Making your own castor oil pack

After a hectic week and a half day at work, I decided to try to castor oil pack. The pack was an idea from Nicole Karras. Remember her? She’s the massage therapist who suggested I boost my lymphatic system by letting go of the past. Castor oil packs might be just what I need to get old, stagnant energy moving.

 
I know, I know. It sounds a little woo woo until you take a look at something called the Emotional Energy Centers of the Body. Basically, every part of the body is connected to one emotion or another. Let’s say you’ve gained a little weight in one spot or wonder where that new ache or pain is coming from, this diagram my give you a few important clues about the part of you that’s affected or even infected by the things go on around you.
 

In other words, your body may be gossiping about you.
 
Here’s the thing – I’m not one to do ANYTHING to my body without doing some research first. This includes medicine, cleanses, vitamins. You get the idea. I really suggest you do some research of your own. Most of the websites I found described these benefits for castor oil packs used for your abdomen:
 

It turns out people use castor oil packs to lessen cellulite. Some sites say these treatments improve other conditions like Hepatitis C, Hyperthyroidism, pelvic pain and tendinitis. Check out Livestrong.com or details.
 
I did find some really important advice. One, DO NOT use a castor oil pack during menstruation, pregnancy or when bleeding. Two, castor oil will stain clothes and bed linens. Wear an old t-shirt when using your pack. I’d recommend covering your sheets or couch with a towel. Just a thought.
 
Once I decided to go for it, I gathered up a few materials to make a castor oil pack of my own.

• Old cotton or flannel cloth (I bought mine because I didn’t want the bleach or color from my t-shirts to seep through my skin…)
• Castor oil from the health food store
• A soaking container
• Saran wrap
• Heating pad (not shown)

Then I followed Nicole’s instructions:

• Cut your cloth.

• Generously pour castor oil in the container.

• Fold your cloth and put it in the container to soak it. Add some more castor oil if needed.

 
This is how the cloth will look when it sops up all the oil.

• Place the cloth on your abdomen area, particularly where you want to purify your body most.

 

• Castor oil is kind of stinky. Take saran wrap and roll it around your mid-section to keep the smell down and to keep the cloth in place.

 

• Put the heating pad over the cloth.

 
A word to the wise…A heating pad + plastic + oil = major heat. Try putting a face towel around the heating to manage the temperature.
 

• Lie on the couch or bed for 45-60 minutes.

 
I was too tired to read so I turned on my Tivo and caught up on this week’s episodes of Young and the Restless. Don’t judge me.
 

What did I feel in the process?

Relaxed. Tingly. Warm. The feeling moved from my belly and up through my arms. Like most natural remedies, I imagine it’ll take some time to see and feel a difference. Some folks work up to 3 castor oil pack treatments a week. For now, I’ll do this once a week for the next little while and see what happens.
 
What do you do to let go of the past?