Health

A Simple Guide to Aromatherapy

The word aromatherapy often appears in my articles,  so I would like to share some simple  tips on how you can use it to enhance the quality of your environment and to help improve your mood.  First, go to your local health food store and check the lovely assortment of flora and fauna sitting there on the shelf!  Always make sure it says 100% pure on the label.  This means exactly what it says without that marker you may be purchasing artificial oil which will not have the same healing value.  You can, of course, purchase essential oil online but going to the store allows you to sample scents prior to buying.

If  you or anyone you live with has allergies, be very mindful when making your selection.  Avoid the strong scents at first such as eucalyptus or tea tree.  Though they have great therapeutic value, they can be very overpowering when introducing aromatherapy for the first time in your home.  Try the more simple and equally beneficial scents of citruses!  Grapefruit, sweet orange and even lemon are fantastic!  Bergamot, a citrus fruit similar to grapefruit and the main ingredient in Earl Grey tea, is one of my favorites.   Most people will not have a problem with these scents (unless they have a food allergy to them).  In addition, they have the familiarity factor which make people feel comfortable and welcome.  Citrus scents are great to use in those dark winter months to bring a little sunshine in your home and combat depression.

Lavender is known as “the mother of all aromatherapy scents.”  It blends beautifully with almost everything including the essential oils I have mentioned so far.  It is known to have an adaptable quality because it has a dual effect, in that if you are feeling down it can be very uplifting.  If you are feeling restless or hyper, on the other hand, it has a calming and soothing effect.  It is also very effective when you are itchy from a mosquito bite!  It is safe to put on undiluted and directly on the skin.  With most aromatherapy oils, however, it is recommended to mix/dilute prior to application.

I have always enjoyed the ceramic or glass type diffusers, which use a tea candle beneath them (see photo).  They are very inexpensive, attractive and easy to clean.  Always place water in the bowl almost to the top before the oil (seven to ten drops is usually sufficient).  Do not put the oil by itself as it will burn up.   To clean them (about once a week ) put some rubbing alcohol in the bowl for a few hours and then take a scouring pad and it should clean up well.

Imagine the home where you grew up or your local garden.  What kind of flowers and trees were there?  Did you have rose bushes?  How about Geranium (aka the poor man’s rose?)  Both of these scents can be very curative and are great for issues of the heart.  We had lilac trees around the house where I grew up.  To this day it is one of my favorite scents and always brings me back to the beauty of springtime.  There were cedar trees around too.  Cedar is a very grounding scent.  All of the “tree” scents are grounding.

The use of aromatherapy is amazing on an airplane, but remember to be mindful of the other passengers of course!  If you open the bottle quickly and sniff you will get the benefit without disturbing others.  You may be surprised they may get a whiff and enjoy it!   Why use it on an airplane?  For several reasons: the air can be very stale and the right scent such as a citrus, lemongrass or peppermint can really help you feel more refreshed.  Cedar, as mentioned, is very “grounding.”  If you are nervous about flying and not being connected to the earth what a great way to trick your mind into feeling a bit more grounded and have a restful flight.  Speaking of rest, lavender has a relaxing quality that can help you sleep on the plane.

Lastly, be aware that essential oils, therapeutic as they are, can be harmful in certain situations.  For details visit: http://www.naturesgift.com/warnings.htm

Neck exercise AKA “The Clock”

Stretching the neck muscles can be challenging and confusing.  Here is a simple, centering neck exercise that can help alleviate neck pain.  It is called “The Clock.”  This is the same pattern of movement as used in the article entitled, Computer Eye Strain Exercises.

Lay on the floor in supine position (face up) on a yoga mat or towel.  You want the surface to be firm but not too hard.  First, feel the muscles of your head on the ground beneath you.  The floor will be your guide as you move through the exercise, so maintain contact with it without too much effort.  Also,  you will be gently massaging these muscles via the pressure on the floor as you move through this neck exercise.  Make sure your head is in good alignment.  Your neck should not be flat on the floor and your chin should not jut out.
Look up and imagine a large clock above you. Now move your head up towards the twelve and then down to the six slowly three times. This will mimic the “yes” movement.  Now, move your head from the three to the nine three times slowly. This will mimic the “no” movement. You can use your  nose as a guide. Remember to maintain contact with the floor beneath you. Now you can hopefully sense your neck in a more centered alignment. Maintain this centered feeling for the rest of the exercise because you will want to return to it as your reference point for these next steps.
Next you will do the opposite diagonal movements of the clock. Look up at the one and down at the seven three times slowly. Place the one right next to the twelve and the seven right next to the six. This will be a more specific stretch. Next do eleven and five o’clock again, imagining them right next to the twelve and the six on your clock. Pause in the center as mentioned before.
Lastly, and this is where people often feel the most dramatic part of the stretch. Look at two o’clock and eight o’clock three times slowly. Then ten o’clock and four o’clock three times slowly.
It is very important to do this in this sequence as you need to center yourself before you do the diagonal movements. The benefit is not the same if you skip steps. When you have completed the series take your head three times slowly clockwise and than counterclockwise to complete the neck exercise. Remember to enjoy the massaging sensation on the muscles on the back of your head.
This technique can help to create better alignment of your neck. It can also increase your proprioceptive awareness of your head and neck placement and of course relieve tense and painful areas of the neck and shoulders.
It may be a little choppy while you are learning the stretch at first because you have to keep referring back to the directions but hang in there soon you will know it by heart and enjoy doing it as part of a daily decompression technique.

Photo source: kramesonline.com

Reiki Healing

REIKI is a Japanese word meaning “universal life energy”. The syllable REI reflects the cosmic dimension, the unlimited nature of this potential while the syllable KI means life energy. Reiki therefore means universal life force. This force is inexhaustible, it is an uninterrupted flow. It is the energy of the cosmos, the force that provides life and sustains everything that lives in our world: men, animals, plants. Maybe you heard of tai chi or aikido? Syllables ki or chi energy are synonymous as in the word Reiki. In other cultures using different concepts such as light
or the Holy Spirit (Christianity) we talk about bioplasma bioenergy (Russian research) or Prana (Hinduism and Buddhism). Reiki is a natural therapeutic method that was rediscovered in the mid-nineteenth century by Mikao Usui, hence the name given to medical knowledge: Usui system,a healing process based on the laws of nature. The most simple and concrete to describe

Reiki is the art of channeling the life energy of the cosmos by the laying on of hands. When Reiki is activated and applied for medical purposes, it communicates with the body, mind and spirit. It increases the body’s ability to relieve symptoms, physical manifestations of the disease and reveal the soul and spirit of the causes of a medical condition, suffering, an existential malaise, inhibitions. It is necessary that you update the underlying causes of a psychological problem or physical condition to take your life fully, and thus be able to taste the joy and happiness that comes from a healthy balanced diet. Reiki is also a way to guide you in your spiritual journey ….Reiki is a method that is both gentle and effective which will allow you to discover your spiritual vocation and the meaning of your life. Reiki creates in you a feeling of unity, a sense of merging with others, with all humanity and Mother Earth.

Reiki gives you the impression of being all over “familiar territory”. Western Reiki treatment is a kind of large-scale treatment;Japanese intuitive treatment is specifically directed we are more accurate in our work, more results will be good, in a natural way. In Japan, the way Reiki is seen as a way of life which runs through the year until the end of the life of a person.
Sometimes a student in Japan do not get the Second Degree of Reiki after ten or twenty years of practice. And the majority of students never reached high levels. They were and remain students. Here in the West, Reiki has taken a direction that corresponds more to our culture. People meet one day or a weekend to learn the First Degree.
Often they do not have enough time to learn to listen to their bodies, their hands and intuition. While this is bad, it is simply impossible for many students. Western Reiki and teachers, to get in touch with this energy in another way. Life “in the fast lane” of Western civilization (I also include the lifestyle of modern Japanese) takes place at high speed. Many of us do not have enough time and want to have immediate what we have laid our sights.

Burnout

It is an unsettling time to feel stress at work.  With the current economic climate most people who have  jobs are considered the lucky ones.  It is human to feel burn out on any job but essential to find alternatives as burnout can lead to depression, under-productivity and creates a negative atmosphere for those who suffer from it as well as to those around them.  Therefore, it is important to try to address it before it becomes a real issue.

Professional development courses in any field will refresh, deepen and re-energize your enthusiasm for what you do.  It is a great prevention and cure for burnout.  Burnout can happen in any field.  Usually in some of our most altruistic and important professions for our collective community i.e. nursing, teaching, etc.)  Burnout can be difficult for someone who has spent vital years, money and energy on a given profession.

This is different from evolving into or changing professions.  Something which is often a priority given that we need to grow and evolve as humans.  Burnout feels like one is in a rut.  When one feels like they are going through the motions in their work and not living presently.

1.  Curiosity!  Keeps us alive.  Trying out diverse approaches to your work may help break any monotony related to it.

2.  Re-connect to why you chose that profession in the first place.  Even if it was simply for the money, there must have been a teacher or a mentor that helped to fuel your enthusiasm for it.  The internet is so loaded with information on everything.  There may be some inspiration gleaned from a simple Google search.

3.  Public spaces such as parks and museums can give a break in the day or on the weekend.  These places can break our minds of  routine.

4.  Taking care of your health through a nutritional diet and regular exercise will do wonders for your energy level.  Remembering self-care is especially important in trying times.

After trying some solutions out, re-evaluate and see if it is possible to evolve into something new.  After all no one benefits from your being burned out.  Not your clients, those close to you and certainly not yourself.

Holding oneself and one’s own professionalism in high regard creates self esteem.  Try not to fall victim to perfectionism (i.e. self judgment and self-criticism).  Measuring oneself against others will crush your productivity and your willingness to create.  So, take time to address your current state of feeling burnout.  It is well worth the attention.