Beautiful Lives by Susan

Post-traumatic Stress Self-help Advocate

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The Soothing Benefits of Peppermint

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I successfully use Peppermint essential oils to relieve anxiety on a regular basis. Its application soothes and uplifts and is felt within minutes of applying the essential oil to spots on my body or in a diffuser as aromatherapy.

Here is a list of uses I’ve curated to help you on your journey. Remember, I won’t write about anything unless I use it personally. And, of course, you may have differing results. I’m not a scientist nor a doctor. I simply like to write about  things that work for me

Elevate Your Mood

Anxiety is characterized by unrelenting worry, anticipation, and tension. Depression is characterized by low energy, crying, dark emotions, and other unpleasant feelings. I personally use Peppermint essential oil to experience a calmness that allows me to relax and have a nicer view of the world around me. This means relief of sadness, fear, and therefore, anxiety.

Fast Pain Reliever

Because of its “cool” effect, it is a regular practice of mine to use this Essential Oil to relieve muscle pain. I apply a small amount to the stressed muscle and gently rub it in. The cooling properties go to work immediately to reduce minor pain and swelling. Some people reportedly like to combine Peppermint and tea tree essential oils for added benefit. However, test it on your skin and if you find it irritating, then I recommend that you dilute it with either jojoba oil or coconut oil.

Soothing Benefits of Peppermint

Relieve Mental Fatigue

Peppermint adds clarity to thought processes. It literally gives a mental boost which makes it a great way to start the day. Add it to your shower routine by combining it with filtered water and lemons. Or, add a few drops to your skin care regimen to give your skin a naturally relaxed yet stimulating effect. This increases a positive outlook while at the same time, gives an overall relaxed approach to the day.

Peppermint is probably one of the easiest plants to grow in your indoor or outdoor garden. In fact, I recommend that you grow it in a self-contained unit such as its own tub or raised garden space. Otherwise, it will take over your entire garden. But, with that caution, you can have fresh peppermint leaves year round. How organically cool is that?

Another way to enjoy the benefits of Peppermint is as a tea made either from store bought tea leaves or your own organically grown plants. Tip: Peppermint is in the same family of herbs with Rosemary and Sage which also contain flavonoids and phenolic acids*.

Grow Your Own Peppermint

Peppermint grow your own

If you’d like to grow your own organic peppermint at home, you will be pleased to know that it is very easy to grow. Some would say “too easy”. Peppermint can easily take over your entire garden. I like to grow peppermint in containers for this reason.

This will be shipped with free self-watering green pot wish customized label with herb names or what you want. These plants are all organic with a strong root system. All plants come with a FREE GIFT.

Peppermint Essential Oil from dōTERRA dōTERRA Peppermint Touch

dōTERRA Peppermint Touch contains essential oil and Fractionated Coconut Oil to provide a multitude of benefits. Its minty, fresh scent can be used aromatically and topically throughout the day to uplift mood and promote a sense of focus. This essential oil is known to lessen feelings of tension when applied to the temples or the back of the neck. This is applied to these areas and anywhere on the body to provide a cooling massage or to naturally deter insects. VIA dōTERRA Essential Oils – Click through this link, then select SHOP then SEARCH.

* “Flavonoids and phenolic acids also function as reducing agents, free radical scavengers, and quenchers of singlet oxygen formation. In addition, flavonoids and phenolic acids components play important roles in the control of cancer and other human diseases.”
Flavonoids and phenolic acids: Role and biochemical activity in plants and human (PDF Download Available). Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266585165_Flavonoids_and_phenolic_acids_Role_and_biochemical_activity_in_plants_and_human [accessed Oct 12 2017].
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Let It Go; What does that mean?

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Let it go! What does that mean? It seems to be a catch-all for unanswerable questions that come up in therapeutic settings. It’s also a cop-out people use casually when they don’t want to address the issue at hand. I can’t count the number of times I’ve been told, “just let it go!” Ok! Poof! Magic! 🔮

Just let it go!

Let it go from Frozen

I’m so sorry. It doesn’t work that way. When we heal from PTSS, the process to ‘just let it go’ is a serious matter and it is not easy. It takes diligent effort through whatever tools are available to the victim to be able to finally ‘let it go’.

Live in the Solution

Once we realize that there is a solution to something that has plagued us our entire life, we are often in such bad shape that we could not possibly do this alone without assistance from techniques, books, or professionals. So, we then step forward and decide to seek out the tools necessary to help us move forward in our journey.

Jack Kornfield Quote

Some of the tools to accomplish this task are regular meditation, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), toxins elimination from our diets, holistic health habits, and one of my favorites; we take care of ourselves first so that we can be of service to others who still suffer.

Getting Past Your Past, Francine Shapiro, PhD

A Great Visual

I use an amazing visual that has helped me tremendously when I participate in EMDR therapy. When I watch the side-to-side motion, I visualize that there is a super high-speed train off to my side that is running from the front of me to the back of me and it is filled with the sore emotions of a past experience.

These experiences are rushed past me and go back, back, back into the past and eventually dissipate back into the energy of the universe to be swallowed up and re-energized as a warm, beautiful, light that heals all it touches.

Old Past Memories
Old Past Memories

Although I’ve spelled out my thoughts in detail for you, please note that this visualization takes place in nanoseconds as I experience the back and forth motions in front of me. And, this is my personal version of ‘let it go’. It is immensely effective for me so I sincerely hope it helps you as well. I don’t forget anything that happened to me. But after use of this technique, the intense pain and harsh emotions around the event are gone.

Change the Memories

“Changing the memories that form the way we see ourselves also changes the way we view others. Therefore, our relationships, job performance, what we are willing to do or are able to resist, all move in a positive direction.”
― Francine Shapiro, Getting Past Your Past: Take Control of Your Life with Self-Help Techniques from EMDR Therapy

So, at least for someone with PTSS, I believe I’ve explained a bit of what it means to ‘let it go’. It enables me to erase the pain and move forward with a lighter step in my day and just a little bit more sunshine and happiness. I sincerely hope this helps you learn to let go of the pain and misery of your past.

Thank you for reading this blog. It means so much to me to share my thoughts, beliefs, and feelings with my readers. If anything I write about resonates with you, kindly contact me via Messenger.

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The Rosemary Plant Boosts Memory & Mood

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If you cook, you’re probably familiar with Rosemary. It’s an aromatic herb we use regularly in our cooking routines with meats and vegetables. I sure took it for granted! There it was right in front of me my entire life.

Boost Your Mood and Memory with Rosemary

Rosemary in a pot

I had no idea that Rosemary had such wonderful attributes that positively affect the human senses in more ways than simply taste. Here is some interesting information I’ve curated on the subject of Rosemary as a supplement for overall mood stabilization:

  1. Mark Moss and Lorraine Oliver’s research proves that both mental speed and accuracy improve with the use of Rosemary oil vapors.
  2. In a clinical trial conducted by Hay et al (1998), it was found that stimulants for hair growth are present.
  3. “Without a properly functioning circulatory system, one is not mentally sharp. One of the primary reasons why cognitive abilities decline with age is because of reduced blood flow to the brain. It appears that both rosemary and thyme may be viable, dietary tools in combating this unwanted occurrence.” VIA Healthy Fellow
  4. To inhale the scent of this plant lowers cortisol levels and activates a relaxation response. This enables our bodies’ functions to return to normal after a stressful event and elevates our mood. VIA Underground Health Reporter

Rosemary bunch on weathered wood table wood

The Rosemary Benefits

The nicest health benefits include the following attributes:

  1. It boosts memory
  2. Improves mood
  3. Reduces inflammation
  4. Relieves pain
  5. Protects the immune system
  6. Stimulates circulation
  7. Detoxifies the body
  8. Protects the body from bacterial infections
  9. Prevents premature aging
  10. Heals skin conditions

Grow your own Rosemary

The Rosemary Plant 2Image Source

It is easy to grow this plant from a starter. Use a container with a drainage hole as Rosemary roots rot in soil that does not drain well. This plant is difficult to grow from seed, but if you want to grow it from seed, here is an article to help you. How to grow your own from seed.

Or, you can order (or make your own) Rosemary essential oil and aromatherapy for your personal use as a healthy way to avoid costly and damaging pharmaceuticals on your journey to relieve stress, anxiety, and depression.

Essential Oil from dōTERRA

Rosemary oil from dōTERRA

This plant is a small and aromatic evergreen bush with pale blue flowers, and it produces an oil with a woodsy, pungent scent, reminiscent of pine. It’s been known to support you in reducing stress and may help improve respiratory conditions. Our organic oil is sourced from the fresh flowering tops of the plant.

VIA DōTerra Essential Oils

Join me on my latest discovery of my journey through PTSS with the use of Rosemary as an herbal antidote to stress, anxiety, and depression. How do you use Rosemary in your life? I would love to hear from you in via Messenger which you see below.

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