Healing takes courage, and we all have courage, even if we have to dig a little to find it.

Did you know that our sense of smell is directly connected to memory in the brain?

You've probably experienced it - a smell that takes you back to a memory, 

like baking cookies (Grandma's house),  or the smell of fire 

(also Grandma's house because they used to heat with firewood and I did NOT like it), 

or the smell of the earth (my happy place!).

HOW DOES IT WORK?

The olfactory sense (smell) is directly related to the limbic system,

 which is involved in the processing and regulating of stress, emotions, 

the formation and storage of memories, arousal, and learning. 

Aroma can activate your fight-or-flight (or freeze, fib, or fawn) response,

which can dynamically affect basic physical functions like breathing and heart rate,

and floods your system with hormones to make your body ready to respond to threats. 

 In a nutshell, AROMA allows deeper access to EMOTIONS

so you are more able to move through the "sticky" ones.

So, what if you could use this scientific reality to your advantage 

in the process of recovery from trauma and pain,

both in releasing stored memories and supporting you in the present moment, too? 

Aromatherapy seeks to do just that - positively influence your emotional response.

Using essential oils, these scents safely and profoundly affect behavioral response to emotions

through the stimulation of memory and limbic activity.

Aromatherapy helps unlock emotions trapped inside memory and shut-down places,

 guiding our emotions to the surface so we can release them effectively. 

Through a simple inhalation of a pure, potent, natural essential oil,

we  find support and sustenance for our emotional healing.

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I used to live every day with headaches, a twist in my gut, and inexplicable anxious and fearful feelings from my (at the time undiagnosed!) hypervigilance. 

One day, in 2013, I met Liz, a massage therapist, and after telling her about my headaches,

asked if she could try some essential oils during my massage.

I'd never heard of essential oils,  I was pretty sure they were just nice-smelling placebos 

(read: BS!),

and I was sure they wouldn't work, but I consented.

I got up from the table after 30 minutes with my headache gone and feeling more refreshed than I remembered feeling for a long time.

I had to know more.

That was over 10 years ago.

And I'm more convinced than ever of the power of these little brown bottles of oily goodness!

I use them every day in a variety of ways,

still for headaches and anxious feelings, and also for my immune system and digestion,

for my skin, my hair, and the gash on my leg from a fight with a shovel.

I've "drunk the kool-aide" and my house is flooded with oils!

I'm not ashamed because I know they are real,

they work, and they have brought such change in my life and in so many others' lives, too.

They've helped me with the work of healing from trauma, both emotionally and physically.

They continue to support my journey of healing and spiritual growth.

I'd love to talk to you about finding oily tools for your emotional journey of healing, too!

Feel free to email me and ask about which oils would best support you.