Essential Oils for Mental Health

Essential Oils for Mental Health

Anxiety, depression, and other mental health issues are banes to live with. Most of us who deal with mental health issues are on a cocktail of medications that can take us in all sorts of directions mentally and physically before they ever level out, if they ever level out. All too often, we are constantly changing medications and it's just a chemical merry-go-round. We all know chemicals ultimately do more harm than good but we are so desperate to feel better and have a "normal" quality of life that we suck it up and pop our prescriptions.

What many of us don't know is that there are some holistic methods that can help us feel somewhat better. These methods won't cure us of our ills, but if used in certain methods, they can calm us, and relax us enough to maybe, just maybe, have a moment of peace without an additional pill. I will be researching some of these methods over the next several weeks. One of these methods is Essential Oils.

Essential oils are natural extracts from flower, roots, bark, or leaves of plants. You can use Aromatherapy through diffusers, a few drops in your bath or on your pillow, or in a humidifier or vaporizer.  Essential oils can also be applied topically when combined with a carrier oil or lotion. How relaxing would it be to get a nice massage? On top of that, the oils are able to absorb into your skin and you are also getting the aromatherapy as well from the scents being released. Essential oils can be added as scents into candles and body scrubs. You can really let your imaginations soar when it comes to ways to use essential oils. I will have a base for a sugar scrub that any of these essential oils can be added too at the bottom of my blog.

Lavender is the most used essential oil today. It is known for reducing anxiety and stress. It is also very known for its calming effects. Are you having trouble falling asleep? Staying asleep? Lavender may be the essential oil you will want to check out. A few drops of lavender oil on your pillow should help you enjoy sweet dreams faster and longer.

Chamomile has many uses. I enjoy a cup of chamomile tea at night to help me relax and fall asleep. Diffusing chamomile essential oil in your home at night is also a great way to fall asleep. Chamomile, whether in tea, tincture or essential oil form, is one the best medicinal herbs for fighting stress and promoting relaxation, according to research from Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine and Pharmacognosy Review. Aromatherapy using chamomile essential oils is often recommended as a natural remedy for anxiety and general depression.

Jasmine is also used for overcoming stress and anxiety. It is also said to be useful for inhancing the libido. Now I know that mental health issues can wreak havoc on one's libido. Jasmine oil has been known as a natural aphrodisiac because of it's "seductive" scent. Jasmine can also reduce pms symptoms. I have heard of jasmine teas. As an essential oil, jasmine can be used without a carrier oil and applied directly to the skin. It can also be used in your favorite method of aromatherapy.

Ylang Ylang is another aphrodisiac and antidpressant. It's also known to help with high blood pressure. This natural mood stabilizer is one of the key ingredients used in Chanel No.5. Ylang ylang can be diffused throughout your home to help you feel refreshed and energized, it can be applied to your skin to wake you up, or you can even mix some up with some organic coconut oil and apply it to your hair for an increased shine.

These were my favorites of the oils I found. During my research I also found that there are many places online to purchase essential oils. I don't have any recommendations as I have not made any purchases through any online sellers. If you can find someone local who sells essential oils and is knowledgeable, you will probably have the best experience obtaining the perfect product for you. Please remember if you are on medication, always remember to check with your doctor first before trying essential oils. Never ingest any essential oils or apply undiluted essential oils to the skin without proper training or medical supervision. This blog is for fun and I am not a doctor or professional.

Sugar Scrub Base

2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup organic coconut oil
3-6 drops of your favorite essential oil

Mix sugar and coconut oil together. Add essential oil. Store in a decorative jar with tight lid. It's that easy. You can make smaller batches. There are many diy sugar scrubs online to take inspiration from. Making scrubs, candles, and other products can also be very inexpensive, satisfying, and soothing to depression and anxieties. Feel free to share any recipes that you enjoy using essential oils in the comments below!

My Beauty Within My Darkness

We all have different ways that we deal with anxiety and depression. I blog and spend time with my pup but one of my other methods that soothe me is painting. I never painted or even considered myself to having any type of artistic talent. So I guess a good thing has come out of my depression and anxiety. We can always find a positive within a negative if we look hard enough. This blog is gonna be short on words but I just want to share some of my paintings and it also is very satisfying to me to see my paintings all together here. These are all my original works of art. Most of them have found homes. Some of them Live on my walls. Some have yet to find homes. What positives have you found within some of your negative times. Think about it and let me know in the comments below.

Shapes of Healing Crystals

One of the blog topics my therapist gave me this week was Shapes. She left it very open to interpretation. Something that I think is very interesting are crystals. Many people believe some crystals to have healing properties. For example, rose quartz is known as the "love stone" and is said to enhance relationships, creates a calm atmosphere, and dispels negativity. Hematite is one of my favorite stones and is said to enhance thought and provide a deep grounding.

Every detail of a crystal is important, including its size, its color, and its shape. All those details influence how energy flows throughout the crystal.

I found this wonderful list by author Kathleen Odenthal Romano that breaks down the list of shapes beautifully. I am only going to share a few of the shapes but I recommend you check her blog out for a full list.

The Cube - Many crystals come in the shape of a cube. This shape is able to harvest a significant amount of energy and can be very stabilizing. Like the calculated nature of their shape, these crystals are easy to program and are known to secure intentions well.

These unique crystals often look like rods or wands, however they are unique because they have points on both ends. These crystals are very powerful because they have the ability to transmit and emit energy from two places. Sometimes one end may be releasing energy while the other point is transmiting energy, other times both points may be transmiting or emiting energy. Because of this, they have many purposes, but should be used with care.

Fluorite Cubes

The Egg - This particular kind of crystal is known for its aesthetic beauty. These types of crystals are popular among those who practice acupressure as well as refloxologists. Egg shaped crystals ae known for holding energy that can find an imbalance within the body.

Quartz Egg

The Heart - The heart shaped crystal is known to attract loving energy, as well as energies that can help those with negative emotions. This healing crystal deals with the mental body, and works to deter sadness, grief, suffering and pain. The heart crystal has also been known to increase fertility.

Hematite Heart

The Pendulum - This popular crystal shape can easily be made into a necklace or used as a pendulum. When worn, this crystal is a great protector and healer. It also identifies imbalances in the human body. As a pendulum, this crystal can be used for a wide array of purposes, mainly by experienced energy workers.

Rose Quartz Pendulum

My Top 5 Travel Bucket List

We all have bucket lists, lists of things we want to do in life. I have a pretty long bucket list. I have actually separated my bucket list into sub lists. This is my Travel Bucket List. I'm not going to list all the places I want to go to, just a few of my top choices. 

1. Scotland

The specific places I really want to go see in Scotland are Loch Ness and Isle of Skye. According to Wikipedia, Loch Ness is a large, deep, freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands extending for approximately 23 miles southwest of Inverness. Maybe I'll even catch a glimpse of the world famous Loch Ness Monster, also known as Nessie. 

Urquhart Castle on Loch Ness

The Isle of Skye is known for its rugged landscapes, picturesque fishing villages, and medieval castles. That in itself sounds like heaven to me and I could spend weeks just exploring. However, there is one magical place that I really want to go see and that is the Fairy Pools. The Fairy Pools are a natural waterfall phenomenon in Glen Brittle on the Isle of Skye. The photos that I have seen are absolutely stunning and I truly want to go there and experience the magic of the place for myself so very much.

2. Ireland

I'm not sure specifically where I would like to go in Ireland as of yet. I know I would probably like to visit some places that may be considered to be "magical". I'm certainly interested in visiting castles and waterfalls and hopefully seeing a fairy. There are so many beautiful places in Ireland.

Cashel Castle

3. Greece

Greece has some of the most beautiful, picturesque, perfectly luxe islands on which to escape and I would love to spend quality time on several of them for extended lengths of time. I would simply enjoy the tranquility of the ocean and the fresh air. Long walks and fresh food would be healthy for me as well. Ah Greece, how you call my name.

Seychelles Beach

4. Tokyo

Now I know so far the places I have listed have been pretty laid back and relaxing. Tokyo certainly isn't that. Tokyo is all city. For the tourist it's fast paced and bright lights and lots of excitement. I would love to experience so much of Tokyo. I want sushi. I want to visit the Owl and Cat cafes. I want to go see the Robot Restaurant show. I want to experience everything Hello Kitty and Sailor Moon and I want to go Kawaii Crazy!! I want to experience so much of Tokyo's culture.

Hello Kitty Cafe

5. New Zealand

New Zealand is such a beautiful country. Many epic movies with incredible scenery such as Lord of the Rings has been filmed there. I want to explore this incredible island and experience it's beauty and island culture. I want to traverse the beaches and mountains and emerald hills. I want to live it up in the cities and embrace Maori tribal cultures. New Zealand seems so clean, so wild, yet so diversely cultured. It's definitely on my list. 

Auckland, New Zealand 

I thought this was going to be a short blog to write but in reality I have spent hours exploring these places online. I may not be able to visit them in person yet, but with the power of the internet, I can travel all over the world through images and other peoples' points of view. Where would you like to travel? Leave me a comment below.

My Comforting Blog

The last couple of days have been kinda high anxiety days. In some ways that is good, in others not so good. The good part about it is I tend to maniacally get stuff done. The bad part is my blood pressure tends to get really high and I get really bad headaches that shut me down and send me to bed really fast. So anxiety days are really push and pull days. I'm running on the tail end of a headache right now but I'm sticking to my goal of posting three times per week. This is determination. What I want to discuss today is my maniacal anxiety days and how I like to comfort myself through the highs and lows.

I can usually tell when my anxiety is building. It can sometimes, but doesn't usually, hit me at once. It's usually a quick little build up. It starts off as what may be perceived as boredom. My attention can't be kept by much and I tend to munch on anything I can find to munch on. I will pace between the fridge and the couch and my bed. I will swap between apps on my phone or games or shows on the tv. I will look out the blinds. I will chew and pick at my nails. I munch some more and try to read to slow my brain down. I try to keep myself as calm as possible in hopes that I can stop the full blown anxiety attack before it hits. Unfortunately, more often than not, I am unsuccessful.  I usually will not be able to sleep well that night. 

The next day I will wake up full of energy. I will get my house clean, dishes washed, bed made, everything facing in the shower and on counter tops and in cupboards, dog bathed and nails trimmed and ears cleaned. Everything has to get done or I will go nuts. If things aren't in place and put up and decluttered my skin crawls and my hair itches. My back can't take all the work. It just hurts so bad. So I can only do teeny bits at a time. Which frustrates me. My blood pressure goes up from pain and the anxiety. Which gives me a headache. Which adds to the pain factor. The anxiety attacks can turn into full blown panic attacks and I really don't want to go into those. I feel my stress level rising thinking about those. What started off as a great day to get stuff done, turns into a nightmare of pain and depression and sleep that can last for days.

I'm trying to find other ways to satisfy my anxiety that may not cause the aftermath and ways to comfort the aftermath. Blogging has been a lifesaver. It keeps my hands and brain busy so I'm not obsessing over everything I need to do. Right now, I know I need to do the dishes, but I'm not obsessing about it. It's nice to sit with a cup of hot tea and just type my thoughts out. Blogging is such a great outlet. Another comfort I'm finding is ways to "beautify" myself. My boyfriend has been great about helping me get skin care and makeup and other beauty products. It's so satisfying, receiving packages in the mail with my products and then opening them and trying them out. I love it!! I'm even starting a blog about new products that i'm trying. It will be a sister blog to this one. I probably won't post as often there but we will see.

My favorite comfort is curling up on the couch with my dog and my boyfriend. I draw so much comfort just having those two right there by my side. Their presence just relaxes me. Oh and one thing that I don't know if anyone else thinks might be weird, but when I'm am having really high anxiety, I like to be cold. I get so hot. I have to have the AC blasting. I will drink so much cold water. I have to have the cold water right by me. Cold showers are perfect. I'm sure if I lived where there was snow, I would probably go lay down in the snow. I just have to have cold. Painting also calms my anxieties but I have to be in the mood to paint. Trying new teas out is always relaxing and comforting. I just love to set an environment. I will turn off the lights, light candles, crank up the ac, make a cup of one of my many random flavors of tea, and then just curl up on the couch with Gucci behind my legs and read my book and sip my tea. That for me is a zen moment.

I almost relaxed myself to sleep there thinking about that moment. Now that I am pretty calm, I think I am going to check out my new hair color. I got my hair colored earlier and I've been waiting on it to dry naturally to see the color. Then, I'm going to get supper in the oven and get the kitchen clean. Then on to relaxing with my man and my pup. Leave me some comments about how you like to either calm your anxiety or comfort your depression. Please share my blogs with others if you think they may be helpful to others. And please know that I am so thankful to everyone who reads these. It helps me feel accomplished, which makes me feel happy, which really helps fight off my depressions and anxieties. Thank you so much!!!

Such is Beauty

This is another topic I was given by my therapist and one I've been wrapping my head around all weekend. It's a topic of "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" or "why is an elephant seal so ugly to some, but a glorious creature to others." As I've been scouring the web for resources, I've experienced quite a variety of emotions. Two emotions have stood out in particular, anger, and that cutesy thing we girls do when we smile and go aaawww how cute.

When it comes to animals, it's really easy to say "ugly" is cute. My chihuahua, Gucci, has some permanent birth defects. His tail is crooked from broken spots in his tail. His forehead is lopsided from having a permanent open fissure and hydrocephalus. He walks funny from his little legs being a tiny bit messed up. Anyone who looks for chihuahua perfection may call Gucci ugly. To me, he is my handsome little man and he is the most adorable little thing ever. 

I looked up the elephant walrus along with many other "ugly" animals. I found many animals that I certainly wouldn't classify in my own personal opinion as beautiful, but I did see a beauty in them all. Especially when I saw pictures of them with their young. It was quite humbling really to see how majestic creatures are when you look past their exteriors and see them interacting in their natural environments. And for your viewing pleasure, here is a gorgeous male elephant seal with a huge smile:

Now, it was very easy to stay pretty cheery while I looked up animals. There were many cute baby anilmals and such as that. But then, I got to thinking about people. So many people are so concerned about what others think about them. That makes me angry. So many people compare themselves and others to "society's standards." Judgement upon how others look is everywhere, especially on social media.  Well it appears that "standards" are no longer the norm. Different is the norm. Different is beautiful. Being yourself is beautiful. Each and every one of us is beautiful. I am overweight. I have thinning hair. I have double chins. My butt is way bigger than I wish it was, but you know what, I am beautiful. My boyfriend says I'm beautiful. My kids say I'm beautiful. I may not be beautiful to someone else, but that someone else probably has their own beautiful person. It doesn't matter if you are beautiful or perfect to everyone. Don't worry so much about other people's opinions.  It doesn't matter if you are accepted by everyone. It doesn't matter if everyone you meet on the street doesn't look at you and check you out. What matters is that you know that you are beautiful, because of and regardless of everything you see in the mirror. You are beautiful because of what lies within you. You are someone's beautiful. You will be someone's beautiful.  Don't judge someone if they are not beautiful to you. That person that you just walked past and deemed as "ugly," is beautiful. Maybe not to you, but to someone. We have to see the beauty inside ourselves and then learn to not judge others. I know i'm horribly guilty of casting judgment. I must work on this. I also must work on seeing my inner beauty. 

One of my goals for 2017 is to take better care of myself inside and out. I feel that this will make me feel more beautiful to myself. This blog has really opened up my eyes to the way I look at others. And it also makes me realize that I shouldn't worry about what others think about me. My opinion is the one that counts.  I think I am going to put on my most beautiful smile, since smile are very healthy, and go cuddle with my very handsome Gucci. Please feel free to leave a comment if this blog has helped you at all. 

If You Just Smile

The first thing I would like you to do is to put on a smile. Studies show that smiling and laughing have a huge number of benefits to both mind and body. So by starting this blog off with a smile, we are becoming healthier already.

~     When you laugh, your body releases endorphins. These are brain chemicals known as neurotransmitters, which make us feel happy. They are also a natural pain and stress reliever.
~    Laughing reduces levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, and gives us a quick burst of energy.
~    A good laugh can be beneficial to the lungs, boost immunity, and could even burn off calories.

Many people deal with stress these days. Stress can lead to many health problems including heart attacks and strokes. Smiling has been proven to reduce stress and can literally help your heart to be healthier. I say that right there makes smiling a win in my book. 

We all have stresses in our lives. Stepping back and taking inventory of those stresses can be invaluable. Take a close look at them and see how many of them you can simply remove. There will be many that will still remain but there is one thing we can do. "Fake it til ya make it." Acknowledge that the stress is there but hold your head high and smile til you can overcome it. Those endorphins will kick in and make things a bit easier. The science backs it up that it is possible to smile your way to a happier, healthier lifestyle. The physical act of smiling and laughing can have a psychological impact on your body, going so far as to release “happiness” chemicals and hormones in your body to make you feel better no matter what you’re going through. Win.

Positivity attracts positivity. Smiles are contagious. People who smile more are said to be more attractive and tend to be more successful, by appearing more confident, attractive, and approachable. By being successful and achieving our goals, we tend to be less stressful and even happier so yet another big win.

There are just so many benefits to smiling. It doesn't hurt to smile. Smile at every person you pass, be they friend or stranger. Smile and laugh at the silly moments in life. Smile at the precious moments. Smile through the tough times. Smile always. Just Smile.