Strategic Flavors

Ingestion is a controversial topic in aromatherapy, which is funny, because most of us ingest essential oils all the time.

Essential oils are frequently used as flavorings in the food industry, especially in candies and sodas.

This is obviously not a strong argument for their health benefits--although peppermint candy and cola syrup are traditional folk remedies--but it does mean that ingesting essential oils is a pretty normal thing, and as long as they are properly diluted and used in moderation, it's as risky as drinking a can of La Croix.

Too much essential oils can be very dangerous. So can too much baking soda. But in both cases, it's pretty easy to safely incorporate them into your food, because unsafe amounts taste absolutely revolting. 

As with baking soda, there's a large gray area between normal culinary amounts and poisoning, and if you're going to go there, you had better make certain that you know what you're doing. 

But thus far, I haven't felt the need to learn how to ingest larger amounts of essential oils. I'm very happy with the results that I get when I use normal flavoring amounts, and simply deploy flavor strategically. 

I've always enjoyed putting flavored creamers in my coffee. Now, I make my own. Copaiba is my go-to flavor; it tastes lovely and supports my body in incredible ways. Depending on how I feel, though, I sometimes switch it up and use Thieves, peppermint, or nutmeg instead. 

When I want the health benefits of some savory oil such as oregano, I'll whip up a yummy olive-oil based dipping sauce and enjoy it with some bread. There's great power in normal everyday flavors, used strategically. It's joyful and delicious, and it's safer that way, too.

Doing the things.

Living inside this body of mine is... complicated.

I've long since given up the search for a diagnosis, but my sister was finally diagnosed with a genetic collagen disorder that pretty much explains my whole life--the pain, the heart murmur, the gastroparesis, and even the long string of bewildered doctors.

I'm looking forward to getting genetic testing and solid answers, but in the mean time, it doesn't make a whole lot of practical difference. There's no cure, but neither is it likely to kill me any time soon; it's just a matter of doing what I can to live the best life possible.

And there's a LOT that I can do.

There's no magic bullet, just a whole bunch of simple little things that add up to a big difference... as long as I actually do them.

This year, in the spring and early summer, I felt so good that I mostly forgot that I was sick. As life got busier, I stopped focusing so intently on maintaining my health, at the same time as the ozone levels literally took the wind out of me.

In the middle of a relapse, it can feel impossible and hopeless, but it's not.  The biggest part of the battle is remembering that I'm not really as powerless as I feel.

So this list is mostly for me, to reference and remember. Here are some of the things that help me:

Hydration--Water is life, but it doesn't do my body much good without adequate...

Salt--High blood pressure runs in my family, so I grew up using salt very sparingly. My own blood pressure runs low, however, so learning to adequately salt my food has been important. When I use enough salt, I can stand up without getting dizzy, and food tastes better, too!

Music--Listening is good, playing is better, and participating in an ensemble is best of all. Unfortunately, this is really hard to pull off when I'm sick, but whenever I'm able to, it pays off in a big way.

Exercise--Daily life supplies opportunity for at least as much physical activity as I'm capable of. Exercise is important though, for maintaining good posture throughout the day. So that, you know, my ribs and spine stay where they're supposed to be.  I highly recommend Pain Free by Pete Egoscue. The neck pain sequence is magic. Time-consuming magic, but worth it. And when I do the exercises outdoors, it doubles as...

Grounding--This one sounds crazy, but it makes a huge difference. The more time I spend touching the bare ground, the better I feel. I feel better after going outside barefoot for just a few minutes, and even on my worst days, an hour laying on the ground relieves 90% of my joint pain. Some people say that the Earth's mild negative charge can neutralize free radicals, others say this is crazy. All I know is that it helps me a lot.



Kything--Okay, this one makes my obsession with grounding seem downright mainstream! You're free to believe me or not, but plants talk to me, and the more I listen, the better I feel.

Probiotics--I had a lot of ear infections as a kid, and antibiotics did a number on my gut flora. Kefir has been life-changing for me, transforming my digestion. I got my kefir grains from a friend who got them from a friend who ordered them from www.kefirlady.com  I haven't figured out how to maintain a colony here in the RV, so I've been drinking store-bought kefir from time to time to time. I also plan to try out Life 9. I like growing my own probiotics so much, but sometimes that just isn't practical.

Juice--even with probiotics, digestion can be pretty exhausting for me. Juices and smoothies help me get adequate nutrition without taxing my digestive system too much.

NingXia Red--This wolfberry-based supplement is loaded with antioxidants, and I feel so much better when I have 2-4 oz. a day. Last month we had mix-up with the post office, so I've had to make do without it. NOT a fun experiment, but it's confirmed yet again that, yes, this stuff helps. A lot. (Added bonus, it's the most delicious thing I've ever tasted.)

Copaiba--I am so grateful for this South American tree resin. I like swirling a drop in my cream before I pour my coffee.

What's on your list? What do you do to keep yourself feeling your best? 

(This post contains affiliate links. All opinions are my own. None of this should be construed as medical advice, and none of these claims have been evaluated by the FDA. Except the one about Copaiba being generally recognized as safe for human consumption. My apologies to aromatherapists of the British persuasion. These are simply my personal experiences; you do you.)

There's a truism in marketing: if you want to people to buy drills, you have to sell holes.

In its most straightforward sense, this expresses what's beautiful and good about marketing--connecting people with products and services that will help them accomplish their goals.

But there's a darker side to that phrase. It's not just drill-marketers who are selling holes.

Every day, we're inundated with images designed to make us feel helpless and inadequate. "You have a [product]-shaped hole in your life."

One of the most egregious examples is a television ad for a lawyer seeking clients in financial distress. Ominous words flash across the black screen as a grim voice inquires about your financial worries, accompanied by a loud, thudding heartbeat. The heartbeat grows faster and faster as the voice lays out various worst-case scenarios, and asks about the effect the worry may be having on your health and relationships.

Suddenly the tension breaks. Come-to-Jesus piano music softly plays, as the lawyer stands ready to welcome you with open arms. Regardless of the past, you can have a fresh start if you call right now.

Most of the time it's a lot more than subtle this, but it's everywhere. People are selling us holes so that we will pay to fill them up again. They're selling us despair and hopelessness and dependency, and I don't want anything to do with it. I'm not buying it, and I certainly don't want to sell it either.

This is why I love multi-level-marketing: we're in this together, but we each have the freedom to choose what it's going to look like for us.

For me, it's a high priority to make sure that I'm selling freedom and joy, not frustration and dependency.

And I want to sell the confidence that you really are capable of learning to use oils safely and well, and if you choose to do so, you can take charge of your own wellness in a new way.

You can have an awesome life just fine without essential oils, but they have brought much beauty and joy into my life, and I'm pretty sure you'll love them as much as I do.

It's hard work, but it's worth it: if it's not about freedom, I don't want anything to do with it.

Complex Meters

Common wisdom dictates that the first rule of not going crazy is never to google your cardiac symptoms. Numerous tests have shown my arrhythmia to be benign, so I've pretty much put it out of my mind, except when playing my flute. That little stutter every fourth beat always throws me off if I'm not paying attention. My heart beats to a different drum, but I'm finally learning how to navigate the poly-rhythms.

Living well with chronic illness is, to a large extent, a mental game. No amount of positive thinking will give us a normal life, but sometimes mindset can make the difference between being stuck in bed all day, and being stuck in bed most of the day. We take what we can get, and we live with very little margin for error.

Once while I was in high school, maybe six months after the onset of my symptoms, I woke up feeling unexpectedly wonderful. My mind was clear, my joints only ached a little bit, and I had more energy that I'd had in weeks. It was glorious. I decided to surprise my mother by secretly getting all sorts of homeschool work done, while pretending to be as incapacitated as the day before. It backfired horribly. Feigned lethargy quickly became very real, and by afternoon I had relapsed altogether.

It's a lesson I've taken to heart. I have to make the most of every good moment, gathering enough joy to propel me forward, postpone the next relapse, hopefully make it as mild as possible. Keeping my morale up is no small feat when my whole body hurts, and this strategy isn't without its drawbacks; invisible illnesses are even harder to explain when you smile all the time. It's better than the alternative, though, so I work hard to keep my chin up. A joyful heart makes good medicine indeed.

Most of my symptoms, I've googled like crazy, as one does when the battery of blood tests fails to produce answers. After all these years, my sister finally has a diagnosis, and it appears to be genetic, so I'm praying that I will soon be able to get some medical help that actually helps. In the mean time, I'm always looking for ways to maximize my health on my own. I play around with sundry herbs, craft my own antibiotics out of kitchen staples, and make music like my life depends on it.

Last week I finally broke down and googled my arrhythmia. It turns out that in cardiac terms, "benign" simply means that I'm not about to drop dead. It doesn't mean I won't be dizzy and out of breath all the time. All those years of anxiously wondering why the blood work never gave any answers, and what if this was all in my head and I was going crazy... well, this might have been good to know.

I'd thought that if I could just avoid thinking about my heart, I could protect myself from anxiety. Funny how that backfired.

I'm learning once again that the antidote to fear is always joy, never ignorance. You have to face the struggle head-on, or it will constantly ambush you, but then you also have to seek joy out, treat it as if it's more real than pain.

Which it is.

And now I think I'll practice my flute. Today's challenge is to turn my scales into something beautiful enough to stay on beat.

Freedom and Flow

The deeper I dive into this network marketing gig, the more excited I get.

It's work. HARD work. But it's good work, because I get to exactly the work I was made to do.

The work I do looks different from the work that that the other amazing people in my organization do. They help make my work profitable, I help make their work profitable, and when we work together, each of us can work in our strengths.

Some are constantly meeting new people and introducing them to our products, while others make sure that everyone has amazing customer support, and nobody falls through the cracks. As for me, dialogue is my big thing, and a rousing Facebook discussion is my happy place. Somebody pinch me, I'm building my career around that.

It's a gorgeous thing to watch people finding their places, supporting one another out of their strengths. The cycle of exchange is mesmerizing, almost magical.

And really, this is what marketing is all about, isn't it? Bringing people together, facilitating the kind of mutually beneficial exchanges that allow everyone to work in their own strengths.

It smells like justice, and I'm so glad that I get to be a part of this ecosystem.

Stress Away

Ask anyone what their favorite oil in the starter kit is, and it's usually Stress Away! This blend smells amazing and does what it says :) I love keeping this one in my pocket, to help me respond with peace and intentionality whenever stressful situations arise.

This blend has made a big difference for our family, helping everyone get along, particularly during the "crazy hour" right before supper. Copaiba provides the main magic in this blend, and Ocotea, Vanilla, and Lavender work together to make it even more relaxing. Cedarwood adds a warm fuzzy note, encouraging family closeness and affection, and Lime clears the air, making it easy to let go of negative thoughts.

Thieves

Ahhh, Thieves! Crazy name, amazingly versatile oil.

This lovely blend of clove, lemon, cinnamon, eucalyptus, and rosemary was inspired by an old legend about four 15th century French thieves who... well, you can look it up the rest.

Point is, this stuff smells like Christmas, and it supports the immune system beautifully.

I run this in the diffuser a LOT, especially during the winter months. Breathing in its spicy goodness helps us all a lot.

It's also really great for home cleaning. I've added Thieves to my DIY cleaning sprays, but I like the Thieves Household Cleaner better now. Either way, it's a wonderful thing when your cleaning products support your health instead of making you sick!

Thieves is a little on the spicy side, so it's important to dilute it before applying it to your skin. I like making up roller bottles with a few drops of thieves and some​ liquid coconut oil. That way it's easily on hand when we need it.

I find the best results when we roll it on our feet and spines. Honestly, I have no idea why it would matter, but putting it on my chest doesn't give me nearly as good results as when I apply it to my feet and spine.

And I love to make a throat-soothing drink by mixing a drop of Thieves Vitality in some honey, and adding hot water. Yum!

Have you tried Thieves?

How do you use it?

I'm sitting outside, barefoot, directly on the ground, gazing up on the sunlit leaves. It is just what I need, body and soul.

There are dozens of theories why this would would be so, and most of them sound a little nutty.

 I recently read a study supposedly suggesting that rats are more emotionally resilient when exposed to green lights. Since the rats in the control group were kept in total darkness, the whole thing sounds rather fishy to me.

I don't know.

All I know is what poets, sages, and sensible grandmothers have known for ages: that when I am barefoot, pain ebbs out of my body, and when I am surrounded by glowing leaves, my soul is restored.

Joy is all around us... but we have to choose it. We have to seek it out. Joy will never force itself upon us--that is against it's nature.

Pain has no such inhibitions, and will push joy out of your consciousness if you let it.

Don't let it.

Joy is quiet, but it is there, embedded in all things beautiful. And beauty is as real and ubiquitous as the laws of gravity and light.

Beauty is the name mathematics goes by when we feel it rather than think about it. Everywhere that there is matter, there is math, and everywhere that there is mathematical order, there is beauty.

Beauty is everywhere, and your life depends upon it; the graceful dance of respiration, your pulsing blood, the electric poetry of your nerves.

You don't have to notice it. It will never force you to pay attention to it. But it is always there. You wouldn't be here otherwise.

Even pain has it's own peculiar beauty.

Beauty has it's own peculiar pain, too. You cannot escape pain, and unlike joy, you can't always ignore it either. But you can fight for joy and beauty anyway.

Pain is a much smaller part of my life now than it has been in the past. I've been getting to knows​ my body better, and finding lots of self-care techniques. With the right nutrition, my joints don't dislocate nearly as often, and when they do, I have a toolkit full of ways to deal with it.

But last night I didn't get nearly enough sleep. My feet hurt, my knees hurt, my elbows hurt, my fingers hurt, and my neck hurts. I ought to be grateful that I don't have any ribs out, but pain sucks even when it's less pain than you're used to.

So I'm fighting hard for joy. Here are a few things that help:

---Music.

Listening to other people's music helps some, and so does making my own music. The real magic is in making music together with others. I'm so glad my flute choir rehearses to tonight. I need it.

Prayer is in this category, too. It is a powerful thing to enter into the song of the angel choirs. My voice is fumbling and often cracked and out of tune, but they are very gracious, and welcoming to beginners.

(Come to think of it, my flute choir is rather like that too, welcoming and supporting and challenging musicians of all levels of ability. If you are in the DFW area and you play the flute, you should NOT miss out on the opportunity to play with us!)

---Light. We don't always have much control over how much light there is around us, but we do have control over how much we pay attention to it. We humans can't gaze straight at the sun without getting burned, but plants feast voraciously upon the light, and over it up to us in a form that can nourish us, body and soul. Every sundrenched leaf, every blade of grass offers up a gift of joy. It will never force itself on you. You have to seek it out. This is pretty effortless in springtime in North Texas, but in some times and places, looking for light is arduous work. It is 100% worth it.

---Smells. What we breathe matters. A lot. If you can smell it, it's affecting your brain chemistry.

I'm sitting here peeling and eating clementines as I write, and they are so, so good. I'm confident that the part that I eat will help me soon, but the fragrant oils from the peels are naturally wafting up to my nose, making their way to my brain, and lifting my mood right now.

Fragrance is always affecting you all the time, whether you pay attention to it or not. So pay attention.

A lot of us find Young Living's Joy essential oil blend very helpful. But although I absolutely LOVE the smell when I'm happy, when I'm discouraged I find it obnoxiously over-cheerful. (Same goes for the Stress Away blend, by the way.)

Blending it with frankincense makes it wonderful though. They smell sublime together, and frankincense is the sort of smell that knows all about pain. If frankincense can make friends with joy, well... maybe I can, too.

Helping Daddy hand wash clothes is Johnny's new favorite game. Laundry has been one of the most difficult issues in transitioning to the RV life, but we're finding our rhythm. Hand washing a few essentials allows us to go a little longer between trips to the laundromat, and saves us time overall. And baby gets some water play, which he thinks is the best thing ever.

There's no way we would do this with any other laundry detergent, but I feel better about these ingredients than the ingredients in most baby shampoos!

When we first got the Thieves laundry detergent free as part of a promotional, Andrew was hesitant about using it-- he definitely didn't want any strong smells lingering on his clothes, even something so pleasant as Thieves!! But once the clothes are dry, there isn't even a noticeable fragrance, just nice clean clothes without any itchy chemical residue.

The Young Living lifestyle isn't necessarily involve more fragrance. We're slowly getting rid of all the sythetic fragrances that have been threatening our health, and replacing them with products that smell good SAFELY.

It's a drizzly damp day, which for me always means tired and achy and gloomy. Gray days are beautiful for drinking tea under a fluffy blanket, but they are a miserable context for pretty much any other activity.

It is good that today is Sunday. My soul needs rest, and my aching limbs are enforcing it.

Still, there are things that need doing, and although rest is one of them, procrastinating is not. I find myself sitting on the couch, hoping that maybe in five minutes, my knees won't ache so bad. This strategy never works.

Ironically, I really could be feeling better in five minutes if I just got up and did the things. Took the supplements, drank the water, changed into something a little bit warmer. Went outside barefoot and listened to the trees breathing.

But it's never going to happen unless I will myself to do it while it's still hard.

Willpower is a funny thing. It is very good for moving the body around, but it has very little direct power over the soul... except by way of the body.

So I am smelling nutmeg, frankincense, eucalyptus, and ylang-ylang, drumming up the courage to do what I must, delegate what I can, and let go of the rest. Choosing a fragrance to smell is such a very small choice, and yet interesting enough to distract me from my elbows, knees, feet, and thumbs.

If I deploy that tiny spark of will correctly, I can create a physical context that makes the next act of will a little easier. With the smell of courage in my nostrils, I can think through what I really need, and ask Andrew for some water and my supplements. The water and the supplements don't fix everything, but they make it easier to put on a sweater and go sit outside on the grass while the kids play freeze tag.

The clouds press down like a thick blanket, and Andrew just went inside to make me another cup of tea. When I finish writing this, we will probably read a bit of Virgil together. It is a gloomy day, but always when I am brave enough to press into the gloom, I find that it is good.

Copaiba

If I could only have one essential oil, this would be the one.

Copaiba essential oil is distilled from a South American tree resin, and its fragrance is very subtle. At first I could hardly even detect it at all, but now it reminds me of a sweeter, gentler version of frankincense.

Don't be fooled, though: this oil is a powerhouse. For me, it has been nothing short of life-changing.

Traditionally used as a digestive aid and health tonic, copaiba makes a lovely tea. Copaiba Vitality comes in the premium starter kit, and is FDA approved as a supplement and flavoring. Try mixing a drop or two with honey and warm water!

Taking Copaiba internally has made a big difference in my health. It helps me stay on an even keel, both physically and emotionally, and since I started taking Copaiba I've actually almost enjoyed winter. ;)

Copaiba’s strength is in its gentleness, and it's relaxing properties help the body to receive the full benefits of other oils. This makes it a powerful addition to almost any blend, and it is the primarily ingredient in Young Living's incredible Stress Away blend.

Let's talk about hydration! Our bodies are mostly made of water, and if we don't drink enough of it, we're mostly a mess! Whenever you're not feeling well, one of the first questions to ask yourself is, "Am I getting enough water?"

All my life I've had a REALLY hard time remembering to drink water. I simply wouldn't notice that I was thirsty, until I was badly dehydrated.

Adding citrus Vitality oils to my water is helping me get into the hydration habit. Tangerine is my favorite, but I also love Citrus Fresh, Lemon, and Orange.

In so many ways, essential oils are teaching me how to listen to my body. When my water tastes amazing, I start paying attention to it. I drink more of it, and then I start noticing how good it feels to be hydrated. And then I start noticing my thirst sooner, craving not just the citrus flavor, but also the hydration itself.

Since oil and water don't mix, I was initially skeptical about adding essential oils to my water. However, when I add them to my glass water bottle, the oils seem to adhere to the glass, releasing a teensy bit of flavor with every swallow. Sometimes I refill my bottle several times before needing to add more oil.

Essential oils can break down some plastics, so if you try this, be careful about what container you use! I feel safest with glass. With its silicone protective casing and wrist strap, this one is my absolute favorite.

What is your hydration routine?

Citrus Fresh chicken

We were all set for a wonderful chicken artichoke casserole last week, but that jar of mayo in the fridge? Not exactly empty, but definitely not two cups. 

No big deal. Andrew makes a killer BBQ sauce.

We got more chicken, and also mayo. We were all set to try again for the artichoke recipe... except for the parmesan cheese.

So it was back to the drawing board all over again. We weren't exactly sick of BBQ chicken yet, but we didn't want to risk it. That sauce is way too good to overuse.

Anyway, I looked up a few recipes, but we didn't have exactly the right ingredients for any of them. Good thing too, because I'm in love with the combination that we improvised!

Citrus Fresh Vitality is made from grapefruit, orange, mandarin, tangerine, and lemon peels, with a hint of spearmint. This recipe would be wonderful with fresh zest and herbs, too!

Citrus Fresh Chicken

10 chicken thighs

1 Tbsp. salt

1 Tbsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. black pepper

1/4 c. honey

8 drops Citrus Fresh Vitality 

1/2 c. apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 350° F. Rinse chicken, Pat dry, and arrange in baking dish. Combine salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and rub dry mixture into chicken. Mix Citrus Fresh into honey, whisk in vinegar, and pour over chicken. Bake at 350° until juices run clear, about 40-50 min.

Yum!

Yesterday was sunshiny and glorious. Today, not so much.

There's a beauty to drizzly gray days. I love them in the same way as I love Steinbeck and Tolstoy and Joseph Conrad: they are wonderful and glorious, but oy, they make me miserable.

High school literature anthologies can make any piece of writing seem dreadful, but I found Longfellow's Rainy Day in one of them, and it was exactly the medicine I needed. It told me that the soul has a weather of its own, and that with the right help and mentoring I could weather it.

Longfellow has been a good mentor to me. The library had a lovely collection of his work, without any of the soul-crushing comprehension questions. From there I moved on to e. e. cummings and Shakespeare and Emily Dickinson. I am incredibly grateful. Poetry creates a space to experience emotions to the fullest without being destroyed by them. Reading poetry helps a lot, writing poetry helps even more. 

Reading poetry is the best way to learn to write poetry, and writing poetry is the best way that I know of to learn how to live. 

All that to say that today was a pretty blah day, and that's okay. Some days are like that, and that is as it should be. 

(This photo is definitely NOT from today, by the way. But today is most certainly the day that I needed this oil. The diffuse light today is perfect for a different kind of photo. Perhaps today I will get some good pictures of the oils that I use on sunshiny days. All the different days prepare us for one another, weaving into a single interdependent whole...)

A photo posted by Elena (@joyfulheartessentials) on Feb 2, 2017 at 12:06pm PST