The nature of my work and the way I’ve presented it over the years has been nothing short of scientific. At the same time, I’ve felt drawn to the spiritual aspect of healing; however, the conflict has been real, believing that what people wanted was ‘evidence-based’ work. EVERYWHERE you look these days, more and more health professionals promote their therapies as scientifically backed, etc. Well, I’m here to tell you, that only goes so far…

How can I say this? Who am I to say this? In a nutshell, I am me … a health professionals committed to healing and while evidence-based approaches may have mildly helped health issues, science has done very little to really make a difference in the area of wellness.

Let’s be real; health is INCREDIBLY complex. Don’t believe me? Start researching scientific studies on a specific topic, health condition or life science, and you’ll consistently find ending comments that leave things unfinished by stating that further studies are indicated. What’s more, they attempt to study biochemistry and mechanisms of activity, none of which is 100% conclusive or predictable.

As for my personal experience, let’s just say that I’ve spent a great deal of time studying stress and what the heck it really is. I’ve been very outspoken when it comes to describing it as a mechanism of survival .. an instinct .. a built-m structure for protection. Between this knowledge and discovering the remarkable numbers of chemicals affecting our hormonal system, I sought ways to modify cellular processes and soothe systemic reactions which of course involved essential oils.

At the same time, I found myself overwhelmed with a variety of serious life issues. I maintained my position that essential oils would keep my system ‘in line’. Nothing could be further from the truth. Try as I might to practice the ‘evidence-based’ use of oils, I found myself failing my own body. You see, I’m as human as you are and not immune to any form of stress and for as hard as I worked to ‘prove’ my beliefs, it was all I could do to honor my body and its needs. Truth be told, wellness escaped me …. why? Because, as I said .. health is complex.

On the other hand, wellness is simple which is a concept I realized once I developed circulation issues in my feet. At first it appeared to be chilblains which eased up after a while; yet, the discomfort in my toes persisted long after I first recognized and began treating the issue. As I said, this last year has been a rough one, emotionally and between the internal and external stress, no amount of science was helping me to overcome the physical breakdown. That said, using the oils on a daily basis did keep ‘things’ from getting out of hand and requiring additional medical attention. At the same time, my body was clearly struggling, and not being a religious person, I did the next best thing … I dove into mindfulness and meditation. In all honesty, it’s the only thing that made sense given the fact that my mind was on overdrive, unbeknownst to me …

What?

You see, I’ve been practicing yoga for years and have really become quite good at ‘quieting my mind’; although, not at dismissing the pervasive and stressful thoughts. I know this probably sounds confusing; however, there’s a big difference between muffling the issue and actually releasing it a.k.a. letting it go. Therefore, really grasping meditation and how it could serve me was next on my ‘agenda’ if mastering wellness is my mission … which it is .. and through this practice I began to notice that although negative thoughts, worries and doubts were not necessarily at the forefront of my mind, they were running in the background which were only noticeable through physical sensations.

Did identifying the thoughts behind these feelings fix matters … well, not entirely; however, it did illuminate a very important point and that is, we have the ability to improve these physiological reactions by recognizing all manner of stress. I know I speak a lot about environmental factors… which are real; and the idea of mental and emotional stress; yet, am I the only person that has this running dialogue without knowing it? I’m going to say, no. Why? Because I’m not the only one with health issues. What’s more, there are scores of people eating right, getting exercise, being as ‘natural’ as possible and yet, they still have varying degrees of health concerns; much like me.

Look, I’m not suggesting that we will never have health problems. We’re human, or for that matter, organic organisms susceptible to change which happens to be the only constant in nature. And how this plays out in the individual differs due to the unique genetic wiring. This is where science and spirituality meet.

There is clearly a genetic process involved in all organic activity; yet, how this unfolds differs each and every time. Science attempts to explain this with genetic references and at the same time acknowledges that there’s more to nature than we really understand. When we look at how plants communicate, explanation escapes us because there are no neurons, brains, etc … however, what they do have is consciousness … an energy force activating and altering systemic function in response to external factors for the preservation of the species. AND, what the plants do not have that we have is a mind which is not the same thing as consciousness. While we may be conscious .. consciousness is an undeniable director of energy that is absolutely influenced by the thoughts produced in our mind. This is how nature comes together; although, not with force but through cooperation.

This is the distinguishing factor between health and wellness. Health care is an attempt to control the force of nature that flows through all of life. Wellness seeks to align with and support it for the highest good. This understanding is significant.

For years, I have done all that I could do to be valid in my endeavors; to be taken seriously AND to avoid becoming a statistic. My family has a history of blood pressure issues, cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, COPD depression, and addiction, What’s interesting is for as much as I’ve done all that I could to resist this level of human experience, I’ve been successful at keeping poor health at arms length. At the same time, there’s plenty of evidence to indicate that I’m teetering on the edge. What’s more, it’s a lot of freakin’ work to try and prevent ill health!!!! I mean A LOT!

Trying to figure out what’s best for this and how to deal with that …. no … no … no … it’s too much and the one thing I do know is throughout my entire life, I’ve been known to say .. ‘life has got to be simpler than this’.

Look, I love addressing health naturally and am crazy about essential oils; however, not to the point where I lose my sense of self! And that is what was happening. What’s worse is my practice of creating wellness was seriously intense and complex and at the same time lacking. Why? Because it is overrun with thought … too much thinking and not enough connection.

Granted, I know the oils create connection; however, the more we stress over which one is the right one, the greater the disconnect. All because an increase in stress broadens the gap of instability. In other words, even though the intention is good, overthinking disables the process of healing; hence, weeding out the thoughts and coming back to a state of clarity and inspiration. This isn’t to say we don’t include oils … we absolutely do as they support the flow of consciousness…

So allow me to recap the

4 Steps for Creating Inner Peace

1. breathe ~ not to sound cliché’ yet, it’s effective; however breathing into the tightness .. into the discomfort or uneasiness .. slowly and deliberately UNTIL you begin to feel the expansiveness move into your body and then continue breathing into that and your connections with Consciousness (however you define that)

2. be curious about what’s causing this discomfort; although, avoid blaming anyone or anything ~ the point to this exercise is to determine what’s going on in you … what thoughts are underneath the discomfort? Fear, anger, agitation … and what’s it about? Is it related to a worry or doubt? DISMISS it .. let it go .. appreciate it for being there as a means of protecting you and remind yourself that you can do this! That you are capable of handling this in a way that promotes ease, and above all, believe in yourself! And if there are no bad thoughts just anxiousness or uneasiness return to the breathing and skip to number 4

3. breathe ~ again, deeply and deliberately all the while releasing any judgments that are there about yourself or anyone else

4. grab an essential oil or blend that leaves you feeling super chill and breathing peacefully within 10 to 15 minutes of inhaling it

I know this seems much different from anything I’ve previously said or written and it is the turn I’m taking with this work. Life is incredibly complex and overwhelming. We have amazing technology and insights into so many things; yet, the more we seek to understand, the more there is for us to know … what’s more .. the more ‘we know’, the sicker we’re getting which says ‘something is off’. Maybe, just maybe we’re missing the most important discovery … the fact that science has recognized an unstoppable force that cannot be replicated and at the same time influences all of nature’s processes. What is it? Energy and it simply flows accordingly. There’s no other way to define it … this is the life force that connects all of life and we have the ability to tap in and flow with it. Our current studies have us trying to control it and what I’ve discovered is that we’re not in control .. the more we seek to control, the more there is to control. We cannot contain or capture this life force so why try? Why not let go?

I know many might ask: let nature take its course? Well, yes AND I know this is scary given the world we live in; yet, with a heightened state of awareness (which the oils help with), we have the ability to improve the results. Just letting ‘nature take its course’ at this point could be disastrous for a while; however, we have the intelligence as well as the wisdom to connect and partner with this life force for the sake of less dis-ease and more inner peace.