"If you don't make time for your wellness, you will be forced to make time for your illness." - Unknown.
Rest is imperative to good health. Most of us do not get enough quality relaxation. If experiencing a cancer diagnosis has taught me anything, it’s that you have to listen to your body. You have to rest. You have to self-soothe to calm your mind. A calm mind is what allows us to open up to the healing process.
My brother sent me this astute passage by Thich Nhat Hanh from his book The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching:
This goes hand in hand with the popular quote: "If you don't make time for your wellness, you will be forced to make time for your illness."
Whether you're facing an illness, or running full steam ahead with a jam-packed schedule, it is of the utmost importance to give yourself time in the day to do absolutely nothing.
If you're like me, resting is a challenge. I have always taken pride in working hard, being productive, and being on the go. Many of us are raised with the mentality that if you work hard, you can play hard, but only for 2 days a week! Then back to the grind. This is unnatural, and it takes a while to undo this ingrained sense of pressure to be "on" all the time.
Aromatherapy can be an excellent tool to help rewire the brain to help practice the art of rest.
Taking a moment to take deep inhalations of a calming essential oil like Lavender, Clary Sage, or Frankincense can help center the mind, release pent-up emotions, and bring your attention to the present moment.
When you're looking for a sense of calm, use your sense of smell! Our sense of smell immediately affects our limbic system (the part of the brain that's involved with emotional and behavioral responses) and can help us whenever we need by using calming and stress-relieving tools like soothing Frankincense Essential Oil.
Frankincense has been used since at least 1500 BC for a myriad of uses like purification, embalming, fragrance, and most notably, as medicine.
For emotional support, Frankincense helps us quiet the mind to allow mental space for introspection. It encourages emotional healing on all levels and helps support tranquil, focused attention.
In addition, for physical support, Frankincense is an effective pain reliever, immune supporter, has anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory properties, and is a renowned skin and wound healing oil.
When mental or physical stress comes around, diffusing or applying Frankincense topically is a soothing remedy to help restore balance and peace from the inside out.
To help ground and nurture the mind:
Add Frankincense to your diffuser
Apply topically by adding up to 12 drops of oil to your favorite carrier oil
Or, inhale directly out of the bottle.
You can also use a handy tool, like the Zen Blend Aromatherapy Inhaler for stress and anxiety relief. It's a perfect pocket-sized companion to take with you wherever you go to help encourage deep breathing when stress hits. Great to use at work, at home, or wherever life takes you.
I hope you take some You-time today to rest, rejuvenate, and enjoy this we get to live!
Questions? Comments? Please feel free to reach out using the contact box below! I always love to hear from you.
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