Alternative medicines

Posts Tagged ‘alternative health’

A Reiki Master Course gives you as an introduction, insights on what Reiki is, who can practice Reiki and the importance of the Reiki principles.

Reiki can be seen as multidimensional. The energy permeates to the core of the imbalance in mind, body, and spirit, the nucleus of the cell, and then moves gradually outward through the tissue balancing and healing.

The Reiki practitioner’s body is the instrument through which universal energy flows. The energy is drawn by magnet resonance of any imbalance in the mind, body, or spirit of the person, animal, or plant.

Reiki Master Course Intro 1: What is Reiki?

In Japan, in the early 1920s, Mikao Usui developed Reiki-ho (Reiki method) as “the way to make mind and body healthy on the basis of Universal Reiki”. Reiki is the vibration of love and harmony of universal energy. Reiki-ho is not only a wonderful “healing technique”, but also “an effective way to raise spirituality and to create a positive life”. Reiki brings all within and around the body into balance, surrounding with harmony, and thus healing the mind, body, and spirit. I have had students say to me, “Reiki is making such a positive difference in my life.”

Reiki Master Course Intro 2: Who is able to practice Reiki?

Because Reiki is from God, Goddess, Buddha, Allah, The Creator, Spirit, Source, The Universal Mind, Your Inner-Self, or whatever you call Him, Her, or It, anyone can “do” it. We are all equal, and we ALL have the ability to heal others and ourselves. It is our birthright. Being a Reiki “Master” doesn’t make someone better than anyone else, and it doesn’t even mean that you have mastered the art of Reiki (such a thing wouldn’t even exist if you ask me), it simply means that you have been attuned to the Master Level of Reiki, learned all of the Reiki symbols, and know how to send attunements, etc. In my personal opinion we should all be called Reiki practitioners, but since the attunements are only given, or should I say, accepted from Reiki Masters, you can see why there needs to be some kind of distinction. To some people, the title “Master” gives them a feeling of superiority or power, just like with many other occupations.

Reiki Master Course Intro 3: The Reiki principles are very important!

As an important part of the Reiki Master Course you will learn the Reiki Principles, which the founder Usui always emphasized to his student. These principles are:

Just for today…

Do not worry. Do not get angry. Be grateful. Work hard. Be kind to others.

Think for a moment. If only 1% of humanity would stick to these principles, how would be the world look like today?

If you suffer from chronic low back pain like many people, you may have tried several different treatments designed to deal with the pain.

In most cases of low back pain the disc is the source of discomfort. Many studies have shown that the disc is overwhelmingly to blame for episodes of low back pain. The facet joints and the SI joints also contribute but as as commonly as the disc.

One thing that most people don’t understand about the disc is that while it is the most pain sensitive structure in the spine it is only initially pain sensitive in the outer 1/3. This is one of the reasons pain can hit so suddenly because as the inner portion of the disc is migrating outwards you don’t feel pain, but once the outer fibers are involved low back pain will be experienced.

The disc is very susceptible to dehydration and degeneration primarily because if it’s lack of a direct blood supply. It receives it’s vital nutrients and hydration from the bones above and below where a rich blood supply is present. Once the disc becomes damaged the disc loses it’s ability to maintain hydration and it becomes dry and much more likely to deteriorate.

One little known fact about disc pain is that once a disc begins to dry out it becomes more pain sensitive. That’s because certain cells that hold hydration in the disc also inhibit the growth of pain sensitive nerves in the disc. So once a disc drys out painful nerves become more abundant.

Spinal Decompression is the only treatment that actually increases hydration and nutrition into the disc so it can heal. This allows the disc to begin the regeneration process and it also allows the inhibition of the pain sensitive nerves to be restored so that the disc is no longer painful throughout.

The mechanism behind spinal decompression is very complex, although many will tell you it looks similar to traction. The difference is that unlike traction, spinal decompression has a patented computer system that analyzes muscle contraction responses and changes the forces to overcome muscle contraction.

The benefits of spinal decompression are very effective for disc health. First the negative pressure created helps to draw in any bulging or herniated material that my be compressing or irritating the nerves and secondly it actively creates a fluid exchange bringing in fresh oxygen and nutrition into the disc so it can heal.

Unlike most treatment that are primarily concerned with the symptoms spinal decompression actually deals with the primary source of the patients pain, which in most cases is the disc.

If you suffer from low back pain and have tried other treatments that have not worked for you, spinal decompression can offer you a valuable treatment option that can last.

Are you aware that DNA Awakening has a positive influence on your karmic imprints?

Karmic imprints are morphogenetic crystallization of low vibrating, negative thought pattern, emotions and behavior. The miasma or karmic imprints manifest themselves within the physical three dimensional bodies as electrical charged anti-particles, which prevent the natural function of the body and soul merger, and as a result blocks dimensional ascension. DNA Awakening erases the buildup of Miasmic Crystals, within the morphogenetic field, DNA, physical body and consciousness. DNA Awakening is a powerful tool to erase the karmic burden, which builds up from one lifetime to another, and sabotages the natural evolutionary process, blocking the process of Soul and Over-Soul integration.

Our Karma, which is the accumulation of the miasmic crystals within the morphogenetic field and DNA, is called miasmic imprint. You have to realize the important effect of karma in our life. Our life is the holographic projection of the build up miasmic imprints from negative thought and behavior pattern, which manifest in our body, mind and finally experienced reality, which we call life. The DNA Awakening process, which can be accomplished through different techniques, such as sound waves, specific frequencies used by binaural sounds, hypnosis or DNA Healing transmutes the karmic imprints to allow higher embodiment and Dimensional Ascension to take place. Transmutation of the Miasmic Body is achieved by reversing the polarity charge of its crystallization, and merging its tiny-particles within the morphogenetic field and DNA. Finally, the karmic ballast will be transmuted into higher dimensional light and sound. DNA Awakening’s ultimate purpose is the way back to Dimensional Ascension – back to the Source.

Balancing or dissolving karma can be achieved in various ways. The conventional method is walk the karma and make more appropriate choices in this life time, which serves to heal the karmic issue and dissolve the associated Miasmic imprint, which as your reality projection manifests in the 3-dimensional life. Unfortunately, the buildup of the Miasmic Body, in most humans, is so convoluted that the issues upon which better choices could be made are rarely clear or same disharmonic response patterns are repeated. The reason is the huge collection of Miasmic imprint on the mental and emotional bodies. A second method of dissolving the Karma is to trace back the present life drama to its original incarnation point of creation, then apply visualization methods. The purpose is to create the opposite version, inducing an harmonic action that was taken in the past. This constitutes healing the present by changing the morphogenetic program of the past, as it is stored in the DNA. The fastest, most gentle way of dissolving the miasmic imprint is dealing with the imprint directly as energy, with energy, using a DNA Awakening technique to reverse the polarity of the miasmic anti-particles, through which their crystallization dissolve, then re-directing the re-ordered energy back into the DNA. With DNA Awakening, the Karma can be cleared in one lifetime, without walking through the Karma of the past, if the dynamic of Miasmic release through DNA Awakening of the morphogenetic field is understood.

Our goal is to present a potential massage chair buyer with a comprehensive and unbiased review of a given massage chair. We have developed a 5 category system to evaluate a massage chair. We give equal weight to each category and give 0 to 20 points rating and then add them up to present an overall score. Our categories include Warranty & Customer Service, Comfort/Ergonomics, Ease of Use, Features and Massage Therapy. This systematic approach forces us to a disciplined method of evaluating a massage chair to help guide anyone looking at massage chairs. The Sanyo HEC-DR7700K shiatsu massage chair price is in the luxury range of $4,000 to $5,000.

Warranty & Customer Service: Warranty and customer service come from the company that makes the massage chair. A warranty protects the customer and customer service must rectify issues one may have. With the HEC-DR7700K, Sanyo covers 3 years on the roller mechanism, 1 year on parts, 1 year labor and 1 year in-home service. In most cases, Sanyo has 1 year covering shipping. Sanyo covers the roller mechanism for 3 years, but other parts and labor is only 1 year. Sanyo forces the customer to purchase an extended warranty for additional protection that other manufacturers already. On the customer service side, Sanyo overall is available 24/7 and has average competence and average turnaround times. The Sanyo HEC-DR7700K is a 14 in Warranty & Customer Service.

Comfort & Ergonomics: A massage chair needs to be comfortable and fit the body. Otherwise, you will only use the chair for massage. The chair back of the DR7700K is comfortable and the upholstery is well padded. The head pillow is soft and the thickness is appropriate. The seat is ok and the armrests have sufficient padding. The footrest is comfortable, but cannot be adjusted. If you are 5′ 10″ or more, then your knees must be bent when the footrest is raised. This is a bit restrictive for a large portion of the population. Our rating in this category is 15.

East of Use: Ease of use is defined as how intuitive the controls and how complicated are they to use without reading the instructions. Sanyo is known for its stereos and other electronics with advanced features. The remote control of the HEC-DR7700K is fairly simple and intuitive to use. Select from 4 automatic programs and sit back and relax. One button takes you to the Zero Gravity position. The Sanyo remote contains manual massage controls in a side panel. The sub-remote, unfortunately is tethered by a cable to the chair. Overall Rating for the Sanyo HEC-SR7700K for ease of use is 19.

Key Features: The important features of the Sanyo HEC-DR7700K are the GK Rollers which is designed to provide over the shoulder massage in a third dimension. The other key feature is the Zero Gravity which takes the weight off you spine. The jointed massage heads of the GK Rollers push out and over the shoulders in a gripping action. Most rollers move in the X and Y coordinates, Sanyo has added the Z coordinate to add a real third dimension to robotic massage. Zero Gravity is a comfortable position with the body weight evenly distributed across the back. Overall Rating for the Sanyo HEC-DR7700K for features is 18.

Massage Therapy: The Sanyo HEC-DR7700K has both automatic and manual massage settings. Sanyo incorporates 4 full body automatic courses, 4 manual massage courses, and 5 massage speed settings for a total combination of 83 manual massage courses. The manual massage techniques include Shiatsu, Kneading, Tapping, and Kneading & Tapping. Sanyo has some stretching capabilities for the lower body and has 24 airbags of coverage. The airbags have projections to perform shiatsu acupressure massage. There is a good variety of massage therapy techniques in this massage lounger. The Sanyo HEC-DR7700K is a 19 in Massage Therapy.

We just reviewed 5 categories ranging from warranty to features to ergonomics. How does the Sanyo HEC-DR7700K Based on the 5 categories the total score for the Sanyo HEC-DR7700K is a 85/100. The Sanyo HEC-DR7700K provides fairly thorough full body massage therapy. The technology is innovative and reliable. Sanyo has one of the weaker warranties providing less protection for the customer. The Sanyo HEC-DR7700K integrates some interesting features to locate trouble areas and provides good relief to the shoulders and neck. The Sanyo has most of the elements of a great massage chair, but seems to be lacking from its roots. The sensory experience missing seems to be music and with Sanyo’s background in stereos just seems odd. This is a luxury class massage chair and has solid technology, but just seems a bit incomplete. The Sanyo HEC-DR7700K is just average for the luxury class of shiatsu massage chairs.

Consider This: Up to 10% of all Americans have warts, and this makes them the most common of all skin infections. When a wart occurs on the underside of the foot — the plantar area — it is called a plantar wart.

Warts Are Caused By A Virus HPV — the Human Papilloma Virus — causes all warts, including foot warts. You many not see the first lesion for 1 – 20 months after initial infection, due the the lengthy incubation period. Even with a healthy immune system, the virus can live for up to two years inside your body.

How/Where Did Exposure Occur? HPV thrives in warm moist areas, like public showers, locker rooms, or around swimming pools. You may have picked it up just by sharing someone else’s socks or sandals. Tiny breaks in the skin that you were likely unaware of, are the most likely entry point for the virus.

Why Treat a Plantar Wart Anyway? Here’s why:

- Pain elimination: not just the foot pain from walking, but potential leg and back pain also

- Embarrassment: resume the activities you curtailed because of your embarrassment

- Stop the contagion: don’t let it spread to other parts of your body or infect loved ones

Ask Your Doctor? Given the above reasons, many MDs will recommend eliminating the warts, even knowing that the underlying virus itself may live on. Very rarely are antiviral agents recommended. Your doc may suggest:

- Freezing (cryotherapy) : in one study, freezing was less effective than the ‘duct-tape’ home remedy

- A Topical treatment – using acids such as salicylic, which eats away at the lesion

- Surgeries — expensive options for sure; laser surgery being the latest technique

Natural & Alternative Treatments There are many alternative treatments that are proven to be quite safe and effective. Some cures are variations of the ‘duct-tape’ cure. Most are far less expensive that traditional medical procedures. Natural treatments require persistence, patience, and may take longer than other, more expensive, remedies.

Cautions Use common sense. See your doctor if you have been diagnosed with diabetes or circulatory problems. He or she will help you select an appropriate treatment.

In Summary Eliminating your plantar warts will reduce pain and embarrassment, and keep them from spreading. Once gone, carefully avoid re-exposure to the virus. Your best defense in the long run is to keep your immune system strong.

The human spine is a marvelous bio-mechanical design which enables us to stand upright. As part of the price of standing upright, we may on occasion over stress certain areas. Chiropractors are trained specialists in the spine. They understand the interaction of the musculoskeletal system and the nervous system. They do not prescribe medications. They use natural methods to restore long term health to the spine. As part of the battery of treatments, massage chairs are being utilized to provide a number of treatment options.

Chiropractors are in high demand as they specialize in areas like pediatrics, sports injuries, neurology and orthopedics. The origin of chiropractic medicine dates back to the times of ancient Egypt. The origin of the word chiropractic comes from the Greeks. It uses the Greek words cheir and praxis which combined mean a treatment done by hand. Hands-on therapy is central to chiropractic care.

People often seek chiropractic care primarily for pain conditions such as back pain, neck pain and headaches. Chiropractors practice holistic, natural medicine. Chiropractors do not prescribe drugs for pain relief. This must be done by a medical doctor or M.D. Chiropractors must earn a Doctor of Chiropractic (D.C.) degree from a college accredited by the Council on chiropractic education.

Even though chiropractic medicine has been around since Egyptian times, it has not been covered by major health insurance plans. Big Medicine is covering more chiropractic treatments as now many state workers compensation systems are covering chiropractic treatment. This has forced Big Medicine to ante up and now many HMO’s and private plans have included chiropractic coverage.

Chiropractors are trained to understand a patient’s symptoms. They then test theories and validate them to find the root causes. They may take x-rays, perform certain tests or touch and feel what is going on. The spine is a complex arrangement of bones, muscles, tendons, nerves, ligaments, etc. that must be looked at in unison.

Chiropractic doctors are most famous for making adjustments to the spine. Most people are familiar with the popping or cracking sound as the doctor adjusts the spine. Adjustments are one in a series of potential treatments to help to align the spine and entice it back to restored health.

Massage therapy is being more commonly employed at chiropractor offices. Massage chairs have found a niche in providing a number of possible therapies in a convenient form. Massage chairs are programmed to deliver a targeted massage for a specific duration based on the patients needs.

Our spine is very unique in that it enables us to stand upright. When the spine is healthy, then this process is uninhibited. However, slight problems can shift the body weight around. These small shifts can cause an enormous amount of weight and stress to be concentrated in certain areas. This can happen by poor posture or lifting with your back, instead of your knees.

When the spine is out of balance, the chiropractor wants to redistribute the weight that is put on the spine. If you have a sore muscle, your other muscles will compensate for it and pick up the slack. The doctor needs to get the weight back to how it was distributed before when the spine was healthy.

Massage chairs are being used extensively to deliver a variety of massage therapies in chiropractor offices around the nation. Massage chairs also provide the application of heat, traction for the legs and arms, air compression massage, music therapy, and vibration. The spine has many soft tissues like muscle, tendons and ligaments that need to maintain their flexibility. They become stiff and hurt. Massage chair therapy helps to reduce stiffness, while helping to restore flexibility and pliability.

The practice of yoga in Europe and the US is seen as a type of escape from the materialistic and stressful society we live in. Therefore, a yoga class can very well become an oasis of peace and tranquility, an escape from the crazy world we live in. Individuals who because of commitments can’t attend a session, always have the possibility of learning something from a yoga DVD.

The DVDs that are on the market today cover a wide range of topics and styles and address the different needs of people: there is yoga for beginners, yoga for traveling, a complete yoga workout, yoga to help pregnancy, and last but not least even yoga for curing disease.

A yoga DVD can have both good parts and bad ones in it, just remember, watching a video is not the same or as good as getting personal instructions from a teacher. In direct sessions the trainer can point out and correct what you do wrong in a posture and you can ask questions to understand one aspect or another, whereas a DVD mainly lacks the possibility for direct interaction and the benefit resulting from it. Probably this is the reason why the level of a yoga DVD is usually a very basic one, teaching users relaxation, breathing techniques and all sorts of meditations.

It is not unusual to hear about one student or another who got injured while using some yoga DVD instructions to practice an asana. Also, experts don’t really recommend this kind of informational product because of the potential hazards for beginners who are in the early stage of learning. Teachers, yoga interns and trainers are the ones to really take advantage of the information on a yoga DVD, because they have achieved and reached a certain knowledge, which allows them to see the instructions about new yoga postures in a different way.

It is fair to say some trainers use a yoga DVD in their classes as a teaching tool, but the applications per se vary according to the structure of the course and the way the instructor sees fit. If you have less than six months of yoga practice, then it is safer not to rely on a yoga DVD to work out exercises alone.

Even after six months to a year you may still have difficulties when trying to apply one technique or another, therefore do not push your self to hard, and remember that yoga gradual natural development.

As the owner of an aromatherapy company, I get asked all the time: “How do I get started using essential oils? Well, one of the simplest and rewarding ways of doing this is getting into the “aroma” part of aromatherapy — the inhalation and enjoyment of the scent of the oils themselves. This in fact is a gateway to utilizing the whole realm of therapy available from pure essential oils. Once you get familiar with the oils and the way they smell by diffusing their aromas, you’ll be more apt to investigate the powerful medicinal aspects of aromatherapy and its many application techniques.

Diffusion of an essential oil means to distribute the oil in the air around you. Essential oils easily evaporate — more easily than water — so this is a pretty straightforward thing to do. At the same time, there are ways to get even more essential oil in the air, at a higher concentration than, say, if you just let a bottle sit open on a table. This is where an aromatherapy diffuser comes it. The diffuser evaporates the essential oil faster, using one of many possible methods (more on that in a moment). And why would you want to evaporate the oil faster? If you just left a bottle sitting open, you and your family would occasionally smell the aroma coming from the bottle; if you’d like your whole room or house to be filled with that aroma, you’d use a diffuser.

All diffusers will improve the rate of evaporation of essential oils into your surrounding space. It is important to recognize that while this may use your oils faster, there are good reasons to do this: diffusing oils so they can be smelled over a much larger space; diffusing oils in a work environment to eliminate the scents of of other activities; and perhaps the most important is sometimes diffusing high concentrations of oils such that we can absorb more oils through our respiratory systems for our health. The least expensive diffusers will use a small heating element to evaporate the oils, or a small fan which moves air more quickly over the oils for the same effect. These are usually excellent choices for a small bedroom or office. A little more high-tech are the humidifying ultrasonic diffusers, which are actually just small ultrasonic humidifiers. They do a wonderful job in small to medium environments, particularly in dry climates or during the winter with forced-air heat systems.

There are other simple, inexpensive ‘low-tech’ methods of diffusing essential oils. These are as simple as candle warmers — where a candle gently evaporates a few drops of essential oil floating on a small bowl of water above a tea-light candle (don’t forget the water! So many people report these devices burn their oils, but they’ve put them just over the heat!). A Reed Diffuser is also common, which evaporates aromatic oils through bamboo reeds and slowly into the air. Though they do most often use a synthetic dispersion agent called DPG or dipropylene glycol, which most aromatherapists will not recommend using, as at some point the diffusion process requires one breathing in its vapors.

The high end of aromatherapy diffusers are called cold-air nebulizing diffusers. The use nothing but a pressurized stream of air to make a fine mist of essential oil, which then evaporates directly into the air. The best of these units have a variable output control so they can be properly adjusted to the size of the room and/or the desired concentration of aroma in the air. The nebulizing diffuser has the capability of both simply diffusing oils for their aromatic effects, and to go so far as to deliver true therapy in aroma medicine. The classic aroma medicine texts show images of people placed in oxygen-style tents inhaling significant quantities of essential oil vapor to cure them of very serious infectious diseases. This effect can be created in small rooms, though it is important to have the guidance of a natural health professional before including this modality in a treatment program for yourself or a loved one. At the same time, these techniques are very worthwhile investigating, and the curing of infectious illness is considered one of the most promising medical application of essential oil therapy.

The choice of oils you can use in a diffuser is even more diverse than the kinds of diffusers available. It is really best to start with your desired reason for diffusing oils, then select your oils following this guideline. For general use, Citrus oils are very lovely, and combine very well to make your own unique scents. Try Lemon, Lime, Bergamot, Orange and Grapefruit together for example. Or the “evegreen” oils all blend together well: Fir, Spruce, Pine and Juniper create a very welcoming and warm atmosphere. Floral oils can be easily blended too, as can the woods and the herbs. Once you venture outside of blending oils from the same family, you’ll want to pay a little closer attention to the ratios of each oil you use, as it’s easy to make odd smelling recipes if you just start putting in “a little of this and a little of that”! On can always use a single oil at any time, particularly if you really enjoy one, but in the long run, blends can often be more interesting to the advanced aromatherapy user.

Finally, if you’re wanting to diffuse with specific therapeutic purposes in mind, you might want find some recipes from Aromatherapists created with your needs in mind. Lavender diffused during the course of the night (in very small amounts) can significantly improve sleep — this would be considered a therapeutic application. To improve mental clarity, Rosemary has shown positive results in many studies, and is a lovely stimulating aroma. To support the immune system, some therapists recommend a blend of Rosemary, Thyme Linalool, Hyssop and Melissa. You can pick and choose among the immune supportive oils that sound best for your needs — and the essential oils from herbs also seem to easily blend well together to create a fun and healing combination.

So there is a primer on diffusing essential oils. To recap, first pick the diffuser style that will suit your needs, whether you’ll just like to smell the aromas in a smaller space, or diffuse significant quantities for health reasons. Next, you can blend one oil at a time (diffusers usually do not require one to clean them between oils, nor are the therapeutic effects significantly altered by this), by a pre-blended formula, or create your own diffuser mixture. Just be sure not to include any fixed or carrier oils for diffuser use (many massage formulas can be converted to diffuser use simply by removing the carrier oil). Start slowly, remembering that you’ll generally need less oil than you think to produce the effect you need. And welcome yourself to a whole new world of natural medicine!

Organic is everywhere these days. Advertisers, merchants and entrepreneurs smelled a profitable and growing niche and diligently started to promote all sorts of organic products. The market is getting filled with organic produce, clothing, coffee, and even organic dog food. But do we really need organic as much as the advertisers are trying to convince us? Well, lets take a look.

Organic usually refers to the way agricultural fibers and foods are grown, produced and processed. Organic meat, eggs, poultry and dairy come from animals that were given no antibiotics and hormones. Organic produce means that it was grown without the use of chemicals and conventional pesticides.

Many of the chemical and pesticide products that are used on non-organic items pose risks to humans and animals alike. Many people will develop allergies to these chemical products without ever realizing it. This can result in thousands of dollars on doctor bills or medications, yet they unknowingly continue to consume the products that they are allergic to.

If you take a look a the food labels in organic juices and baked goods, you’ll find they typically have fewer ingredients than the non-organic items. This is because they don’t contain the preservatives and chemicals that are put into non-organic foods to help them last longer. I don’t feel comfortable putting anything in my mouth that I can’t pronounce. If you haven’t taken a look at the food labels on non-organic products, give it a try. Then research some of the items you find in the ingredients to see what they actually are and what problems they can cause. If you are like me, you will be quite surprised, and will want to switch to a healthy organic alternative.

Another benefit of organic products is that they are better for the environment. Organic farming means less toxic chemicals are released into the ground. With problems like global warming, air pollution, and water pollutions, buying organic can help with these problems.

People who eat organic fruits and vegetables often say that they taste much better than non-organic. Of course, taste can be subjective, but I personally dont think that chemicals and pesticides can taste good. If you never tried organic apples, buy one and taste the difference. You may never want to bite a conventionally grown apple again.

Organic food is also more nutritious, because they have higher levels of disease-fighting antioxidants and contain up to 50% more minerals and vitamins than conventionally-grown foods.

Everyone should try to buy organic products to better protect our health and the earth. If you don’t want to spend the extra money for organic products, or put extra efforts into finding affordable organic items, consider the long-term benefits. They far outweigh the short-term costs, and your investment will pay off in the end.

Actually, organic doesnt have to mean expensive. There are many ways to get organic food cheap, so if you know how and where to shop, buying organic may actually save you money. Also, there are some conventional fruits and vegetables, which have very low pesticide levels and therefore are not too bad for your health. So there is no need to buy everything organic, although it wouldnt hurt.

The great tide of Western medicine is turning: we’ve become so jaded with the obvious inadequacies and waste of our medical institutions, with a deep feeling that “something just ain’t right”, that Natural Medicine is quickly becoming mainstream. It’s about time! When did “Conventional” medicine become “Alternative”? Now plant medicine is quickly coming back in favor — folks are trusting the beauty and grace of planet Earth, and that she has all the medicine we’ll ever need. And with that, enter Aroma Medicine. No longer do we need to feel a little odd talking about Aroma “Therapy”; while this has always really been defined as the branch of medicine utilizing the organic volatile molecules produced by plants, the term has been stigmatized in North America to some “New Age” foolishness. But researchers around the globe are telling a different story…

The body of evidence published in peer-reviewed scientific journals proclaiming the valid medical effects of essential oils is growing by leaps and bounds. Simple searches through online databases produce incredible numbers of results: Searching the site of the National Center for Biotechnology Information for the term “essential oil” yields over eight thousand results of studies involving essential oils used in aromatherapy, and “new” essential oils from plants yet to be included in modern aromatherapy’s repertoire. Consider the implications of the first result: the essential oil from Lemons prevents dementia. This is common, wonderful smelling essential oil that one can use to clean the house prevent brain damage at the same time. And this is just the tip of the iceberg; the biochemical and physiological actions of essential oils are very, very diverse.

Further down the same page is an abstract confirming the beauty of natural medicines: All the natural molecular constituents of Thyme essential oil have an additive antimicrobia effect — science and industry has a habit of extracting a single component, patenting it, and bringing it to market while forgetting to tell us that natural Thyme oil itself is even more effective. Other jaw-dropping notes about essential oils: Clove oil has the highest Oxidative Radical Absorbance Capacity of any natural substance ever tested — over 100,000, on a scale where blueberries score about 5,000 and Wolfberries are about 30,000. A large number of studies have confirmed the stress reducing effects of Lavender, going to far to show reduced Cortisol levels AND an increase in the body’s natural scavenging of oxidtive radicals — JUST FROM SMELLING the oil!

Perhaps the most important effects of all are those seen in the treatment of serious illnesses. Many modern medical aromatherapists believe the greatest promise of essential oils still lay in the development of protocols for treatment of infectious disease. The MRSA “superbug”, referring to one of several strains of Staphylococcus bacteria that are resistant to the powerful antibiotic drug Methicillin, has become an overwhelming problem in the world’s hospitals. Folks go in for care of one condition, and while their immune defenses are low, they come down with an infection that’s very hard to cure (because man-made antibiotics don’t work). Enter essential oils: Pub Med is filled with studies showing the efficacy of essential oils like Tea Tree and Geranium against MRSA (particularly when combined with another potent natural antibacterial, Grapefruit Seed Extract).

And for the really big one: essential oils are showing great promise in the treatment of many cancers. Frankincense and Lemongrass are just two of the oils that have been shown anti-tumorial, and Sandalwood has been show to specifically prevent skin cancers from UVB radiation exposure. Searching for “Frankincense tumor” gives a first result of: “Frankincense oil derived from Boswellia carteri induces tumor cell specific cytotoxicity”. The conclusion states: “Frankincense oil appears to distinguish cancerous from normal bladder cells and suppress cancer cell viability…” There are many more results like this, with a variety of oils and a variety of cancer cell lines. This is a very exiting time for natural medicine, as a combination of new extraction techniques, and faster turn around times in research facilities made lead to new, life saving protocols in the very near future (and it’s important that we as members of the world community keep voicing our opinions, and making these changes in our available medical treatments — it’s not only good for us, it’s good for the world as well, as the production of natural medicines takes SO much less energy than their pharmaceutical “equivalents”).

Essential oils offer so much more than these treatments, too! So much concentrated wellness is available to the average family taking part in the aromatherapy lifestyle. Tea Tree and Lavender (mix them 50/50 and keep a small bottle available) is perhaps the most potent antibacterial, nicest smelling and gently soothing formula for all the cuts and scrapes of childhood. Helichrysum italicum essential oil has profound healing and pain relieving effects on bumps, bruises, twists, sprains and all muscular sore spots — and it works fast. Lavender and Helichrysum are excellent for burns; use a couple drops “neat” next time you may (God forbid!) touch a hot stove and you’ll be extolling the virtues of essential oils in no time. Kids getting unruly? A belly or back rub with Roman Chamomile or Mandarin (2% in Hazelnut oil) does the trick. Try 1% Vanilla for the toddlers. You can create blends specifically for the needs of your skin to dramatically improve eczema symptoms, reduce wrinkles, make scars slowly fade, eliminate acne and athlete’s foot, and just bring a fantastic glow to your face. So many great smelling medicines from so many plants!

Sure, this can sound a little overwhelming…where, really, to start when you’re new to it all? Well, that’s the trick: just get started. Anyone in your family not sleeping well? Rub a drop of lavender on each foot at bedtime for a few nights and see what happens. Someone with athlete’s foot or other similar rashes? Mix 30 drops of Tea Tree and 30 drops of Palmarosa into a fluid ounce of Jojoba oil and massage into the area a couple times a day. Just get a simple diffuser, some Black Spruce essential oil and make your house smell like the middle of the forest. Dab a drop of Rose, Amber, Jasmine or Sandalwood oil to your wrist, rub them together and smell like heaven. It’s that easy. And these simple ideas get you ready for when you might need to tap into the serious medicine available here. Essential oils won’t be foreign anymore, and you’ll start to trust their real medicinal value. Also, there are tons of great books, and very qualified teachers. Open your eyes and heart to the world of Aroma Medicine, and you’ll be sure to find your way.