This story begins with a seemingly harmless, good ol' fashioned soak in the tub.

 I added Pink Himalayan salts to the perfect temperature water - check.
The eagerly anticipated podcast downloaded and cued up - check!

"Hmm. What oils do I have at home to play with today?"

You would think because I am of course, such an experienced Aromatherapist, that I would have a lovely assortment gingerly displayed, bath worthy aroma's always on hand - right? With the dawn of a new year upon us, my tendency to de-clutter was in full effect.

Due to this clutter aversion, all I had at home were oils like Juniper, or Tea Tree, or Spikenard - all of which are aroma's I consider no more pleasant than my cat's litter box & equally as pungent…

I needed something...festive, relaxing, something to inspire "letting go"...when I remembered seeing a bottle of Tension Release! Lavender, Marjoram, Blue Tansy and Peppermint! Yummy. I knew it had been around for a while, this went perfectly in line with my "get rid of the old stuff today!" mantra. Perfect, I'll use it up.

Essential Oils - Check!!

I took off the reducer top, and POURED some in. ("Just use it up Jodi!", I thought)

I finally get in the tub after a long week. My mind was stimulated by the anticipated podcast and my body relaxed by the warm water and scent. "What a wonderful way to ring in the New Year!" or so I thought...

Then, the cold shiver.

The menthol from the peppermint from the blend that I POURED into my bath, viciously cooled my skin, my blood, my tissues. Have you ever brushed your teeth and drank cold water right away? Yeah, THAT feeling, but all over MY ENTIRE BODY.

"Ignore it. It's fine, I'm good, add more hot water, it'll go away."

Nope. Didn't help. I am now COLD in my HOT bath! Now at this point, I just need to get up and wash the oils off, just like the chilling effects of 2016.

Then I remembered reading an email less than a week prior, from someone who had had a similar experience. She had purchased bath salts with an essential oil blend that had a strong dose of peppermint in it. It had made her quite uncomfortably cold, feeling shivers 24 hours later.

Seeking sympathy from my sweet husband on how my bath time experience ended, whom did I mention has been working for 3 solid days upgrading my website, while I was "relaxing"?

My super helpful husband Joel just equated my situation to a motorcycles analogy, as he does with most conversations and said - "it's like target fixation".

"What?"

"Target fixation - while driving, when you focus on something you want to avoid - you end up hitting it."
Did reading that email caused me to create the same situation, overdosing myself with peppermint in the bath? Hidden spiritual lesson ringing in 2017 here? Hmm...The spiritual teaching, "Where attention goes, energy flows" echoed through my mind.

So ends my luxurious hot bath with pink Himalayan salts, streaming webinar, and a shiver-inducing blend of oils.

The moral of the story is, Peppermint sucks in the bath tub, if you use it, add only 1-2 drops - only on a 100 degree day, or with a 100 degree fever. Not in January in Minnesnow-ta, where it's 42 below...

I have since applied my mantra in warmer ways :)

Jodi