Updates from Lisa Main

Have you ever had one of those days when you just felt emotionally "off"? Like you're just in a bad mood and don't even want to be around yourself? Those are the days I wish I could just put myself in timeout and not come out until I feel better!

If you can relate to this, read on. I've got a little secret weapon for you.

But first, let's talk about our sense of smell. Did you know it's connected to emotions? 

Think about how certain smells make you feel. Maybe smelling apple pie makes you think of your grandmother who always had one in the oven. New babies and new puppies have certain smells that often bring feelings of joy. On the contrary, unpleasant smells might cause you discomfort.

The sense of smell develops in the womb and is tied directly to the limbic system (the emotional brain) through the olfactory nerve. The limbic system is responsible for processing emotions, "fight of flight" and forming bonds with others.

Our reactions and emotions toward situations we encounter throughout our lives are stored so the brain knows how to react should a similar situation happen again. This causes us to get "stuck", repeating the same situations and emotions over and over again, even when they're negative.

The good news is, we can break the chains that tie those experiences and negative emotions together by using the power of scent! One of my favorite methods is the Aroma Reset method designed by Dr. Benjamin Perkus.

Before I go further, I want to stress how critical it is that you only use the highest quality essential oils for this method. Using anything less will introduce synthetic fragrance that will have the opposite effect on the brain than what you're trying to accomplish. The Aroma Reset method was designed exclusively with Young Living oils and those are the only oils I will recommend for this method. To learn more about why these oils are superior, visit www.SeedtoSeal.com.

Now, let's get to the good part! When you're ready to try this method, get yourself into a quiet space, free of interruptions and distractions.

Step 1: Identify a negative experience. This may be difficult to do, but it's important to identify an experience that causes you negative emotions so you can process those emotions and heal. Picture it in your mind and allow yourself to feel it. It may be something that happened today or something that happened many years ago. If you picture multiple scenarios, pick the one that stands out most and start there.

Step 2: Give it a name. With one word, describe how you feel when you're picturing that experience. Are you angry? Sad? Do you feel hopeless? Afraid?

Step 3: Locate the feeling in your body. Do you clench your jaw or feel tension in your neck or shoulders? Do you feel a pit in your stomach or tightness in your chest? 

Step 4: Identify the negative thought connected to that feeling. This will probably start with "I can't", "I don't", or "I'm not". For example, "I'm not good enough to...", or "I don't have enough..."

Step 5: Smell Essential Oils. Place one drop of a calming oil, such as lavender or frankincense, into your palms. Breathe deeply, focusing on the experience, the feeling, your body, and the emotions. Breathe the scent into the negativity, allowing it to break up the negative pictures in your mind. Keep breathing it in until you feel the negativity dissipating.

Step 6: Repeat as needed. Negative emotions are like onions...they tend to be layered from years of our brains repeating the same reactions to certain situations over and over again. When we clear one negative emotion, we sometimes reveal another layer beneath it. To get to the deeper roots of your emotions and truly find healing, you may find that you need to repeat the process as you peel away the layers. Remain open to letting go of the thoughts and emotions that do not serve you, and commit to practicing these steps daily.

[This Week's Blog by Lisa Main - Total Wellness Defined]

I woke up with this on my heart today and just had to get it written down. I've been seeing so much hurt and pain in the world. My social media feeds are filled with posts about friends who've lost loved ones, are struggling through illness or other tough seasons in their lives, are dealing with anxiety over uncertain times. There's so much going on and it's sometimes hard to focus on anything but all the negatives.

 

Friends, that's what the enemy wants us to do. Our attention is constantly pulled away from the goodness, blessings, and purpose for our lives. Don't worry, those things are still there; it's time we refocus so we can see them better. It's important to always look for the good in every situation, no matter how impossible that may seem. 

 

Allow me to give you an example...

 

Gary Young, founder of the multi-billion dollar wellness company, Young Living, nearly died in a logging accident in his early 20s. He had 19 broken bones, three skull fractures and multiple herniations of the spinal cord. He was in a coma for three months. Upon waking, doctors said he would not walk again. Devastated over that prognosis, he tried to commit suicide...twice.

 

When the first suicide attempt failed, Gary tried starving himself to death. Instead of dying, he actually started feeling sensations in his toes. Starving himself prevented scar tissue from forming and the nerves rerouted themselves, allowing him to regain feeling. This led him to start researching alternative medicine and essential oils.

 

Not only did he walk again, but he spent every day researching, farming, teaching, and working to help others achieve greater health. Money was never Gary's main objective. He only wanted to help as many people as possible. 

 

Gary started the Young Living Foundation in 2008, which changes lives through providing education to children in impoverished countries, helping women overcome poverty by investing in small business and fair-trade enterprises, and helping victims of abuse and survivors of labor and sexual exploitation. 

 

Young Living and the Young Living Foundation have changed millions of lives for the better. What if Gary's accident hadn't happened? He may have just continued his vision of a successful logging and ranching career. He may never have discovered the body's incredible abilities or the importance of proper nutrition. He may never have impacted millions of lives through his vision and mission.

 

My point is this: you may be going through the worst and hardest season of your life right now, but don't discount that the biggest blessings may be on the other side of that heartache. Trust that God can bring something amazing out of the worst of circumstances. He sees farther than we can. He knows what's ahead and will guide your path if you let Him. Surrender the pain to Him, seek His wisdom, and watch what He will do.

[This Week's Blog by Lisa Main - Total Wellness Defined]

My daughter loves those big concrete balls outside the Target stores. I'm not sure why, but she insists she try to move them every time we go there. Every. Single. Time. 

She's currently 4, so she's well aware she isn't going to move those balls, but she will still excitedly run up to one of them and give it all she's got, while we stand by cheering her on. She tries anyway, despite knowing the reality that the ball won't move. She doesn't hesitate or back down. Once she's pushed on it for a minute, she walks away and we go into the store for whatever it was we were there for. Why do I let her continue to try? Because I want her to never be afraid to give it her best shot, regardless if she (or anyone else) thinks she'll fail. I want her to know what it's like to not succeed, and learn to just go on about her day when that happens. 

What do you do when you are faced with something that seems too difficult? Do you shy away from it? If you do give it a try, do you feel like you're truly giving it 100 percent, or do you approach with caution "just in case"? What if instead of backing down you gave it a good push with everything you had? Worst case scenario, you might exert a little time and energy on something that led nowhere, but what's the BEST that could happen? 

I hadn't planned to write this, but something in me kept nudging me to do so. 

I tried not to think about the significance of yesterday's date, September 11, 2021. As an empath, thinking of such horrific events, the evil, the fear, the pain and suffering, the lasting effects on the first responders and others who were right there in the middle of it...it can be very overwhelming. I found myself exhausted just trying to manage and process it all, so I went to bed early, only to dream of those events all night.

Like most of us who were old enough to remember, I know exactly what I was doing and where I was at the moment the first tower was hit. I was newly pregnant with my first child and was at work in my in-laws' flower shop. One of our delivery drivers hurriedly came in, asking if we'd heard the news. We didn't have a television there, so we tuned in on the radio. From that moment on, no one spoke a word. We sat there in silence as we listened to the events of that day unfolding. I was fearful of the world I was bringing a child into and what might happen next. My heart was shattered for New York, the passengers on all of the flights, their families, the first responders and their families, and for our great country that had just been so savagely attacked. 

In the days, weeks, and months that followed the worst attack on the US in history, our country joined together in a way I'd never seen before and have never seen since. We looked beyond race, color, gender, beliefs, politics, and other differences. We were just Americans. We put others first, we helped each other, cried with each other, prayed with each other, and we celebrated our great country.

It's hard to believe it's been 20 years. The child I was pregnant with at the time is now a grown man. Our country has never forgotten what happened that day or those we lost as a result of that day. It seems though that we've lost our patriotism and love for our fellow Americans somewhere along the way. We've spent so much time focusing on our differences that we've forgotten about what makes us all the same - we're all human beings, we're all imperfect, we're all unique and have a special purpose, we're all Americans, and we all have the ability to love one another.

When did we become a selfish nation? Where is the love and respect we had for each other 20 years ago? It's time to take a hard look at that day and remember we are not immune to horrific events, terroristic or otherwise. We need each other. We need to support each other and stop looking for reasons to disagree or hate each other. We need to celebrate our differences and lift each other up. Let's honor all those lives lost by building this country back up to the greatness it once was. It isn't too late to change the narrative.

Where were you that day? Do you remember the patriotism after the attacks?

It seems we're told our whole lives not to express emotions. 

Don't be afraid. 

Don't feel bad.

Don't get your hopes up.

Don't worry.

Don't be jealous.

Don't be sad.

You're too positive. Too negative. Too confident. Too sensitive.

Why are feelings and emotions (especially those considered to be negative) so taboo? Could it be that we just don't understand them enough and don't want to work through them, so it's easier just to deny their existence, bury them, or blame them on others?

The funny thing about emotions is they kind of have minds of their own. When in a perceived dangerous situation, the amygdala, a small area in the center of the brain, takes over and produces the "fight, flight, or freeze" response, allowing one to act without thinking. Sometimes the amygdala takes over even when not really necessary. Have you ever acted without thinking, even when you weren't in danger?

An emotion usually includes a physical response as a flush of chemical reactions happen in the body: sweaty palms, rapid heart rate, sick stomach, tight chest, etc. The brain stores its responses to stressful stimuli in the body in case they're needed again later. The next time the brain perceives a similar situation happening, it will recall and use the same responses. For example, a child rejected by his father will subconsciously remember the events and physical responses that led up to the feeling of rejection, and will react in the same way over and over again throughout his lifetime as a response to any further perceived rejection unless or until he processes and corrects that pattern. Eventually, the stored emotions can cause stress on the body and lead to a number of illnesses and pain. The body will not let you ignore unprocessed emotions!

The only way to change an emotional response pattern is to first acknowledge the unwanted emotion so it can be processed. This means we have to let ourselves FEEL. When we're intimately in tune with our bodies, we can learn to recognize the emotions and their physical responses so we can respond proactively, allowing those emotions to process through and out of the body instead of taking up residence and wreaking havoc.

One processing technique I like to use is:

Do you have specific emotional blocks that you wish to be free of?