As high summer comes and the light becomes long and golden, ‘Sweet Orange’ reminds us how to lighten up, how to play and how to give back joy, even after the heart knows the heaviness.
There is a special quality in July. The days seem to be getting a little longer. The gardens are full of colors and fruits. Everywhere there is an invitation to slow down, wander outside, breathe more deeply, and even play.
However, many of us get more sunlight at this point in the year. We hold responsibilities, worries, sorrows, fatigue, and the quiet habit of keeping everything together. Sometimes we can stand in the middle of a beautiful summer day and still struggle to capture the joy of it. This is where the sweet orange begins. Not with a desire to ignore life’s difficulties, but with a gentle reminder that sweetness still exists.
Last month, in this column, we met with lavender – cool, calm, a great peacemaker, which cleansed us from the heat of the day and worries. This month, as the days reach their limit, we turn to her bright friend, “Sweet Orange.”
Before we understand an essential oil… We can feel it
If you have a bottle of sweet orange nearby, pause before reading any further.
Just breathe it in. Notice how round it is. Not as sharp as Lemon. Not as rich as Mandarin. Bright, but soft. Sweet, but surprisingly fresh. Game. It’s almost as if the smell itself moves you gently.
Your body understands something long before your mind begins to explain it.
Most of us think of essential oils simply as beautiful scents that help us relax, sleep more deeply, lift our spirits, or ease physical discomfort. They can certainly do all these things. However, there is another way to understand pure essential oils that many people have never encountered.
Essential oils certainly smell beautiful, but fragrance is only the beginning of their story.
They are intelligent examples of nature, each with movement, character and a way of interacting with the body. When we begin to understand this movement, a whole new relationship with essential oils emerges. This understanding is at the heart of my work – a part I call aroma biodynamics.
Each fragrance has its own biodynamic movement – its own path between body, mind and emotions. Some fragrances rise and shine. Some are gentle and harmonious. Some light up and create space. Others gently bring us back to our center. When we begin to recognize these movements, we do not ask, “What is this oil good for?” and start asking “What do I need today?”
Innocent Harmonizer
Sweet Orange is one of the oils I return to again and again because of the beautiful way it blends. Its sweetness moves in a slow, circular rhythm, gently regulating and feeding, but like the instinctive movements of a child. Its sparkling citrus features become louder, broader and brighter.
Together, these movements gently encourage balance wherever balance is needed.
For me, sweet orange carries the spirit of a child. Imagination. Awesome. Game.
Orange juice spills randomly on your hand in the middle of summer. But perhaps its greatest gift is something deeper. It reminds us that I think about it knowledge of innocence.
Not the innocence we’re born with, but the one who knows life’s challenges and still finds the courage to be open – to believe again, to laugh again, to welcome joy in spite of everything.
Sweet Orange doesn’t require us to wear rose-colored glasses. It just reminds us that bitterness is never the whole story. The sweetness is still there.
A gift for high summer
There is also a seasonal grace for sweet oranges. In Ayurveda, high summer is the season of Pitta – a time of fire and heat, when both the body and the days work a little hotter. Sweet orange is one of the few citrus oils that actually soothes rather than stimulates, and its cooling sweetness is a gentle balm for the over-bright, busy season.
It is also one of the most interesting fats for digestion – not only food, but everything that summer requires us to eat: travel, energetic days and late golden evenings.
When life feels a little too much to digest, sweet orange helps us share both food and emotions.
Simple experience
One of the beautiful things about this way of working with essential oils is how little it requires of you. It’s fast. It’s simple. There is no need to rearrange your day.
Pure essential oils paired with carefully selected acupuncture points become a wonderful daily practice that supports the body, mind and emotions together, often creating an immediate and surprising change in how we feel.
Each essential oil expresses different qualities at different points. Today I want to introduce only one thing. If you have well-diluted sweet orange oil, put a drop on your fingertip and inhale the scent slowly. If you haven’t, you can cut an orange, inhale the fresh aroma, and tap the spot while you do so.
If you have the oil, just take a drop and apply it to Heart 7, sometimes known in Chinese medicine as the soul gate. (See picture below) You will find it on the wrist next to the little finger on your wrist. Relax there for a minute or two.
No pressure – very light touch. There is nothing to achieve. Just pay attention. Notice your breathing. Pay attention to your shoulders. Pay attention to your heart. Sometimes the smallest shifts are the most profound.
Please note: sweet orange is a citrus oil and may increase skin sensitivity to sunlight. It is best to keep the area where it has been applied out of direct sunlight for a few hours.
Different ways of working
Each month I feature a different plant ally. Each has its own inner nature. Each of them has its own biodynamic movement. Each body meets in its own unique way. It is a gentle way of working with pure essential oils that combines fragrance with carefully selected acupuncture points. The resonance of the oil matches the resonance of the point and brings the body back into balance. When we feel unrooted, Vetiver can remind us what rooting is. When we are feeling down, sweet orange can gently lead us to the light. Because the same oil meets different points and offers different gifts – here is a deep relaxation, a return to joy.
As we understand how each oil moves within us and explore the points where it speaks most clearly, we gradually gather a family of trusted partners. We know almost instinctively which one to turn to at any given moment.
Together, they reveal a different way to understand pure essential oils and offer a beautiful framework to support everyday wellness.
Your first steps into the magical garden
You may be wondering what I mean magic garden. This is the name I give to the quiet place within each of us, beyond the noise and stress of everyday life. It is where our resilience, our peace, our joy, and our true nature flourish, even when life gets difficult.
When we work with pure essential oils in a simple way, we begin to tend to that inner garden—nourishing our well-being, bringing emotional stability, calming the body, and helping to calm and soothe the nervous system.
Over time, these small daily moments become something we can return to whenever life feels overwhelming—a simple practice that helps us face each day with resilience, clarity, and ease.
If you are curious and want to discover more, I would like to welcome you. I’ve created First Steps to Your Magical Garden – a free introductory program that teaches you how to work with pure essential oils in a new light, allowing you to experience it on your own time.
Together we learn:
• Aroma biodynamics
• The nature of the inner soul of plants
• Three simple aromatic practices
• Guided tour of your magical garden
This is a gentle introduction to a different way of understanding pure essential oils – and the most interesting place to start.
Start here:
https://corinnakitchen.podia.com/first-steps-into-your-enchanted-garden/
I hope you enjoy the journey and I look forward to learning more if you want to.
If you want to experience sweet orange more deeply, you are cordially invited to join me Experience the sweet orange flavor-a live online evening as part of Pleasant journey.
Thursday, July 16 – 7:30-9:00 p.m
https://corinnakitchen.podia.com/sweet-orange-aromatic-experience/buy
Words: Corinna Kitchen
Corinna Kitchen is the founder of Ayurveda Wellness and the director of the Institute of Biodynamic Medicine. She is a Senior Licensed Biodynamic Psychotherapist and Certified Ayurvedic Lifestyle Counselor.
Her work combines biodynamics, Ayurveda and pure essential oils into an integrated approach that supports a return to our natural resilience, vitality and well-being. This philosophy is explored through his Aromatic Soul Journey, Box of Miracles, training programs, and personal online experience.
For more information and to take your first steps into your magical garden for free, visit: ayurvedawellbeing.corinnakitchen.com
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