May Ditch & Switch: Feelings Kit

As the gatekeepers of our homes we have such a great opportunity to bring in healthy products and create healthy habits for ourselves and families! Join us as we detox our emotions this month and switch out conventional coping mechanisms for healthier, healing options!

For May, we are focusing on digging deep to release all our comfort vices, sit with and honor our experiences and trauma, and do the emotional work needed to move forward in healing and self love. Instead of turning to things like detachment, Netflix binges, alcohol, food, sugar, shopping, work, projects or any other comfort measure that keeps us from truly processing the emotions beneath, we are going to pull out the Feelings Kit and use these oil blends with intention and consistency!

Why use these essential oils (or oils at all?!) for this process? Because of the power of aromatherapy and the limbic system. Our sense of smell is directly related to our emotions and mood. The cranial nerve associated with smell sits next to the hypothalamus - the area of the brain responsible for mood, feelings and emotional processing. Further, the Feelings Kit blends contain a combination of oils high in compounds that can cross the blood brain barrier to reprogram bad coding from the cells. Then other compounds rewrite that code to restore the original perfect copy, one that will not keep us pulled into the physical and emotional effects of stress. This is a process, but the great thing about essential oils is that we have a CHOICE to embrace that process instead of loading our bodies up with lots of toxins and other things that create more confusion in the cells.

The Feelings Collection includes six essential oil blends, each of which is a powerful tool for supporting and releasing emotional patterns. Use in the morning and evening to promote peaceful thoughts and spiritual harmony.

HARMONY oil blend (info via Carissa Sherman) Harmony essential oil blend helps to release toxic beliefs and thought patterns related to feeling ignored, crushed, hostile, afraid of punishment, beating ourselves up, sarcasm, and stubbornness.

• When we feel ignored, our perception is that we are not a part of the big picture. We aren't good enough, worthy enough, or able to play our part.
• When we are crushed, we are collapsing inwardly. Who we are has been forced down and suppressed. We stop seeing our part.
• When we are hostile, we are quick to see others as the enemy, and everything in life as an opposition to our part. We are trying to play alone, because we can't trust the other parts.
• Fear of punishment is the opposite of love. When we are beating ourselves up, we actually turn from love into fear. These are opposites.
• Sarcasm is an emotion that develops from long-term exposure to incongruent words and actions. Ex: witnessing hypocrisy, or long periods of time living with someone who brings drama or trouble on themselves, remaining clueless to the cause. This emotion produces “mocking”. Instead of harmony, it creates a repetitive and offensive sound that interrupts the notes of others.

To use:

• When there are situations where you are experiencing some of the emotions listed above, sit or stand still until you feel where that emotion is causing a sensation in your body. It might feel like pain, twitching, tingling, aching, nausea, heat, cold, or a general tension. Rub Harmony over the area (or just nearby if it's sensitive), and hold your hand over the spot. Take several deep breaths. This is a simple step to become aware of the mind-body connection. It's okay if you don't know how to fix all of these issues right this minute. Begin embracing the idea that you have a part to play, a harmony that only you can add to the relationships and opportunities in your life!

FORGIVENESS oil blend (info adapted from Carissa Sherman and Eryn Jones) The oils in the Forgiveness blend are high frequency oils, Melissa, Geranium, Frankincense, Royal Hawaiian Sandalwood, Coriander, Angelica, Bergamot, Lemon, Ylang ylang, Jasmine, Helichyrusm, Roman Chamomile, Palmarosa and Rose. These oils work synergistically together to create a calm, uplifting environment when forgiving yourself and others.

This blend can help us release the stagnant, toxic thoughts stuck in our body's memory that act as a safety mechanism. They were encoded in our past when we felt unsafe, and from that point on, all of our senses have been given a warning note that says something like, “people will hurt me when they get too close”, or “men/women can't be trusted”, or “I am not lovable,” among other signals. These memories can be triggered by sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell, and they show up in our current experiences and pull us down. The most common emotional patterns created are Self-denial, Revenge and Distrust.

The problem is that our bodies can't tell the difference in an emotional threat and a physical threat. When we start feeling emotionally vulnerable after these messages have been encoded, the body will send warnings, sometimes thousands of times per day, to keep us alive. We want to reverse these patterns, to restore the blueprint of our original ability to be at PEACE.

Emotions associated with Forgiveness:

• Distrust (felt in the gut)
  • Distrust results from being stressed, and stress is caused by many subconscious messages pulling us in different directions. To establish a healthier pattern of trust, we need “integrity”, which is where our thoughts, beliefs, and emotions can become consistent. No more secret messages internally scattering our thoughts.
• Old pattern: Distrust. New pattern: Integrity. Affirmation: “I honor truth.”
• We can release old trauma and untruth that is stuck in the body, and move forward with integrity.
• Wanting Revenge (felt in the head, back of neck)
  • There is no such thing as turning your feelings off or magically being detached, so what we are doing here is to move in with a different direction with a new and greater purpose - to detach or remove ourselves from the mission of revenge. When you diffuse Forgiveness, if relationships where you have wanted someone to get paid back resurface in your memory, you can take a moment to establish this thought pattern: I have a new mission.
  • Old pattern: Revenge. New pattern: Detachment (move in a new direction). Affirmation: I have a new mission. I am letting go of the old.
• Self-Denial (felt in back of neck, base of skull):
  • The most common root of denying our own needs is expecting others to know what we need before we have asked. This leads to living with a spirit of neglect, blaming others, and unforgiveness. In fact, it often looks like taking care of everything under the sun EXCEPT for ourselves, and an underlying thought cycle that we are “the only one who does anything around here.”
  • Old pattern: Self-denial, New pattern: Wisdom. Affirmation: “I support myself.”

When using the Forgiveness blend, meditate on the opposite of the above emotions - supporting yourself, finding awareness to honor your own truth, detaching from allowing someone else to have a say over your worth and value. Use the mantras below as you apply the oil, sit with the feelings until you feel a shift. Oils are very powerful in helping to create new pathways in the brain!

Mantras to pair with the Forgiveness blend:

• I Have Courage to Honor my Truth
• I Learn from All Experiences
• I Forgive (others or myself)
• I Support Myself
• I Am Worthy

INNER CHILD oil blend (info via Carissa Sherman) Inner Child essential oil blend releases emotions that distort memories in our cells. Think of this like a picture or video of past events where little edits were made to present something threatening, even if that was not the case. The symptoms of this vary widely, but we might notice some patterns:

• When someone tries to be honest, especially friends/family, we continually hear their voice criticizing us for months afterward.
• We find ourselves revisiting the same short list of past hurts on a regular basis, telling stories about what someone did or said to us, thinking each time that if we just vent...the pressure of that pain or offense will let up.
• We create an image of ourselves (typically a bad one) and no matter what we do to take care of ourselves, that recording makes sure we stay ashamed, disappointed, and hopeless, or...
• We finally start feeling better about ourselves because we have fulfilled an imaginary list of “things that will make us feel accomplished” - only to find that the stress of keeping up with that list starts to slowly steal from our relationships and our sanity.

Inner Child blend is sometimes referred to as ‘The Therapist.' When you visit a therapist, they do their work, not by talking, but through listening. They encourage you to share the feelings, past, and thoughts that make up your inner workings. To process through how you came to your patterns, actions, and current beliefs. Many times there were situations where someone as a child felt unseen, unheard, or unvalued. In order to move forward, it is important to look back and allow that inner child to speak. When we consider what a child will need, we begin to see our own needs more clearly. It's obvious to us that a child who has experienced something new or difficult would require additional help and attention to deal with that event.

Some practical uses for this blend are:

• Overcoming the trauma of abuse
• Promoting acceptance
• Accepting our own needs
• Stimulating an emotional healing process
• Releasing obsessive habits and patterns
• Supporting the mind, body, and emotions during periods of transition
• For children who struggle with intense fear, trouble letting go and moving on, or who have been uprooted or experienced a traumatic change, this oil will be a huge support.

To use:

• Place several drops of Inner Child in your diffuser. You can also apply some around the navel and rub a drop into your palms to inhale directly.
• Use this blend on and around you consistently. Our emotional patterns that took a lifetime to form aren't going to get unraveled completely in one day.

PRESENT TIME oil blend Present Time is an oil blend of neroli, spruce and ylang ylang in a base of almond oil, making it wonderful for direct application or diffusing. Present Time helps you focus on the here and now, so you can get beyond the past and move forward. When paired with the other oils from the Feelings Kit, this is a powerful tool for truly being present with your current experiences and releasing the pain of the past.

• Neroli: used by the ancient Egyptians for the healing of mind, body and spirit. Neroli is stabilizing and strengthening to the emotions, promotes peace, confidence and awareness, brings mental awareness to alleviate anxiety, depression and insomnia.
• Spruce: opens and releases emotional blocks, fosters a sense of balance and grounding.
• Ylang Ylang: promotes relaxation, balances male and female energies, restores confidence and equilibrium, alleviates insomnia.

This blend of oils creates a strong, encouraging scent to increase the ability to focus on the present moment. As busy men and women, parents, care givers, employees, etc. we can become so focused on the next deadline, task or responsibility, and it becomes very easy to lose sight of what is directly in front of us. The stack of papers or dishes or laundry seems so time sensitive that we rush through the people in front of us - children, spouses, partners, friends, even ourselves. Present Time helps us to allow ourselves to give and receive in the present even when we have been hurt in the past.

RELEASE oil blend Release is a blend of Ylang ylang, Olive oil, Lavandin, Geranium, Royal Hawaiian sandalwood, Grapefruit, Tangerine, Spearmint, Lemon, Blue cypress, Davana (a POWERFUL emotional oil!) Kaffir lime, Ocotea, Jasmine, Chamomile, Blue tansy (highly supportive and calming to the Central Nervous System), and Rose. These oils are high frequency and powerful for allowing us to tap into the root of our emotional distress, honor the past experiences and release the pain to move forward in our full potential.

Release is a helpful blend to aid in releasing anger and memory trauma from the liver in order to create emotional wellbeing. It helps open the subconscious mind through pineal stimulation (sandalwood and tansy stimulate the pineal gland) to release deep-seated trauma. For our purposes, trauma can be defined as “any situation where you got less than you needed and were not equipped to process it.” These traumas actually get stored deep within our cellular memory, and we can use the limbic system of the brain to help shift our thoughts and emotions around these traumas and patterns.

Helps Release Feelings of:

• Anger
• Frustration
• Being held back
• Rebellion
• Feeling wronged
• Fear of success
• Loss of identity

Helps Promote Feelings of:

• Cleansing
• Freedom
• Harmony
• Unconditional love

To use:

• Diffuse throughout the day.
• Diffuse with lavender at bedtime.
• Apply topically to wrists, over the heart, to the edge of ears and feet.
• Remember to use it EVERY DAY! Repeat a positive affirmation that rings true to you for your situation. ‘I am safe. I am loved. I am valued. I am enough. Just as I am right now.'

VALOR oil blend Valor ‘s woodsy, positive scent comes from a blend of Black Spruce, Blue Tansy, and Frankincense. Valor is helpful for many emotions around our Fight or Flight response, thus it's Battle-worthy name. In fact, this oil is inspired by the oils that Roman Soldiers would bathe in before battle. The oils would sit atop the water in their bath houses and this special blend was added before a big battle. When they rose from the water, the oils would soak and stay on their skin to help prepare them for something big and scary ahead.

This blend can also be a key oil in overcoming emotional abuse and recovering from trauma. It's a powerhouse when facing a trial or season of adversity because its natural properties help align the body both emotionally and physically. Remember emotions and trauma are often stored in the physical tissues and fascia of our bodies and oils help release stuck emotions and tension at a physical level from specific parts of the body:

• Feeling Resigned (like you can't fight it): Diaphragm
• Feeling like you are Losing a Battle: just below lower Lip
• Fear of Conflict: Abdomen, just above Right and Left Hips
• Feeling Aggressive: Abdomen, just above Right and Left Hips
• Feeling Defensive: Stomach

Valor has properties that get to the core control centers of the negative emotional programs. When we're ready to make a change, to start challenging that ;fight or flight' survival mode with a better way of thinking and living, this is the perfect oil.

Using Valor for emotional support can be as simple as applying some to your shoulders, the bottoms of your feet, the back of your neck, or anywhere that you're experiencing tension or a stressful tightness in your body. It's the ultimate diffuser oil with its deep, grounding fragrance. One great technique is to place a drop or two of Valor between your wrists (palm-up side), and then hold them together for a few minutes. If you're taking time to relax, meditate, or work on your spiritual and emotional health, you can just hold your wrists together while you're sitting quietly.

THE FEELINGS PROTOCOL: If you are wrestling with big emotions or trying to process hard situations, here is a great protocol developed by Gary Young that you can follow using the Feelings Kit:

• Step 01: Apply Valor to the feet as the first step of the Cleansing of feelings.
• Step 02: Apply Harmony on the chakra points to allow negative energy to escape.
• Step 03: Apply Forgiveness to the navel and let go of negative emotions.
• Step 04: Apply Present Time to the wrists and behind the ears.
• Step 05: Apply Release over the liver and wait as feelings of frustration are lifted.
• Step 06: Apply 1–2 drops of Inner Child just under your nose to open the pathway to connecting with your inner self.
• Step 07: Lastly, re-apply Valor essential oil to complete the cleansing of feelings and provide completeness and balance.

Join us this month as we dig deep to release our vices, sit with and honor our past experience, and do the emotional work needed to move forward in healing and self love.