Diffusing Good Cheer to Calm the Holiday Hustle and Bustle

The world continues to move at a fast pace and its people are hustling and bustling preparing for their upcoming holiday celebrations. As they manage everyday hassles, do their best to cope with global events, and seek to find time for all the extra activities, a sense of general overwhelm has set in.

For this reason, it has been my desire to offer information on how lifestyle shifts, mind-body modalities, and nature’s gifts (essential oils) can provide us with more peace and happiness moving into this season.

Previously, I explored how specific plant secondary metabolites, essential oils, have an ability to intervene and dial down the stress reaction at the level of the mind. I then reviewed three single essential oils which balance cortisol, the stress hormone, and highlighted two blends that provide more joy and stress relief.

Next, I continued to focus on essential oils and blends for overall wellness, resiliency, and emotional balance. These included discussing four essential oils to enhance physical health, two oil blends to promote calm and courage, and a duo of oil combinations to spark a healing mindset of belief and hope.

Now, as we make our final arrangements for the coming holy observances, I take a moment to pause on some deeper musings. Specifically, in this article and video, I cover the following topics:

  • The important connection between the mind-body-soul and medicine.
  • Why spirituality and healing can’t be separated
  • Why we must honor the whole person in healthcare to accomplish true holistic wellness
  • How sacred plants and essential oils can help to form the “roots” that merge mainstream and integrative medicine

Following, in part two, I will provide a review of three essential oils that have a biblical and spiritual root, as well as science-based applications. These oils truly exemplify the unification of mind-body-soul medicine.

It is my hope that by stimulating your brain and olfactory cells with these concepts and sacred oils, you will be gifting yourself with an emotional boost of good cheer. You will also be offering more harmony, happiness, and calm to the brains of your guests who have the good fortune to catch a whiff of whatever oil or blend you decide to diffuse.

Now, let’s have a look at why we must integrate the ancient healing wisdom of wholeness with mechanistic modern medicine.

The Wisdom, Science, and Art of Medicine

For too long, physicians were taught to view the body solely from a systematic and evidence-based perspective. The connection between the mind, body, and soul was ignored. Now, it has become evident that this form of modern healthcare, which doesn’t nurture the whole person, has its pitfalls. Beyond dehumanizing patients, the resulting pitiful health of our nation speaks for itself.

Living in the most expensive country for healthcare compared to much of the developed world, Americans get the least impressive results. They have the lowest life expectancy, use the most amount of preventative screening, have the highest rates of chronic diseases, and suffer from an alarming rise and prevalence in mental illness. (R, R, R, R)

If we objectively look at consequences of this current approach to health through biochemical manipulation, we will see that it is sorely lacking in achieving the outcomes we desire. (R, R, R, R) This is because it ignores the intricacies of the delicate web-like connections of the human mind, body, and soul. It also lacks the humility to acknowledge that we have yet to fully understand, or the capacity to discover, all the complexity of what truly makes us well and whole beyond our chemical composition.

With greater popularization and awareness of the mind-body connection, the impact of emotions and stress on disease outcomes is becoming more recognized by mainstream medicine. This is a good start in moving in the right direction. However, the association between “spirituality and medicine,” which is just as ancient and essentially linked, is still often not discussed at a conventional doctor’s appointment. This separation between medicine and the soul is just as suboptimal for patient care and outcomes as a disregard for the mind-body.

Recently, various studies have reported that there are many physical and mental health benefits correlated with religion, spirituality, purpose, and/or prayer. Furthermore, with the vast majority of Americans identifying themselves as religious or spiritual, ignoring this connection is not paying reverence to the whole person or honoring the doctor-patient therapeutic relationship. After all, without knowing what drives someone, and what they feel is important, how can a healer or physician motivate one to a true transformation and healing?

This leaves us with the essential question:

How can we merge the best of modern and ancient medicine?  

One of the puzzling issues is that the “language” and “proof” of efficacy of conventional and integrative medicine are not always the same. In fact, the schisms in concepts of each approach almost appear as polar opposites:

  • A war on diseases vs. promoting wellness
  • Symptom suppression vs. addressing the root cause of illness
  • Evidence-based medicine terminology and controlled clinical trials vs. traditional healing words spoken and case studies of real-world experiences

One means that is currently being employed as a connector between the two is studying how various ancient healing modalities mechanistically work. In other words, to translate traditional healing practices into modern medical terminology.

Plants and essential oils bring together this type of scientific exploration with spiritual traditions and psychology. For this reason, in many countries they are being used alongside conventional pharmacological care.

Why not everywhere?

We have seen the shortcomings of rigid thinking on both sides of the coin (“too alternative” and “too mainstream”). This can cause a decline in patient satisfaction, outcomes, and care. Integrative care, on the other hand, can help to remedy this.

Sacred Trees and Plant Medicine

Sacred trees have been honored in religious and spiritual traditions throughout history. Furthermore, since biblical times, essential oils and plants have been touted to heal the body, mind, and soul.

These spiritual and physical connections humans have with nature have been recorded in ancient books and religious scripture. Many are aware of the famous trio of essential oils that were brought to the Christ Child. One article painstakingly summarized how these aromatics, and various other biblical essential oils, were used to enhance spiritual practices and healing based on these theological verses.

The mystical practices of anointing the sick with herbs and applying plant medicine, in fact, does have science to back it. Looking at the modern science of the mechanisms of these timely oils and plants provides evidence, on the biochemical level, that they were a form of medicine with mind-body wisdom. Though, in the past, it was expressed in a different language than our current medical terminology, its power should not be underappreciated.

I will review several of these spiritual oils in detail in the next part of this series.

For now, I will leave you with a Christmas essential oils blend that can provide both a physical and emotional boost. It also exemplifies the mind-body merger with an upliftment in the spirit.

 

The Christmas Essential Oils Blend

My favorite essential oil holiday scent is a comforting combination of cinnamon, orange, and black spruce. This mixture multitasks to uplift emotions, calm the soul, and defends us against unwelcome “buggy” winter visitors.

Since Christmas is love, having this scent diffused can be a generous gift for you and all your guests to receive.

Summary – The Merger of Modern and Ancient Medicine with Mind-Body-Soul Wisdom

The time has come to use the scientific model of “gold standard proof” with discretion. We must embrace all healing forms for the best interest of our global health.

Doctors and healers must unite to honor patients’ beliefs and acknowledge that emotions, psychological temperament, and religious or spiritual practices have an impact on wellness.

We have seen that plant medicine and essential oils can help to bridge and soften the gap in the understanding between medical understanding and ancient wisdom moving forward. These are only two examples. There are many others.

In the next post, we will explore more about this.

For now, may you all have a beautiful, sacred, holiday season.

 

A Note on Essential Oils Blends

Creating essential oil blends is a complex process. One must be versed in aromatherapy to accomplish a mixture of complimentary chemical constituents with therapeutic effects. (R) This is why I rely on trusted suppliers that produce quality essential oils and have expertise in essential oils’ chemistry. I suggest that you search out essential oil blends with similar oils as the ones shared from a company you trust.

Naturopathic Medicine and Holistic Resources for Mood, Hormonal, and Digestive Support

  • Free resources and more education on essential oils and mind-body wellness are available to you here.
  • An Integrative Mental Health and Stress Resource Guide.
  • Tools for coping with isolation and separation.
  • Stay Connected! Sign-up for my weekly newsletter.

Stay tuned for an upcoming opportunity that can support you in holistic mind-body-heart-soul healing. (Join my newsletter below to learn more.)

Many blessings.

 

References

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3178858/

https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2020/jan/us-health-care-global-perspective-2019

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29536101/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/therapeutic-relationship

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3178858/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/psychology/therapeutic-relationship

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/559977_8

https://www.who.int/westernpacific/health-topics/traditional-complementary-and-integrative-medicine#tab=tab_1

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1988790/

http://drericz.com/12-healing-oils-of-the-bible/

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Disclaimer: This material is for information purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prescribe for any illness. You should check with your doctor regarding implementing any new strategies into your wellness regime. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. (Affiliation link.)

This information is applicable ONLY for therapeutic quality essential oils. This information DOES NOT apply to essential oils that have not been tested for purity and standardized constituents. There is no quality control in the United States, and oils labeled as “100% pure” need only to contain 5% of the actual oil. The rest of the bottle can be filled with fillers and sometimes toxic ingredients that can irritate the skin. The studies are not based solely on a specific brand of an essential oil, unless stated. Please read the full study for more information.

Thanks Pixabay and Canva.