Inspiration

Essential Oils and the Mind

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HOW DO ESSENTIAL OILS AFFECT THE MIND?

Your sense of smell is much more accurate than any of your other senses. Your ability to smell comes from sensory cells called Olfactory Sensory Neurons, found in a small patch of tissue very high in your nose. Those cells connect to your brain.

Each of those sensory neurons has one odor receptor – and molecules released by substances around us stimulate these receptors. Once your neurons detect your molecules, they send messages to your limbic lobe of your brain.

Our sense of smell is 10,000 more sensitive than our other senses. Scent travels faster to the brain with smell than it does with sight, or even sound.

The limbic lobe is a group of brain structures that is below the cortex of the brain – it includes the amygdala and the hippocampus. Your limbic lobe (system of brain structures) is directly connected to the parts of your brain that control many aspects of your body – hormone levels, stress, memory, breathing, heart rate, and more.

The only way to stimulate the emotional brain is through your sense of smell – which is one of the reasons why Essential Oils can work so incredibly well. Feelings of depression, fear, anger, happiness, joy and even anxiety all originate from the limbic lobe of the brain.

Essential Oils can help alleviate symptoms at a cellular level through their therapeutic properties. Stimulation of hormones and chemicals can drastically affect physiology and behavior.

Essential Oils can be stimulating (Peppermint), calming (Lavender), sedative (Cedarwood), balancing (Frankincense, and so much more.

Top Five for Emotions:

Roman Chamomile: Helps support feelings of peace, love and acceptance.

Cedarwood: Helps support healthy focus and encouragement while also grounding.

Lavender: Helps support relaxation and calming. This one also helps with communicating feelings.

Bergamot: Uplifting and will help support healthy confidence levels. This one also helping foster self love and self worth.

Frankincense: Powerful cleanser of the spirit – grounding and can help during times of negativity.

REFERENCES:
How do Essential Oils Affect our Mind and Our Emotions. Retrieved from http://www.biospiritual-energy-healing.com/essential-oils-affect-our-minds.html

Want to learn more? Check out this free guide!

If you love my content and want more tools for mindfulness & movement, check out my digital products on Buy Me a Coffee! Your support helps me continue creating. 

Looking for the tools and products I swear by? Visit my Amazon storefront for a handpicked collection of my favorite finds—from kitchen gadgets to wellness essentials. Click here to explore and shop my must-haves.

If you would love to be part of my essential oil community and are ready to start using pure essential oils, shop here or email me for a free 1:1 consultation.

A Personal Manifesto

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A personal manifesto is a declaration of your core beliefs, values, and guiding principles. It’s like a roadmap for how you want to live your life, make decisions, and show up in the world. It can be a written statement that reflects your purpose, priorities, and the kind of impact you want to have.

Some elements of a personal manifesto might include:

  • Core values (e.g., kindness, authenticity, growth)
  • Life philosophy (e.g., “I believe in showing up fully present each day.”)
  • Guiding principles (e.g., “I will choose love over fear.”)
  • Aspirations and goals (e.g., “I commit to lifelong learning and self-care.”)

It can be as short as a few sentences or a longer, more detailed document. The beauty of a personal manifesto is that it’s deeply personal—it reflects you. It can also evolve over time as you grow.

Writing a Personal Manifesto

Several years ago I took a course with Brenè Brown that rocked my world. Doing so invited me to be think more about how I show up in my life and to create a manifesto. I was also reminded that being vulnerable and courageous, and sometimes face down in the arena’s of life, can be the most powerful moments a person can experience.

My Personal Manifesto:

In creating a life of happiness and peace in all facets of my life, I will cultivate habits of practicing self love. Included in my self love practices will be engaging in daily activities calmly and mindfully, resting my body, eating clean, meditating, being in nature, taking time to be alone, and nourishing myself with friendships and interactions that support me. I will love myself by consistently and gratefully engaging in these practices. Doing this requires me to set boundaries with myself and others and ask for what I need. I will communicate honestly and authentically. I will hold myself and others accountable for engaging in interactions and experiences that are respectful, peaceful and without shame and blame, especially when I feel pressure or high demands. Practicing self love and cultivating a life of calm and peaceful interactions will create a life that is centered, joyful and wholehearted and one that allows me the space to continue making a difference for those in my personal life and in my work.

Boom. Do you have a personal manifesto?

If you love my content and want more tools for mindfulness & movement, check out my digital products on Buy Me a Coffee! Your support helps me continue creating. 

Looking for the tools and products I swear by? Visit my Amazon storefront for a handpicked collection of my favorite finds—from kitchen gadgets to wellness essentials. Click here to explore and shop my must-haves.

If you would love to be part of my essential oil community and are ready to start using pure essential oils, shop here or email me for a free 1:1 consultation.

Freedom

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We have all heard of the metaphors of feeling stuck in a cage and not able to be free to fly, or the imprisoning walls that have been built around us. The brick and mortar is often what we place around ourselves that create our own version of prison.  These can include negativity, questions of worthiness, regrets of the past and worries of the future. Similarly the key to the cage that we so often feel trapped in resides in our own hands. It is our choice to stay in the cage or take the key and unlock it.  No matter what circumstance we are in, we ultimately have choice in what we do with it.

We are not our circumstances, instead we are our possibilities. 

As I was planning this month’s classes around the concept of freedom and being liberated, I received a message from a dear friend whose young daughter was just diagnosed with autism. Heartbreaking as those initial words were, I saw within a few short days a woman take on this experience like that of a true champion.  Sure, she cried her eyes out and felt fear for the unknown.  We all do when we hear those words.  The first thing I did was send her the Welcome to Holland Poem.  Then we talked awhile about what may lie ahead as she leaned on my experience to help her navigate the first few steps on this new and scary journey. Then she got busy.

She certainly could have felt like this news was a giant reason to give up and stay stuck.  Many do.  She however, in her warrior spirit, immediately saw a need to advocate and start asking questions about services and community integration for her sweet little girl.  She took this as a chance to make a difference in the lives of her daughter and others.

That is what freedom is.

Freedom is defined as the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. My friend refuses to feel imprisoned by this diagnosis and she will use the power of her light to act and speak without restraint.

This is just one of a million examples of how we can feel stuck, trapped, locked in, or caged.  Whether it is a relationship, a job, a location or a belief you have about yourself, WE have the power to act, speak and think without restraint and hindrance.  We are in control of what we do with our circumstances.

Do you feel imprisoned?  Are you the one laying the bricks down and filling them with mortar?  Do you hold the key in your hand and refuse to unlock the door?

What would freedom feel like? This month we are going to chisel away the beliefs and fear that build a wall around ourselves.  We are going to slip the key into the lock and learn to fly. We are going to feel free.

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If you love my content and want more tools for mindfulness & movement, check out my digital products on Buy Me a Coffee! Your support helps me continue creating. 

Looking for the tools and products I swear by? Visit my Amazon storefront for a handpicked collection of my favorite finds—from kitchen gadgets to wellness essentials. Click here to explore and shop my must-haves.

If you would love to be part of my essential oil community and are ready to start using pure essential oils, shop here or email me for a free 1:1 consultation.

Preparing the Soil

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I think of early March as a time to prepare for growth. To toil the ground and prepare ourselves for deep growth.  I also love spring and the symbolism it represents.  It is during the spring time that we often think of beginnings, newness, and growth.  For some, this is a great time to begin to cultivate your “soil” to soon plant seeds of intention. One way to do this is to write down anything in your life you wish to increase–friendships, health, abundance or joy, are just a few ideas.  Be clear with your visions as this brings life to your “seeds”.

Next, it is so important to prepare your inner “soil” by eliminating and removing the old and now transpired blossoms of last year.  The memories of past that have come and go and no longer as vibrant as they were just a few short months ago. When we invest time in preparing ourselves for a season of growth (no matter what time of year, really) we must start with cleaning up the areas so that we are open to allow space for growth. When we spend time doing this we are investing time into right now.  We are dirtying our hands with the fertile soil that awaits.

As you do this, become aware of the subtle changes in Nature during this time of the year.  You might see the peeking of crocus bulbs emerging from the hardened winter ground.  Watch as the trees begin to grow tiny nubs that will soon break into full leaves.  Listen as the birds start to make song in the early mornings and the air has a scent of newness.  Use all of your senses to experience what is happening around you.

As we connect with Nature we also connect with ourselves. We realize that we too, are ever-changing and growing beings.  We can set the seeds of intention and begin to nurture and cultivate what we wish to have grown in our lives.

This month in my classes we will be exploring cleansing postures to eliminate the old and make space for new.  We will also be looking at ways our bodies can twist and unwind to come fully into the now.

Here is to growing, less pain, more joy and flourishing!  Happy Spring and while you are preparing your soul for growth it is never a bad idea to get your hands dirty in Mother Earth, either.

Learn more about this powerful process in this short video! 

If you love my content and want more tools for mindfulness & movement, check out my digital products on Buy Me a Coffee! Your support helps me continue creating. 

Looking for the tools and products I swear by? Visit my Amazon storefront for a handpicked collection of my favorite finds—from kitchen gadgets to wellness essentials. Click here to explore and shop my must-haves.

If you would love to be part of my essential oil community and are ready to start using pure essential oils, shop here or email me for a free 1:1 consultation.

Cooling Balance: An Essential Oil Blend for Pitta Dosha

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Cooling Balance: An Essential Oil Blend for Pitta Dosha

Pitta dosha, governed by the elements of fire and water, gives us drive, focus, and a passionate zest for life. But when Pitta becomes excessive—especially in the heat of summer or during stressful times—it can lead to irritability, impatience, and an overheated body and mind.

This calming essential oil blend is designed to soothe and balance Pitta’s fiery energy. With cooling, sweet, and grounding aromas, it helps you restore inner harmony, release tension, and invite a sense of ease and flow. Perfect for moments when you need to cool the flames and reconnect with your natural state of balance.

I finally figured out why I have so much heat (inflammation) in my body. I have a really hard time this time of year and I remembered a few days ago that historically the time that is summer turning to fall is sooooo hard on me because of my Ayurvedic dosha Pitta. (Ayurveda is the sister science to yoga that looks at body constitution). I seem to burning on fire inside and outside, and interestingly bugs and insects are obsessed with me.  They must sense my inner fire and want some.

The last few weeks have been really hard with a constant inner burning.  My joints are on fire, my belly is boiling, I have a burning in my stomach no matter what I eat, my temper is a tiny bit shorter and I am overall just hot.

I have started to implement eating more cucumbers, taking cooler showers and baths, drinking cool water, spending time with blues and greens, meditating on cool water imagery and just doing what I know to do. I also created a lovely and pitta-dosha calming blend—it’s all the lovely cool florals; rose, jasmine, neroli, lavender, helichrysum, geranium and sandalwood. Plus, I added some peppermint for a topical cooling sensation. I added turquoise to amplify it’s cooling properties and bring in the cool vibes of turquoise.  I apply this to my neck, chest and spine a few times a day.

If you’d like to know more about your dosha, let’s chat. I have some great resources and can do a quick assessment. Also, be sure to check out this free ebook for reference to essential oils.

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If you love my content and want more tools for mindfulness & movement, check out my digital products on Buy Me a Coffee! Your support helps me continue creating. 

Looking for the tools and products I swear by? Visit my Amazon storefront for a handpicked collection of my favorite finds—from kitchen gadgets to wellness essentials. Click here to explore and shop my must-haves.

If you would love to be part of my essential oil community and are ready to start using pure essential oils, shop here or email me for a free 1:1 consultation.