Watch her speach: http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/229

Jill Bolte Taylor was a 37-year-old Harvard-trained and published brain scientist when a blood vessel exploded in her brain.  Through the eyes of a curious neuroanatomist, she watched her mind completely deteriorate whereby she could not walk, talk, read, write, or recall any of her life. Because of her understanding of how the brain works, her respect for the cells composing her human form, and an amazing mother, Jill completely recovered her mind, brain and body.  In My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey, Jill shares with us her recommendations for recovery and the insight she gained into the unique functions of the right and left halves of her brain.  Having lost the categorizing, organizing, describing, judging and critically analyzing skills of her left brain, along with its language centers and thus ego center, Jill’s consciousness shifted away from normal reality.  In the absence of her left brain’s neural circuitry, her consciousness shifted into present moment thinking whereby she experienced herself “at one with the universe.”

The book is amazing and below is a brief summary. This is incredibly simple, powerful and tough - but what isn't worth our own happiness?

Everything we do is based on agreements we have made - agreements with ourselves, with other people, with God, with life. But the most important agreements are the ones we make with ourselves. In these agreements we tell ourselves who we are, how to behave, what is possible, what is impossible. One single agreement is not such a problem, but we have many agreements that come from fear, deplete our energy, and diminish our self-worth. When we are ready to change these fear-based agreements, there are four deceptively simple, yet powerful new agreements that we can adopt as guiding principles. The Four Agreements® offer a powerful code of conduct that can rapidly transform our lives to a new experience of freedom, true happiness, and love. 
 
1. Be Impeccable With Your Word
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

2. Don't Take Anything Personally
Nothing others do is because of you. What others say (negative or positive) and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

3. Don't Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

4. Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.
Everything we do is based on agreements we have made - agreements with ourselves, with other people, with God, with life. But the most important agreements are the ones we make with ourselves. In these agreements we tell ourselves who we are, how to behave, what is possible, what is impossible. One single agreement is not such a problem, but we have many agreements that come from fear, deplete our energy, and diminish our self-worth.

The Secret Life of Tea: From Goodness to Glamour By Trella

In the beginning, there was light and it was good. Next came the land and seas. Then when they were perfect, came Camellia sinensis  – commonly known as, tea. While you will be hard pressed to find any religion, ancient or modern with such a beginning, I do hope over the next few minutes to provide you with a story of one of the worlds true super food plants and its story; for the humble tea plant has shaped the destinies of medicine, the arts, culture, Eastern religions, great leaders, global empires and the creation of modern dating.

You can’t really talk about tea without talking about China. Tea has been a powerful medicinal, economic, artistic, cultural, spiritual and gastronomic influence throughout all of China’s recorded history. It all started off when it is written in 2737 BCE that Emperor Shen Nung, the herbalist emperor, after a long day of riding stopped to rest under a tree. As he was famous for teaching medicinal and healing practices to his people, he required all citizens to boil water before being consumed. As he waited for his own water to boil, unbeknownst a leaf from the tree he sat under had fallen into the water pot. Upon tasting the resulting brew, the Emperor knew he had discovered a great and delicious elixir for health, longevity and vitality. Whether tea’s beginning is fact or fiction is up for debate, what is known is that tea has been documented in ancient Chinese texts as a tonic herb that has been cultivated for various uses non-stop to the present day.  Tea is has a wide variety of medicinal uses:

•          Maintain heart health; supports bone density

•           Prevent rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory diseases

•           Acts as a powerful antioxidant

•           Provide protection against certain kinds of cancer (Polyphenols and Catechins)

•           Increase metabolism, alertness and mood (L-theanine component)

•           Boost immune system strength and function

•           Reduce stress; while increasing energy without coffee’s “jitters”

•           Improve skin texture and act as strong detoxifier (High Chlorophyll content)

•           Acts as an anti-bacterial and possibly an anti-viral agent

•           Reduces fat, lowers LDL (“bad” cholesterol) and help control blood sugar levels

•           Healthy  way to hydrate body

•           Provides a natural source of fluoride; and wards off plaque causing bacteria and bad breath

This list is not complete by far and as more and more modern research on tea is developed and published, it time and time again supports what the ancient Chinese have known and said all along.

Tea made its way out of China to first the Mongolians as trade for horses and to the Tibetians as tribute, which started the transport of goods overland by horse and camel, otherwise known as the Silk Road. This cross land trade eventually extended into Turkey and the Middle East, where to this day Chinese green tea called “Gunpowder” is often mixed with mint and is more consumed than coffee.  China trade reached as far as Greece in the 2nd c. AD. By the 6th c. Arabs had control over the China tea trade into the West. As tea developed into an international commodity it also became one of the first international currencies in the form of tea bricks. It is like having a ten dollar bill that breaks off into 1 dollar bill pieces as you can see. [Show brick]

Tea made its way to Japan through the spread of Buddhism, as tea was a core component in aiding with prayer and meditation in helping to create the calm alertness desired to reach higher spiritual states.  Because you can’t become too enlightened if you keep falling asleep.  In the early 9th c., the Japanese Buddhist Monk, Dengyo Daishi brought tea seeds to Japan and cultivated the first garden. Later in 1191, another Japanese Monk, Yeisai-zenji, returned from studying in China with the practice of consuming tea whole by means of creating a powder of the dried leaves. This Chinese practice survives today in Japan as the powdered tea style called Matcha with a preparation that has become its own meditative art form.

Tea made its way to Europe with the Dutch 1606 and not long thereafter the Portuguese started trading with Japan and China as well. It is through this connection that the Portuguese princess, Catherine of Braganza, helped cement the British interest in tea when she become wife of England’s King Charles II in 1662. Tea was really only a luxury of nobility and others who could afford it, and until 1669 with the birth of the English East India Company, tea came to England only by the Dutch.

Catherine and her courtly ladies had social time over tea, meanwhile their menfolk went off to drink much hardier fair at pubs and private meeting halls. With the progression of tea culture more firmly in development from the feminine side, a whole glamorous world of furnishings, equipage and stylish living evolved along with it. With more and more of the wealthier classes buying tea, the poorer classes began to get a taste for the brew too, as well as taste for the lifestyle (think of the wait-staff of a fashionable tea gathering or a wealthy manor as today’s modern celebrity/entertainment reporters).  There was a brisk (ha ha ha) market in already steeped leaves – with price based on how many times the leaves had already been used. The invention of the tea chest or stash was so that only the lady of house had the key to the small decorative chest that held the supply of tea leaves.

Even though King Charles II had a nice habit of tea drinking, he unfortunately had the nasty habit of heavily taxing everything including tea. So not long after the tax on tea in England, it created a booming black market trade as well as the creation of fake tea made from all kinds of nefarious materials, like licorice, plum leaves or used leaves which were dried and re-stained by all manner of nasty things. Because it was easier to pollute green teas, more consumers switched to black teas. This plus the fact that black teas traveled the distance from China to England better set the legacy of England and the Common Wealth being avid black tea drinkers to this day.

All that taxation was not just at home, until the repeal of the Stamp Act in 1767 and the Townshend Act thereafter, the American colonies were forced to pay various taxes on British goods without representation. With the repeal of these Acts, the only British merchant item left that levied tax in the American colonies was … tea.

The colonists responded by smuggling in Dutch tea to both boycott British tea and protest against the government. Well the English East India Company was rather put out by this and did not want to loose its revenues or trade to some wily colonial up-starts. It ended up getting the English Parliament to pass the Tea Act of 1773, thus forcing a monopoly on providing the cheapest tea. I think you are familiar where the story picks up next, later that year on a December night …. in Boston harbor …

So enough of stories of large multi-national companies who wield irresponsible and untold amounts of influence in their governments, and back to the dating scene.

By about 1750, tea had become the preferred drink of all classes in England. “Afternoon Tea” was “officially” started in the 1840’s by Anna Maria, wife of the 7th Duke of Bedford. Custom at the time dictated two large meals, a breakfast and then a dinner were eaten as the servants were off-duty part of the midday. To ease her “sinking feeling”, the duchess ordered tea and cakes at 5 o’clock when the servants came back on duty; in actuality she did not invent this new meal but merely renamed a social occasion that was already evolving because of changing mealtimes and social interactions. 

And so the current institution of “Afternoon Tea” is now typically served from around two to four o'clock. Many mistake Afternoon Tea or High Tea for what was originally called “Low Tea”. High Tea, also known as Meat Tea, is originally what was traditionally served at six o'clock and was used as a light supper and was more of a working-class affair. High Tea became a formal get-together and one of the for-runners of the “Happy Hour”.

Before there were fondue parties, cocktail clubs, or Match.com, the quintessential and respectable socializer, meet-n-greet and love connection was over tea. Romance, debutant balls, first dates, distinguished business meetings, the outdoor gathering, dance parties, ladies who lunch, men who discuss things and socials were all around one thing: tea. Children’s tea sets came about not just as simple playthings, but as social teaching tools. A dapper gentleman would have had personal blends from both his tobacconist and his tea purveyor. The Darjeeling Man came along before the Marlboro Man.

Even with the Revolutionary bump-on-the-road for tea in America, by the turn of the last century up until the 1930’s, tea culture was very much alive, sophisticated and well-versed. Many Americans were familiar with Green and Oolong teas as US import records show that each made about 1/3 of all tea imports with the final third made of black teas.  Americans are fairly unique around the world in that we consume the vast majority of our tea iced. The earliest American Iced Teas were made primarily with green tea, but by the end of Second World War, it was made entirely with Black Tea due to the influence of British tastes and the difficulty in acquiring Eastern tea as Japan had invaded much of the Far East and trade was nil. Other significant factors in the popularity of Iced Tea is that it parallels the development of refrigeration and the commercial manufacture of pure ice, both of which were in place by the middle of the nineteenth century. But Iced Tea really owes its ubiquity to the Prohibition of the 1920’s, when the ban of alcohol sales put it on every American dinner table and every legal salon. It is no co-incidence that there were a quite a number of romantic popular tea-themed tunes, the most enduring which you have likely heard is 1925’s “Tea for Two”.

The last decade has seen an enormous change in the tea industry from one of stagnation, monopoly and cheapest possible product production (most of American black tea  comes from Argentina) to one where there is a plethora of experienced, credible and very high-end tea purveyors offering some of the best from around the world.

Tastes and quality levels of tea are created by climate, soil, altitude, flushing season and the all-important method of processing. There are a few main categories of tea: White, Green, Pouchong, Oolong, Black, Scented/Flavored and Pu-erh (the only tea that is aged).  Black tea is the green tea leaf that has been fully oxidized, while Green has no oxidation and Oolong is partially oxidized.  White tea is made from the new buds that are plucked before opening. Premium teas are exclusively loose leaf and have a very specific pedigree. And as a Reiki Master Healer, which is a person attuned to work on healing the subtle energies of the body, I can tell you that the vibration or level of positive energy of premium tea from an ethical source beats the pants off any of those over-processed, sugar filled sports/vitamin water drinks EVERYDAY of the week.

Premium tea is literally the best luxury value on the market today. Considering that quality loose leaf tea brews around 200 cups to the pound, you could buy a $100 a pound tea (which might sound outrageous), and it comes out to be only $.50 a cup! Try going to the vending machine for that!  Life is too short for cheap tea my friends.  So drink well, be happy and fall in love! … AGAIN!

In conclusion I would love to invite you to the tea tasting being held immediately afterward by my company Exotic Tea Room. Thank You!

Affirmations for Your Chakras – Part of the Divine Love Meditation

a.    1st Chakra – I am safe and live in a safe universe, I trust myself and others, I am capable, self-responsible and can have abundance, I am healthy, I am centered and grounded, I have freedom to be, I am stable, vital, and sexual, I am my own individual and can be separate, I nurture and own my 1st chakra.

b.   2nd Chakra – I feel my emotions and pain, I awaken and honor my passions, I experience sensuality, I can procreate, I am in the present moment, I can see duality and polarity, I have boundaries and they are appropriate, I am social and can reach out to engage with the world, I nurture and own my 2nd chakra.

c.    3rd Chakra – I am courageous, I am whole, I know my own will and stand in my power, I am empowered and take action, I take my time to understand others, I can laugh and see joy in all things, I balance the energy in my body accordingly and for my highest good, I access the Astral with intention, cognition and remembrance, I nurture and own my 3rd chakra.

d.   4th Chakra – I know my own heart, I am loved and can let love in, I love myself, I live in gratitude and peace, I respect others and their path, I care for myself and choose only that which is supports and loves me, I can forgive, I connect to my Higher Self, I invite in Divine Love, I nurture and own my 4th chakra.

e.   5th Chakra – I speak for myself, I know my own truth and can share it, I listen openly, deeply and playfully, I speak clearly and honestly, I create and attract my truth and my reality, I allow limitless creativity, I cultivate wisdom, I am a co-creator with God,  I nurture and own my 5th chakra.

f.     6th Chakra – I play in my imagination, I honor my intuition, I accept my path, I can see for myself and can let myself been seen, I can see another’s viewpoint and truth without judgment, I have clarity, focus and understanding, I am healing my body, mind and spirit, I nurture and own my 6th chakra.

g.    7th Chakra - I connect with Spirit, I know, I have my own certainty, I am senior in my space and own it, I am self-responsible for all intentions, thoughts, feelings and actions I have, I can think and decide for myself, I can connect to God and the Universe, I invite sacred transformation, I release attachments, I can see integration and connectedness, I embrace the unity of all beings, I nurture and own my 7th chakra.

Prayers & Exercises for Protection and Healing from Psychic Attack/Influence/Control

 The astral that is where anyone is absolutely most vulnerable - call on Arch angel Michael to protect you - seriously get serious about invoking the angels. Also have your healing masters keep whomever and his/her guides, energies, etc. out of your space proactively and on the astral - make it a constant healing project. Look on the internet to understand more about angels, still learning myself. Also this is important, create mock ups where whoever does not bother you, but instead helps you (get specific) and hook her/him up to the supreme being. Also bring your karma into present time with whomever (see them in a rose, look for past life rings below rose, take neutral gold sticky rose to clean off past lives and throw into rose, ground it and bring rose into present time, connect rose to supreme being, pull your energy out of it, and blow it up). If there is anything that you don't want someone to know - then have your healing master move that energy/information out of your space for "safe keeping" and call it back any time. Call on Michael & Raphael to heal a wack/attack in addition to the supreme being/healing masters. Take sea salt baths and create / set the energy on objects at home/bedroom and what you wear to help physically and energetically protect you (smudging, or other energy clearing techniques), putting up energetic protection & separation walls/boundaries around your living space & family, etc.) Remember the body is just as connected to subtle energies as your spirit/unconscious is - just getting that info to the conscious is the trick we're all working on. So when there is something showing up in your body - feeling, emotion, sensation, etc. that does not make sense/doesn't seem like it is yours then "hello" time to investigate/protect. 

Prayer to Heal the Effects of a Psychic Attack (for another person or yourself)

“Archangel Raphael, please enter [person’s full name/me] body, and heal any imbalances or impurities that may have come from thoughts of anger or fear. Archangel Michael, please clear away anyone in the spirit world or the material world who is not in the highest and best good of [person’s full name/me]. To the guardian angels of the person or people who psychically attacked [person’s full name/me], I ask that you help to bring harmony and peace to this situation, and to replace all pain with peace. I ask that all effects of mistakes that were made, be undone in all directions of time, by and for everyone concerned. Thank you.”

The Pink Shield – Protecting Against Future Psychic Attack

When you find yourself in a negative situation, it’s a good idea to “spiritually shield” yourself against psychic attack. For yourself do this or when protecting say a child picture them this way: Visualize yourself standing in a tube of pink light that surrounds you like a wall of light. This pink wall is about 12 inches away from your body and completely surrounds you. The pink light is alive, and it emanates strong, loving energy – like a sun giving off steady rays of light. The pink wall of light sends strong love inwardly to you, and also sends strong love outwardly to whomever you meet. Nothing but love can penetrate this wall of pink light that surrounds you now.

Energy/Life Force/Power is the Common Element in Health

There are 3 Levels of Power: 1. tribal/group, which means your thoughts/actions move at the speed of a group. 2. Self-Power: I don’t want to be controlled/supported by the group – I am responsible for my reality and actions, 3. Symbolic/Higher Self: being able to look at our life as though you are witnessing a story play out in which you have the perspective of neutral observance and are not caught up in. At the symbolic/spiritual level you can access power at any way to change the physical word and ourselves. You want to look at every situation in your life through each of these lenses; from that you can have enormous insight from which use.

These three levels of consciousness means that you are not just limited 5 senses. As you learn that you are multi-sensory, it will change your definitions of how you look at reality and gather information.

If you are focused on positive loving thoughts, then that is the type of power that you will attract as that is what you are attuned to sensing. Like attracts like and if you are focused on negative then the same is true. 

Where are you investing your energy in? Are you at balance or at energetic debt?

We create our own reality. Your own thoughts, beliefs, feelings are not private or silent – they are very loud to your body. Currently that is very difficult because that is making any external situation have no impact on your internal situation. Most of us think, “Well once I can get my world/environment under control, then I can relax/meditate/look within”. You have to get in the center of your head and get neutral to the environment and manage your health from that perspective. The rational mind has no authority over a disempowered being. If you can learn to recall your spirit/power to yourself, then you can focus it on your health, etc. 

One of the earmarks of tribal power is initiation. When you find that the group does not work, move your power into yourself. The best way to do that is to move your power into present time; get your power out of the past, others, activities that do not serve you.

Every time you make a choice you are releasing your power to a target. Take conscious action when you make choices: e.g. do I really want to loose my temper over this, do I really want to eat this, do I really care about this.

Be aware of wise investment of your power on a daily basis. Creativity and manifestation requires power. Invest your power into your own personal sense of honor, in learning and practicing forgiveness, in faith ( you will never solve your mysteries – give it up and give into faith so you will be able to roll with the changes), in positive attitudes and appreciation, and in meditation and prayer. Your own power is the greatest gift you can give yourself and each other.

Do you have an empowerment process/schedule in you? Do you have power maintenance?

Having patience is cultivating trust. Trust in yourself and others.

Imagination that is in the past or future is fantasy; only imagination in the present is the beginning of creation.

By healing yourself and clearing yourself, you get to the point where you are over-flowing with energy. From that point your over-flow of energy can heal others and the world.

When you resist or challenge something then you give it power and do not grow.

Learn to feel your answers instead of think them.

Being a full participant of the world but not become of it.

White light is a very high libration and can knock you out of your body. It can be used for protection. The ultimate protection is being clear, and of a very high vibration to the point that nothing can stick. You become un-wackable/energetically not attackable.

We get lazy by giving our power to the concept, not actually experiencing the “what” the concept points to.

Be aware of “familiarity breeds contempt”.

Just rejoice and validate yourself in that you exist, instead of accomplishments, job title, and other things that are used to “validate” you/your existence.

The more you get to know yourself, the more that the what to do or doing will come naturally.

The thing that you want to do most is the thing that you are most able to share, if you can give yourself the permission to share and share it with those that would honor it.

Healing is creating change through moving energy. Give healings in amusement.

As a giver, remember to value the power of the love/healing/creativity that you can give. When we have the opportunity to give we tend to over-do it because we have forgotten or have not seen the power of what we have to offer. You only need to give a little in your relationships instead of overdosing. In time you will learn when to increase the amount. By overdosing others, you may push away some or invite someone in who would take all they can get.

Do you make decisions from pain (or the attempt to avoid it) or do you make decisions from inspiration?

Spiritual bodies rest. Natural bodies sleep. Most of us are taught to abandon these needs. Look at what keeps you from these.

Look at a circle from your 4th Chakra of your self-havingness (ability to allow yourself to have) in which the circle is like a pie % chart. Ask to see the % of which yourself-image and havingness is yours vs. for others.

Disclaimer: This information is not meant to replace any medical treatment. It is offered here as a service. Use this information at your own risk. No guarantee is made towards validity. This is my personal belief on how high quality herbs work for me. Lorraine V.

I've enjoyed using herbs for colds for several years. Friends of mine use them for everything. Here are a few samples of ways that I use simple herbs.

For more information on herbs take a look at our herbs section. You'll be able to get a better overview of the uses of herbs, magical herbs, garden herbs, and so on. There's also some more specific info on herbs such as saw palmetto.

Uses for Common Herbs:
Herbs for the Cold or Flu:
Echinacea: for congestion/flu; immune system builder Golden Seal: for viruses (use Echinacea too) Elderberry: for fever/flu - much h4er, use only when sick Oregano Oil: for infection

Herbs for Motion Sickness: Ginger: works for 30% of people - no side effects; astronauts use it

Herbs for Parasites: Clove: for parasite eggs Green Walnut Hull (tincture): parasites Wormwood: parasite larva

Stomach calming herbs: Peppermint: for stomach ailments Ginger: queasiness

Herbs to Prevent Gum Disease: Bloodroot: oral antiseptic helps reduce plaque deposits (do not ingest) Echinacea: oral anti-bacterial Chamomile: reduces inflammation and kills germs


Avoid These Herbs If You Are Pregnant:
Avoid the following herbs when pregnant (there may be more): Ginger, Black Cohosh, Blue Cohosh, and Chasteberry, Pennyroyal, Clove, Green Walnut Hull, Wormwood

Herbal Bath:
Herbal baths can be used for relaxation, healing, and cleaning. Here is how one prepares an herbal bath:

Boil 3-4 quarts of water. Add a pouch of herbs to a large pan of water and simmer for 45 minutes. strain the herbs from water and add the (now colored) water to your bath water. Do not add bath bubbles or bath oil to your water. Soak for 15-30 minutes. Be careful with plastic tubs as the oils may stain. Reduce the amount of herbs if making a bath for children.

Inform Your Doctor about herbs taken:
Always tell your doctors what herbs, supplements and other medications you are taking. This can prevent some unpleasant drug interactions.

Aromatherapy is the practice of using the essential oils, from any of a variety of plants,  to bring about cetain changes in the body or the mood. Scent is a very powerful thing, for example: certain scents can trigger memories and others can bring about certain mental physical changes. Aromatherapy is the science of using these essential oils, and the scents from those oils, to bring about positive changes in the mind and the body. Essential oils are not perfumes, and visa versa. A perfume is just a collection of synthetic chemicals. While it may smell very nice, it's not related to Aromatherapy.

Practitioners of aromatherapy also warn that essential oils are powerful things and one should have some understanding of their proper and safe use before applying them in any manner.

Aromatherapy oils and their benefits:

Eucalyptus : Aroma therapists use Eucalyptus to aid respiratory system ailments by enhancing deep breathing. It is recommended for muscle aches, pains, or

Frankincense: Frankincense treats lung and genito-urinary compaints, ulcers, chronic diarrhea, breast cysts, and excessive menstruation. It is used on mature skin, acne, fungal infections, boils, hard-to-heal wounds, and scars. It is extremely powerful in opening up the 6th Chakra/Third Eye and 7th Chakra/Crown.

Geranium: Relieves PMS symptoms, nervous tension, and stress-related conditions. Helps repair broken capillaries; fights burns, cuts, eczema. Used in many skin care products Geranium oil provides balancing properties to both oily and dry skins.

Jasmine: Relaxing, intoxicating, warming. Great aphrodisiac. Jasmine has a long tradition of being used in childbirth as a relaxing and supportive remedy. Jasmine is valued in skincare in aiding dry, sensitive and irritated skin.

Lavender: Aromatherapists use it to treat rheumatism, sprains, respiratory problems, abdominal cramps, depression, insomnia, tension-related problems, burns, sun-damaged skin, and various types of skin infections

Patchouli oil has a beneficial effect on the skin, helping with infections, and insect bites It also helps with stress related problems and addictions...

Peppermint: used in treating asthma, nausea, colic, cramps, colds, fevers, fainting, headaches, mental fatigue, flatulence and nausea. Peppermint oil may also help to lessen or eliminate apathy, shock, migraines, nervous stress, vertigo and faintness.

Rose: Good for headache, nervous tension, stress redlated conditions, insomnia, and nausea. Use against broken capillaries, dry skin, and poor circulation.

Rosemary oil can be effective for mental fatigue, for circulation problems, as a pain reliever for the muscular system and can help the respiratory tract and congested skin.

Sandalwood : Relaxing, warming. Great aphrodisiac. Sandalwood is valued in skincare for its moisturizing and skin healing properties.

Sweet Orange - Aroma therapists use Sweet Orange to treat muscular tension, poor circulation, obesity, water retention, bronchitis, colds, constipation, and stress-related symptoms.

Tea Tree: strong disinfectant, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal

Avoid The Following Oils When Pregnant:
Basil, Cedarwood, Clary Sage, Fennel, Jasmine, Juniper, Lavendar, Marjoram, Myrrh, Rose, Rosemary, Sage, and Thyme.

Avoid the following oils if you have Epilepsy:
Champhor, Fennel, Hyssop, Sage, and Rosemary.

Ways of using aromatherapy:
Place a few drops of essential oil into a bowl of steaming water. Breathe the steam for 15-30 minutes. This is great for clearing sinuses and providing headcold relief. Mix your favorite essential oil(s) with distilled water (no more than 15 drops of oil(s) per ounce of water) for a refreshing floral spray... Place a few drops on a cloth. Use this cloth as a scarf or place it on your pillow case. Move cloth away when you have had enough. (Great for using while sleeping!) Use during massage. This can have amazing effects. Beware that changes can happen EXTREMELY fast when doing this, so dilution is recommended. Aromatherapy bath salts are often both extremely relaxing and effective.

The key to healing is forgiveness. There is nothing logical or orderly about healing. There is nothing logical about forgiveness but you have to do it. You will never want to forgive, but after you have done it, it is the greatest gift you can give yourself and afterwards it will have seemed so easy.

Many people don’t want to heal, because their wound is a form of “social currency” in which they use it with others for control and connection. Thus it becomes an addiction, excuse, etc. to avoid self-responsibility and change.

Our wounds are ways of connecting, controlling and communicating with others [e.g. cords].

Investing energy in the past is like trying to make a corpse come alive. Wounds and keeping them going is incredibly self-destructive, but unfortunately it is very socially acceptable. From about the 1960’s and the ME generation this has developed. At the same time society’s definition of intimacy has changed greatly (people are ok to connect and share very intimate details with others even with no previous relationship).

Previous generations would suppress the self for the group/tribe/community – not say that this is the healthy way. Looking at this aspect of wounds allows us to see the shadow side of the self-help movement. Wounds are socially being used (on this shadow side) in a powerful way to not heal. When people want to discover who they are, they many times first look at hurt instead of what they want/their strengths and talents/what they can already do/etc. [Look at Emo culture where depression, self-mutilation, and other destructive energies/emotions/actions has now been glamorized into a fashion. The one with the biggest depression and/or expression of pain gets to get the most attention.] Others’ genuine feelings just don’t get time, space or validity around those using wounds. Clinging to wounds, letting yourself be controlled by others’ wounds, etc. are all a part of this.

Someone might say, “I would like to change (move on, take responsibility, do what I promised, etc.).” but they don’t. Ultimately they do not want to heal themselves as their wounds allow them to socially say “back off/ don’t blame me / just one more drink / its not really my fault because …”. For example someone who once the crisis has passed/ended consistently looses their temper, manipulates, uses others, acts irresponsible, etc. will just pull out their wound as the ultimate excuse. Culturally it has become incredibly popular to use wounds.

We are ultimately responsible for our health and we can heal ourselves. You are in a constant state of gaining or losing your own life force/power/personal energy.

Negative judgment and negative action costs you a lot of physical energy (in addition to mental, emotional and spiritual). Negative intentions and judgment is not in line with you as a spirit. Every thought-form, action, feeling, etc. on this level pulls energy that does not replenish from god, the universe, etc. This energy must come from you and you finance it with the energy from the cells of your body.

The head (intellect/analyzer) is NOT the center of your energy system: it is the heart that is the center. From your heart’s point of view, you are the only one who has ever been victimized, hurt and have never hurt others. Because of these beliefs, forgiveness is the ‘eye of the needle’. Once you can open your heart to this realization, healing becomes possible.

Once you have forgiven, so many possibilities open up to you that were blocked or stuck with refusal to heal yourself. Truth is the reward for forgiveness, as well, the reward is we get our life force back to use it to create instead of just staying static or maintaining our wounds. We are afraid to forgive because we know our lives will change faster – faster than we think that we can handle. So we hold onto pain from the past as a way of avoiding possible pain from the future. By holding onto wounds, it gives you the “belief” that you can control the speed at which change occurs. This comforting thought of control is an illusion; it only supports us holding onto our wounds.

Lies that we tell Ourselves

1.     My life is defined by my wounds. Not true. People will look for wounds in others to keep wounds going or create situations in their lives that can sustain or repeat the wounds.

2.     If you are healthy (physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually), then you are alone; as no wounds are there for you to connect/communicate/control with others. Without the wounds how would you connect with others? You can connect with others but it will be with those who are not addicted to their wounds or with the same people but in a different way. So the real fear is not connecting with the same people who are also addicted to their wounds.

3.     Pain is the enemy. Not true for pain is a guiding force. Instead of resisting pain, look at pain as one language of how your body is communicating with you and honor that.

4.     All physical illness is caused by negativity. No, that is not always the cause or case.

5.     True change (the big things) are not really possible. Not true: what is true is that with major change, you will become a very different person. The fear of the unknown (what will I do, who will be my friends, will I still have this family, where will I live, etc.) is the real reason major change is avoided by most. [Nothing other, mortal or immortal (God), can do the work for us, but the willingness to change is an essential prerequisite. This may sound too obvious: if we weren't willing to change, why would we be in recovery? Yet this is one of the most difficult steps of all. Old patterns were put there for a reason -- they are part of an outmoded survival strategy. Being ready to let go of what we once truly needed is as scary as jumping off a cliff, and very similar in that there is a period of time where we are in free-fall, when we have to let go of something old before we can get something new, before we even know what we are replacing it with.]

 

Healing Requires

1.     Put attention to your wounds. Don’t resist them. You must look at and feel them.

2.     Forgiveness

3.     Self-honor and self-respect; keep your word to your body and yourself.

4.     Stay in the present time and actively manage your energy.

5 Steps to Managing Physical Health

1.     Force yourself to forgive. It is the only way forward in that forgiving others, you will also forgive yourself.

2.     Redefine healing: it is not perfection/perfect pictures; it is an everyday task and the challenge is to walk through each day with making the small choices as well as the big ones as part of a continual process.

3.     Have others witness/listen to your wounds from neutrality 3 times, then let it go. After the third time it will not necessarily be easier but you will have been validated and heard. [We need the reflection of a friend, a coworker, partner or therapist to accurately get the intelligent perspective sought in the previous step. We are by nature blind to our own programming, so another perspective is necessary to help us see.]

4.     Stop asking “why?”. Stop needing to analyze and understand “before” you can move forward. Understanding why will provide information but it will still not release the addictions to wounds.

5.     Chart a future course / life path that is far from your wounds.