Once upon a time I was a know it all!

As I was sitting here getting the dregs out of my valor bottle this morning... I started to remember the first time I was introduced to essential oils. I thought they were snake oil, after all if it did not come out of a pill bottle what good was it anyway? At the time I had injured my back working as a nurse, it was 1998 or so, which meant I had been a nurse for only 2 years before my career might be over. I was taking vicodin for the pain and flexaril to relax the muscles. All that really happened was I slept a lot, but the pain didn't dissipate. At one point I had the violent side effect of attacking my partner at the time, vicodin for some people can bring out anger and rage tendencies. Sadly I was one of those people, luckily no one got hurt!

Pt was not helping, the meds were not helping, and sleeping just had me sleeping through my life and my young children's lives as well. I was miserable and the ice massage from that PT lady was driving me up a wall to boot. I was involved with a spiritual organization at the time and they swore by their essential oils. I scoffed, laughed, and made cracks about the way they smelled and the snake oil they were peddling to unsuspecting humans. (as if I knew a thing or two!) After all if it was not in a pill bottle it didn't work. If that stuff worked the medical community would embrace it and go with it, but alas the medical community in a large part denies the effectiveness of therapeutic grade essential oils and their efficacy for healing. And so I suffered... not too silently I might add!

I have to add here that at the time my mother had become a massage therapist a few years before this, and I had only had one or two treatments from her and they left me feeling broken and beaten the next day so I swore off all of that silly stuff! What I didn't understand is that the stress of being a single mom and going to nursing school had taken it's toll on me and my body... well that and the alcohol problem I had at the time. So during the massage the toxins moved into the blood stream and boy was I feeling them.... but I was too smart for that... massage was EVIL! I was certain.

So I was seriously in pain and didn't know how I would go back to work. One of my snake oily friends asked if she could put some oils on my back. "Sure," I said, "as long as you don't try any of that evil massage on me I already hurt enough." At this point my allopathic way of treating myself had gotten me no where. So I laid there and she dripped an oil on my back from above me. She didn't touch me she just let the oil sit there and some weird things started to happen. My vertebrae actually snapped back into place. Not just one but four different snaps crackles and pops I heard and I didn't even move. And even weider was that the pain decreased... no one had even touched me. That one oil she used that day was Valor, I placed my oil order immediately because the relief I had was so incredible that I had to find out more, plus who wants to have that much pain daily?

Since then I have used my oils for everything from strep throat to uplifting depression. What a cool memory to have on an over cast day while I attempt to get each and every tiny molecule of oil out of this bottle... lesson learned today... DON'T EVER LET MYSELF RUN OUT OF VALOR!

How to find some valor? Just click here

Even Thoughts are Energy...

Even thoughts and feelings are an expression of energy. Isn't that wild? Before, many people thought that a thought or a word was just an expression of self. Many people never understood that there is a vibrational frequency of each expression that can be measured not only with scientific equipment today, but with the more highly sensitized HEF (human energy field). Ever just know someone was feeling down or entered a room in which an argument just happened and felt it, but there was no evidence of the event occurring? That is the incredibly sensitized HEF!

In our physical bodies all communication is electrical and energy fed in nature. Cellular communication, which is important in healing as we often talk about cellular memory; is handled through the nervous system and the endocrine system of our body. The nervous system sends out signals to the body that carry simple information. The endocrine system uses a compound called a ligand that is responsible for communication between cells.

Each cell has a receptor site. (Candace Pert is the specialist that has discovered receptor sites) The receptor site is the sentinel for the cell, the gate keeper so to speak. The receptor site says what gets in and what gets out of a cell. Ligands and receptor sites don't seem to work by mechanics alone, it is more of a process of communication through forms of energy like vibrations, magnetism, light and even sound... here is the fun part! If a ligand doesn't sing the right song to the receptor site of a cell, the door will not open. This is great! Our body is so particular, it is programmed to only allow the best and highest good and always seeks balance or homeostasis.

Now if the body has begun to break down due to stress, fatigue, poor diet, etc... sometimes the receptor sites of cells get clogged... like having a foggy brain. So with energy medicine we are working with the energetics around and inside of the body. When we give Reiki the relief comes because at the cellular level there is a beautiful sound being heard by the receptor sites that allows our body to function more optimally. Our very cells recognize the special song of our creator! How incredible is that??

Now here is a hint for anyone that lives or works with a person or group of people that have the "blues". When the thought patterns repeat no matter what they do and the down in the dumps feeling is so profound they can not seem to shake it, that is simply painful and we want to help. Energy medicine obviously sings a beautiful song to assist us with balancing our bodies in very incredible ways, and sometimes we must do more to support the healing process. In our world, if we have allowed the body to break down then we must at times supply it with supplements, high quality foods and the like to rebuild the body on a very physical level. Here is the hint: Therapeutic Grade Essential Oil molecules act like a ligand in the human body (and with horses and dogs.) A ligand's responsibility is to carry information to the cells and communicate with our very DNA!

I have a teen that went through a very difficult 5 year period. They attempted to diagnose her with bi polar disorder and border line personality disorder among other things. I have an older teen that can succumb to fits of melancholy the likes of which could depress a saint sometimes. Ahhhh but I digress.... Aromatherapy has had alot of popularity in the past few years. Want to know why? Because when applied appropriately it really works! The scent of the proper essential oil can begin to change brain chemistry and a person only needs to smell it for it to begin to work. Application of Reiki has assisted a great deal in my sanity... oh I mean the sanity of my children ;0), however nothing and I mean this, NOTHING can help them turn around the attitudes and the melancholy like the scent of a pure grade essential oil. Here is how...

Diffusing oils in your home or work place automatically causes a chemical reaction within the body to lighten the mind and mood of everyone in the area. The tiny light weight molecules of the oil drift through the air and are given immediate access to the blood and brain causing physical changes to the body and uplifting the vibratory frequency of the entire human organism. You help someone just by scent, you don't even have to explain what your are doing or why, in fact if you are working with teens you might not want to tell them you are doing it for them, and just notice the changes in focus and mood. The truth is it happens whether they know about it or not, they may not understand why they feel better or more calm, but it goes a long, long way in supporting your loved ones with making physical chemical changes to help uplift their experience. Even wearing oils on yourself when around a "bluesy" kind of person can uplift them through the scent. Even better when you apply Reiki to the oils before anointing or diffusing into the air. (more on this in the next blog entry)

Voila... party in a bottle... well at least calm in a bottle.

Directors note: never heat or burn and essential oil, the heating process alters the chemical composition of the oil and the therapeutic effects might be lacking for you...

Hope you found this informational and even exciting. I just love the way the human body works when energy medicine and healing modalities are applied!

Namaste'

Everything is Energy!

Reiki is a system that was brought to light in the modern times by Mikao Usui, for many believe it has existed far into antiquity through the Indian vedas. In this day and age it is also considered energy medicine or energy healing. The fact that the global consciousness to a large part has begun to work with manifestation and the law of attraction, is definitely a recognition that healing will also follow along the lines of consciousness and or unconsciousness. It also illustrates that recognizing the "energetic nature" of our universe on a conscious level may open a person up to the understanding that they themselves are energy and perhaps energetic healing would assist them in their life.

Reiki is "energy", everything is energy! We are made of atoms... the energy that one atom harnesses when split is a nuclear bomb. All form and dimensions and energy is vibrating at specific rates. Some Rates are seen and some rates are unseen, but the natural laws are in place within the divine matrix of all of creation. This being said we are creators within the divine matrix of the Creator with free will and unconscious creation as well. Fun stuff!

So as a healing facilitator I believe, as many others believe that our vibrations can indeed be altered according to thought and deed, as well as intention. I also believe that the unconscious plays a great part in the manifestations of our own personal universe. WE are like radio towers tuned into specific frequencies of life. Depending on our life experiences and our knowledge we find ourselves tuned into certain levels of experience and energy. When a person would like to uplift their vibration they are often led to meditation, spending time in nature, and breathing techniques. In fact some are told just think positively.

Has anyone ever told you to just think positively when your bank account has been over drawn, you forgot to pay a bill, or the dogs vet bill is more than you have? Or how about when your relationship is breaking up, or when your lovely child has made a decision that affects the entire family without your knowledge? The words to just think positively can really fall flat in the face of the emotions that will emerge during these types of challenges. And what if these types of challenges have been your entire life experiences with only a few peaks and tons of valleys? How easy or natural will "thinking positively" come to you?

If it is true that what we resist persists, then many of us are in need of some serious acceptance in our lives, but how? Working with clients that are in this state of affairs causes one to consider some type of medium to help them feel just a little better. Not eating the whole meal of bliss to start off with, perhaps just a bite of the appetizer, because to be honest the whole meal is just too far a jump for some people. For the past 12 years I have used therapeutic grade essential oils successfully with my family, friends, and then with my clients. Here is the magic... they do not have to do anything. Many times people who are living in these types of challenging circumstances are simply worn out.

A drop on your hands rubbed together and inhaled takes 30 seconds, yet the effect is immediate when using oils that are meant to uplift mood, focus the mind, or relax the body. Transdermally the oil has already begun to flow through the circulatory system and create changes in the hormonal systems, aroma-therapeutically when inhaled it is taken directly into the limbic region of the brain and will release feel good hormones according to the memories of the pleasant scent. There is not too much alteration in the paradigm of healing here. Just the introduction of a nice citrus component or perhaps lavender. These are scents that are familiar to everyone and often times hold good memories for the client. The science behind this is indeed incredible!

Essential oils are the life blood of a plant. They carry out the necessary and vital functions of the plant. They move through the cell walls of plant membranes feeding the plant tissues and carrying the waste out. The molecule of an essential oil is very small in comparison to the molecule of a fatty oil (such as olive). The chemical chains of fatty oils are long when most essential oil chemical chains are ring like in structure and very compact. Why is this important? Because essential oils are already engineered to nourish and cleanse cells and tissues. Their molecules are so tiny that they move easily through the skin into the blood stream, made available to every vital system. A fatty oil stays on top of the skin and takes a much longer time to "soak" in. Therefore the client is supported from within, and through the support from the natural changes within the body it can enable them to feel just a little bit better, and that my friends is truly the beginning of a healing moment! When a person can begin to feel just a little better, they relax and make way for more incredible changes to happen.

The great thing is that this really works. We want to feel better, and if that can happen through simply smelling a natural substance that makes you feel good, well that is quite a user friendly version of healing that can be expanded in the future. And some of the people you will come into contact with will turn you off if you start talking about a process that makes them have to remember things that are alien to them or plan time out of their day for self care.

I am going to enjoy extolling the virtues of some of my favorite things! If you would like more information on therapeutic grade essential oils please click here.

Namaste'