intelligence of the plant to communicate directly with the body and nervous system.
The Everyday Tension Reliever
One of the most accessible and powerful acupoints for lavender sits on the back of the hand, in the soft webbing where the thumb and index finger meet. In Chinese medicine, this point is known as Hegu – the Joining Valley, sometimes called the Great Eliminator. This point gently moves what has become stuck without force or effort. It is especially helpful when tension has accumulated through the small frictions of a day – rushing, pressure, swallowed words, shallow breath, or overstimulation.
A single drop of diluted lavender held lightly here, with two slow breaths, can help the whole body begin to soften from the hands inward. It is a point you can return to anywhere – at the desk, in the car, before a difficult conversation, or anytime – even in the small hours when sleep will not come.
Over time, working with lavender as part of a simple four-point protocol can help unravel deeply held stress and tension, releasing it through the body rather than through the thinking mind. This supports a more easeful way of being.
You Can Try This Now!
Find the soft webbing on the back of one hand where the thumb and index finger meet. Rest the thumb of your other hand there very gently – the lightest contact is enough.
Breathe slowly two or three times and allow this thought to arrive:
“I can soften now. It is safe to let go.“
Stay for a minute. Stay for longer if you would like.
For a longer guided version with lavender and this simple point, you can watch this video:
Continue the Experience
For those who would like to explore lavender more deeply and have the full experience, I invite you to join me online or in Lewes for a full Lavender Aromatic Evening.
Live Online Lavender Aromatic Experience
- Thursday 18th June · 7.30–9 pm · Online
As part of the Aromatic Soul Journey, this live online evening explores lavender through a gentle four-point aromatic acupoint protocol designed to bring ease to body and mind.
Participants receive:
- A ready-to-use high-quality lavender oil
- Illustrated practice cards
- Guided resources
- Access to the private online practice space
- Online Experience – £35
- More info: https://yourlavenderaromaticexperience.netlify.app/
In-Person Lavender Aromatic Experience
- Thursday 9th July – 7.30-9.30 pm Lewes, East Sussex
I am also beginning to offer small in-person evenings in Lewes – an opportunity to experience this work together in a calm and supportive setting, with the oils in hand.
These evenings include:
- Ready-to-use lavender oil
- Illustrated practice cards
- Access to online resources and short practice videos
- Ayurvedic drinks and treats during the break
- In-Person Experience – £65
- More info here: https://ayurvedawellbeing.corinnakitchen.com/lavender-aromatic-experience-lewes
In-Person Intro to the Aromatic Soul Journey
- Meet the ten oils we work with in the 10-month journey
- Saturday 11th July – 3.30-5.30 pm Lewes, East Sussex
These evenings include:
- Ready-to-use oil of your choice to take home
- Accompanying illustrated practice cards
- Access to the accompanying live session or recording
- Access to online resources and short practice videos for your oil
- Ayurvedic drinks and treats during the break
- In-Person Experience – £65
- More info here: https://ayurvedawellbeing.corinnakitchen.com/aromatic-soul-journey-experience-lewes
Cooling the Summer Heat
There is a natural thread that runs from lavender into this time of year. In its fuller protocol, lavender is worked alongside a companion point on the foot, long used in Chinese medicine to support healthy circulation and help keep inflammation in balance.
In Ayurveda, this is the season of Pitta — the time of fire and intensity, when heat can build in the body as easily as it builds in the long, bright days.
Cooling and calming this excess heat is one of the kindest things we can do for ourselves. Alongside essential oil support, much of this begins in the kitchen.
Seasonal Ayurvedic Cookery Workshop
- Saturday 27th June · 3.30-5.30 pm – Online
This seasonal online workshop explores simple Ayurvedic approaches to cooling and balancing the body through food and nourishment.
Together we cook a Pitta-balancing menu while I guide you through the key principles of an Ayurvedic diet. You will be able to ask questions in real time and learn how to incorporate more cooling, calming elements into your current eating habits. Vegetarian and omnivore menu options available.
More info: https://pittalivecookeryworkshop.netlify.app/
If you would simply like to learn more about Ayurveda before trying anything further, you are warmly invited to a free online gathering and Q&A.
Free Online Gathering, Q&A + Meditation
Forthcoming: Wednesday 10th June · 8-9 pm
This is an opportunity to hear more about:
- Ayurvedic Cookery and Seasonal Living
- The Aromatic Soul Journey
- Aromatic acupoint work
- The wider community and ongoing programmes
- You can ask questions, experience the atmosphere of the work and discover whether it feels right for you.
- Free to attend · All are welcome
- Book here: https://junefreegathering.netlify.app
I hope you have gained something from this article, and I look forward to welcoming you if you would like to discover and experience more for yourself.
Best wishes, Corinna Kitchen
Senior Licensed Biodynamic Psychotherapist – Ayurvedic Lifestyle Consultant – Director of the Institute of Biodynamic Medicine
For more details and booking, please visit ayurvedawellbeing.corinnakitchen.com
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Our Editorial Team are writers and experts in their field. Their views and opinions may not always be the views of Wellbeing Magazine. If you are under the direction of medical supervision please speak to your doctor or therapist before following the advice and recommendations in these articles.
