How the Chakra Set came to be

In the late 1990s Dr Bo Hendgen DO ND AM was in Denmark, in a room full of practitioners, listening to Martin Brofman.

Brofman was an American Danish teacher who took the chakra system around the world. He had a request, and he kept it to three lines.

Scent it. Colour it. Feel it.

That was the whole brief. No ingredient list, no target profile, no committee. Seven energy centres, seven scents, and they had to feel like what they were named for.

Six months to a draft. Years to a set.

The first seven draft blends came back six months later. Then the slow part started. Brofman took them into his workshops and people used them, in the room, over several years. Blends were adjusted, set aside, rebuilt. Only when the seven held up in front of a room full of people who knew the system did the set get released.

Every blend sits in a base of certified organic Jojoba Golden, so it goes straight onto the skin without anything else added. That was deliberate. A chakra blend that needs a carrier, a diffuser and a ritual before you can use it is a blend most people will leave in the cupboard.

The Throat blend is deep blue. That colour is not added. It is azulene, which forms naturally when German Chamomile is steam distilled.

The seven

  • Base. Sandalwood, Frankincense, Patchouli. Grounding, balancing, fortifying, steadying.
  • Navel. Jasmine, Petitgrain, Rose. Sensual, creative, warming.
  • Solar. Lemon, Petitgrain, Juniper. Focus, determination, mental clarity, confidence.
  • Heart. Melissa, Rose, Cedarwood. Support, balance, comfort, openness.
  • Throat. Chamomile, Myrrh, Cypress. Communication, self expression, intuition, calm.
  • Brow. Lavender, Frankincense, Rosemary. Clarity, intuition, focus, insight.
  • Crown. Lavender, Sandalwood, Neroli. Positivity, unity, clarity, stillness.
The Chakra Set in its box with the seven chakra blends in 10ml
Seven blends, each in its own box, and the Chakra Set in handmade Lokta paper.

Why the box is made of paper

The concept of chakras comes to us through ancient Sanskrit. So wrapping the seven in ordinary printed card never sat right.

The Chakra Set comes in a box of handmade Lokta paper. Lokta is the paper Buddhist sacred texts have been written on for more than a thousand years. It is made from the bark of the Lokta bush, which grows high in the Himalaya and regenerates from the same stump within a few years of being cut. Nothing is felled to make it.

Lokta bark carried down from the hillside in Nepal
The bark comes down off the hillside on someone's back. It always has.

The bark is soaked, beaten, lifted onto a screen and dried in the sun on wooden frames set out on the hillside. Every sheet is a little different, which is why every box is a little different.

Lifting a screen of Lokta paper pulp, the water running off
The screen comes up and the water runs off. One sheet at a time, by hand.

Jiri

The boxes are made by a co-operative in the Jiri region of Nepal. The co-operative is largely owned by 126 families and supports around 1,300 people.

Wooden frames of Lokta paper drying in the sun on a hillside in Nepal
Frames set out to dry on the hillside above Jiri.

That is the part we would rather talk about than the packaging. It is trade, not aid. The families own the business, set their own terms and are paid for work, not given a hand out.

Gold, and Editor's Choice

In 2026 the Chakra Set was awarded Gold for Best Spiritual Wellness Product at the Australian Clean and Conscious Awards, and was also chosen as Editor's Choice.

Gold is a score. Editor's Choice is not. It is a judge putting their own name to something and personally recommending it, which is the part we are very proud of.

From the expert panel:

"The handmade Lokta paper box adds a lovely, earthy feel to the set and reflects the care and craftsmanship behind it."
Dom Scott, Expert Panel

"What a special set of essential oils. I absolutely love this story, and the commitment and long labour of love that has gone into this process."
Melissa Mai, Expert Panel

Twenty five years from a brief in a Danish workshop to a gold roundel in Australia, by way of a hillside in Nepal. Scent it. Colour it. Feel it. That is still the whole of it.

See the Chakra Set or the seven blends on their own.