well-being
Practical Guidelines For Aromatherapy – Part 1
Aromatherapy and essential oils are often used in spiritual and metaphysical practices, but it can also enhance our health and well-being in many ways, including relaxation, relieving tension, calming the mind improving concentration, and increasing mental clarity.
According to Dr. Brent Bauer of the Mayo Clinic, some studies have shown that aromatherapy might also have health benefits, including relief from anxiety and depression, improved quality of life, particularly for people with chronic health conditions, as well as improved sleep.
But I believe it is important to use only good quality oils. There are several ways the oils are extracted from the plant. Distillation and expression create the purest form of oil, which is the kind of the essential oils I prefer to use for health purposes. Other ways are infusion and extraction which create perfume oils, the ones you can buy in any store that also sells perfumed candles and related products. These can used as room deodorizers, but not for treatments.
Furthermore, not all oils are created equally. Most are easy to use, but some can be too strong and must first be diluted with other ingredients before it can be used. Some oils are simply too toxic and should never be applied directly to the skin. Before using any oil, please do some research online or talk with someone knowledgeable who can advise you.
Diffusion Methods
Light bulb rings. I recommend the ceramic ones, the metals in the brass rings aren’t good for the lungs, no matter how safe they seem to be, plus they’re harder to clean. The biggest advantage in using a ring is that the oils fill the room quickly. The biggest disadvantage is that it needs to be placed on a traditional rounded top bulb, but in my house I have energy efficient bulbs, which have a twisted shape.
The Spiritual Calling Of Animal Rescue
I have always felt that I have two life callings: my work and taking care of rescue animals. And I aim to do both to the best of my ability.
A neighbor stopped me today as I was walking my dogs. This often happens when I am out with them. He asked me why I chose to walk the dogs, while I have a large plot of land for them to freely roam.
Well, they do run around on the property, at least the two younger ones do, but the pleasure of walking them is immeasurable. It is a true joy to see them relishing in the unfamiliar smells and the intriguing creatures they encounter in the countryside. They even made friends with a nearby farm’s goats and another neighbor’s cat.
I also enjoy the lovely countryside around me, which I will be less likely to experience on my own had it not been for the reminding me every day that it is time to go ‘walkies.’ Apart from the obvious exercise being advantageous for my health and well-being, it is also a sort of a meditative process and spiritual practice, because I am required to be very present in the moment.
One of my dogs is a warren hound, known in Spanish as a podenco. They are a Mediterranean rabbit-hunting dog breed. So, she’s a hunting dog and if she suddenly makes a dash to chase something, she could easily catch me off guard and pull me over. I can therefore no afford to be distracted or preoccupied. Instead, I must mindful and aware, which is very beneficial for my inner peace and spiritual alignment.
My dogs and cats are all rescues, some from unthinkably harsh backgrounds. Looking after them has involved a lot of care and veterinary visits, including many specialist observations and surgeries. When you take rescues into your home, they tend to come with much fear and many insecurities, which takes patience and unconditional love.
Two large rescue dogs, that have since departed this life to cross over the rainbow-bridge, wouldn’t allow me to touch them and refused to come inside the house. I provided them adequate shelter outside, but it still bothered me, because the winters can be harsh here in Spain.
Sleep Restores Body, Mind And Spirit
There is a saying ‘our issues are in our tissues,’ meaning our stress, fears and worries show up in our bodies. Keeping our body, mind, and spirit back in harmony and balance is essential for all of us. It ensures inner peace and well-being.
The restorative power of sleep and dreams has been a specific pursuit of mine in recent months. It has been my mission to reach that sweet spot for my body’s wake-sleep-dream rhythm and I have been discovering more of the magic that sleep and dreams can offer.
I find when I have good sleep, I remember my dreams more often. This not only helps with daily problem-solving, since my mind is at rest and not resistant, but I also receive valuable guidance and spiritual reassurance on matters I am worried about. Sleep and dreaming also help us process our emotions from our experiences of stress and trauma during our waking hours.
The dream state is also a time when we are free to explore and find new inspiration. We are in a world of our own making that belongs to only us. And the possibilities are truly endless; even time travel, prophetic dreams, loved ones coming to visit.
In the Harry Potter book The Prisoner of Azkaban, Dumbledore tells Snape not to wake Harry: “Let him sleep. For in dreams, we enter a world that is entirely our own. Let him swim in the deepest ocean or glide over the highest cloud.”
I’m a bit of a technology nerd, so that makes sleeping and dreaming even more of adventure. There are many cool technologies available these days to improve our sleep time. There are watches and other devices to create a record of not only time slept, but even quality of sleep, heart rate and other interesting facts. There are also amazing phone apps streaming sleep meditations and white noise.
I keep a journal to write down my dreams before I rise, and I also to jot down before I fall asleep those questions and life challenges I need answers for. It has further been my experience that you can even reach out in your dreams to loved ones who have passed for advice or guidance, especially if they had a passion for something you need help with.
Technology Does Not Make Love Any Easier
I have personally found over many years of falling in love myself and having been in both good and bad relationships, as well as doing love and relationship readings for thousands of clients all over the world, that romantic love is more about personal soul growth, spiritual evolution and enlightenment than anything else. I find that only once we have learned certain life lessons and spiritual insights, especially with regards self-love, are we truly ready and able to love others unconditionally. Only then you can truly love someone one else, and have them love you equally in return. When this finally happens it is a lovely thing indeed, but in today’s world it is becoming be a rare thing.
Having a tight-knit, loving family or a lasting romantic relationship has become almost ‘abnormal’ in our modern world. In my view technology has been hindering us more than it is helping. The many social media platforms and dating apps we use these days has made love and romance even more complicated. These social networking sites have also created many new problems in long-term relationships and marriages, and I have witnessed it destroying many good relationships.
For example, too many of folks are curious about their ex-partners, because they now have more access to ‘stalking’ others. Some even want to reunite with their ex, who has married someone else in the meantime. Social media offers them an easy way to renew contact and often leads to trouble. Don’t get me wrong, technology is a great thing if used properly, but sometimes it can be also be too convenient and intrusive in other people’s lives.
To Hate Is A Self-Destructive Choice
When I was in middle school, around the age of 13 or so, I remember an older, more popular girl used to constantly bully me. I also remember coming home from school and telling my mother about it. I told my mother that I hated that girl, but she very sternly said, “Oh no, you don’t hate anyone!”
I defiantly replied, “Oh yes, I do!”
My mother then patiently replied, “Okay, well if you are going to insist on hating her, please go and do it somewhere else, young lady. I do not want to hear about it anymore!”
She never explained to me why she felt it was inappropriate for me to hate anyone. I didn’t figure this out until much later in my life.
My own daughter is now also a teenager and she sometimes comes home from school with similar complaints. A girl at school has been spreading false rumors about her. Just like I did all those years ago, my daughter also told me how she hated this girl. And I replied the same way my mother did, except I also explained that hate only breeds more hate.
To hate someone or something only hurts you, no one else. My daughter hating this person she feels has wronged her, will only cause her to hurt herself more with negative emotion, every time she thinks about this person. Every time she tells a friend or family member about this girl, she will be refueling her own negative fire. Thus, she will only end up hurting herself more.
The other girl does not feel every occasion my daughter is upset, or reliving the hurtful situation that occurred. In reality, my daughter is punishing herself every time she thinks about how this person wronged her. This is what we all tend to do, when we find ourselves in similar or hurtful situations.
Now Is The Time To Start Living!
This past year and a half has been difficult on many levels for all of us, whether it be financially, emotionally, physically, or mentally. It has been a difficult time for even the most happy-go-lucky people among us.
Over the past year, most of my clients have lost something of significance in their lives, whether it be their personal freedom, their peace of mind, their health, their job or business, or a loved one. Some have lost everything, and in some cases everyone.
The one thing I have noticed with those who seem to suffer the most is that they all seem to have given up on life. They have lost their desire to live or simply to get out of bed each day. But no matter what our circumstances may be, this is the one thing we must never allow ourselves to do as spiritual beings in human form.
Understand that you have a great strength inside of you that will always carry you to new heights if you just allow it. Understand that this ‘down time’ is meant to teach us what truly matters and what is most important in life.
This time is also meant to help us release the things that no longer serve us. Sometimes such a release may involve people, such as partners, friends, and even relatives.
Now is the time we need to shift our energy. Now is the time to take a good hard look at where you are at, where you have been, and where you ultimately want to be. Each day, rise, take a shower, get dressed, and look at yourself in the mirror and declare, “Today is the first day of the rest of my amazing life. I am confident, smart, and strong. I can do, be or have whatever I set my mind to.”
Our attitude is what will carry us through to the end of this tunnel. You can focus on fear, pessimism, and negativity, or you can choose joy, inner strength and personal power to achieve new heights in your life.
Questions That Truly Satisfy The Self
Once upon the ages, over 5,000 years ago, the world’s great saints, sages, and spiritual scholars assembled at a place called Naimisharanya. This sacred forest was known to them as the energetic hub of the Universe, from where the benefits of their practices, sacrifices, and speech would extend to all the world’s inhabitants. Thus, they gathered here specifically with the intention of welfare for every living being.
By dint of their self-realization, these wise seers were gifted with foresight of the Age of Quarrel in which we now live. They considered that humans of this time would be short-lived and plagued by various mental, bodily, and natural disturbances. So, they contemplated what they could do to bring relief and the highest good for all in the many generations to follow.
They selected Suta Goswami as the most elevated among them, offered him a seat of esteem, and inquired from him with great respect. Because Suta Goswami was free from vice, learned in all scriptures and teachings of physical, metaphysical, and spiritual knowledge, and properly guided by the great masters, who had gone before him, the sages regarded him as most qualified to enlighten them about the Supreme Truth. Therefore, they humbly approached him with inquiries toward that end.
The sages began with six questions which they had ascertained to be of primary importance:
1. What is the absolute and ultimate good for people in general?
2. What is the essence of all scriptures and prescribed practices, by which the hearts of every living entity may be fully satisfied?