Palmarosa: The Gentle Art of Discernment

Each month, Corinna explores one of the essential oils featured in her Aromatic Soul Journey. This approach works with fragrance as far more than simply a beautiful smell. Ready-diluted pure essential oils are applied to specific acupoints on the body, bringing fragrance and touch together as a simple practice to support everyday wellbeing.

There are times when we know exactly what we feel… and then there are the other times.

Someone asks something of us, and we hear ourselves say yes, while somewhere in the body there is a quiet no. We leave a conversation wondering whether what we are feeling actually belongs to us or whether we have somehow absorbed somebody else's distress. Or the mind has constructed such a convincing argument that we can no longer hear the quieter knowing underneath it.

I have sat with people in these places for more than twenty-five years as a biodynamic psychotherapist. Of course I can find myself in them too. What interests me is how much energy this kind of inner confusion can take.

We try to think our way towards clarity. Yet sometimes what is needed is not more thinking, but clearer discernment.

And this is where I find Palmarosa is so helpful!

A Humble Grass with a Rose-like Heart

Palmarosa is a tall, fine grass from the same botanical family as lemongrass. Native to India, and now cultivated in other warm parts of the world, its grass is steam distilled to produce a pale essential oil with a surprisingly rose-like fragrance.

Smell it slowly and you may notice something else too. Beneath the rosy sweetness is a fresh, green, gently lemony quality.

It is this meeting that is special. Palmarosa seems to hold sweetness and clarity together. There is softness without vagueness and discernment without hardness.

There is also an interesting piece of history here. Palmarosa smells so convincingly of rose that it was historically used to extend more costly rose and geranium oils. An unassuming grass that has spent part of its history being mistaken for something else seems an appropriate companion for exploring what is true and what merely appears to be true.

The Body's Own Intelligence

One of the principles at the heart of my work is what I call Natural Intelligence.

Your body is discerning all the time.

Think about digestion. We eat a meal and the body performs an extraordinarily sophisticated act of sorting. It takes what can nourish us, transforms what it can use and allows what is no longer needed to continue on its way. We do not consciously orchestrate any of it.

But emotionally, we often lose confidence in that same capacity.

We take in conversations, expectations, other people's moods, old beliefs about ourselves and endless information from the world around us. We may carry it all without stopping to ask:

• Is this mine?

• Does this nourish me?

• Is this actually true for me now?

For me, this is at the heart of Palmarosa as the Oil of Emotional Growth. Not growth through trying to be something different, but growth through becoming increasingly able to know and recognise ourselves. As we work with the oil on particular points on the body, we can invite greater discernment and clarity into our way of being.

When Thinking and Feeling Come to the Same Table

Palmarosa also offers an interesting way of exploring those moments when thought and feeling appear to be pulling in different directions.

In biodynamic psychotherapy, the body is not regarded as separate from our emotional life. The belly responds. The heart responds. The breath changes. We experience life physiologically as well as intellectually.

Sometimes the mind has reached a perfectly reasonable conclusion while the body is communicating something quite different. Our instinct may be to decide which one is right. What if neither has to win?

Palmarosa's fragrance expresses this beautifully for me. Its rose-like sweetness and its fresh green clarity arrive together in the same breath. The head and the heart can sit at the same table. And in the quieter space between them, something can begin to sort itself. Given time and space, a quiet knowing may arise.

A Palmarosa Practice

In the Aromatic Soul Journey I work with four different acupoints for Palmarosa, each offering a different doorway into this theme of discernment.

One is Middle Cavity, on the centre line of the upper abdomen, halfway between the breastbone and the belly button. You may already recognise this area without knowing anything about acupoints. It is where the stomach can tighten when something feels wrong or drop when unexpected news arrives.

For a very simple practice, sit comfortably and rest a warm hand over this area. If you have a Palmarosa essential oil that has been appropriately diluted for topical use, place one drop on your fingertip before resting it gently on the point. Breathe in the fragrance.

Then ask yourself: Where are my thoughts and feelings pulling in different directions?

There is nothing to solve. Simply notice the thought. Then notice the feeling. Allow each to be present without asking either to persuade the other. Stay for a minute or two, breathing naturally and noticing what happens.

Perhaps something becomes clearer. Perhaps the body softens. Perhaps nothing needs to happen at all, and you simply enjoy Palmarosa's sweet green fragrance. That, too, is enough.

As with all essential oils, use only ready-diluted oil, keep it away from the eyes and stop using it if your skin feels irritated. Please follow the guidance of your healthcare practitioner if you are pregnant or taking medication.

Honest. Truthful. Gentle.

These are Palmarosa's three key qualities, and I particularly love the last one.

Honest, because she helps us notice what is really there. Truthful, because she invites us to listen beyond the stories we have told ourselves. And gentle, because she does all of it softly, without force or hurry.

For me, that gentleness is the heart of discernment. Emotional growth can be a matter of welcoming and thanking the parts of ourselves we have outgrown.

Sometimes growth is much quieter than we expect. We hear ourselves more accurately. We recognise what belongs to us and what does not. We become a little less governed by who we think we should be and a little more able to inhabit who we actually are.

Palmarosa's affirmation expresses it beautifully:

I invite clarity and balance into my mind, gently ordering my thoughts and feelings. In this natural discernment, peace settles within.

Perhaps that is the real invitation of Palmarosa. Not to find the perfect answer, but to become quiet enough for our own Natural Intelligence to be heard.

Corinna Kitchen

Corinna Kitchen is a Senior Licensed Biodynamic Psychotherapist and Ayurvedic Lifestyle Consultant based in Lewes. She brings together Biodynamic Medicine, Ayurveda and pure essential oils in her one-to-one work and Aromatic Soul Journey.

Experience the Aromatic Soul Journey. You are warmly invited to join me online.

Palmarosa Evening

Thursday 12th November - 19:30 to 21:00 - £35. 

Join me for a live exploration of Palmarosa, the Oil of Emotional Growth, discovering how fragrance and specific acupoints can accompany us towards greater clarity, harmony and emotional awareness.

An Evening of Ayurveda & Meditation

Thursday 26th November - 19:30 to 20:30pm · Free online gathering

Join Corinna for a relaxed evening exploring Ayurveda and wellbeing. Hear a little about what’s coming up, bring your questions, and enjoy a restorative guided meditation as we move into the festive season. Whether you’re new to this work or already part of our community, you are warmly welcome.

Ylang Ylang Evening

Thursday 10th December - 19.30 to 21.00 - £35. 

The next live gathering in the Aromatic Soul Journey.

With each live Aromatic Experience, you receive your own ready-diluted oil in advance, so you can participate from home and continue exploring the practice afterwards. If you cannot join live, you still receive your oil, access to a private space on the platform with an oil video library, and a recording of the live session.