Integrative Health Blog

I trust you are familiar with Eckhart Tolle’s book, The Power of Now, which has had a tremendous impact on people’s spiritual lives and understanding around the world. From what I understand, from having read, not that book, but a different book by Tolle, the main concept is that we need to be focused on the present moment, because that is what we have.

The past is a memory, the future is a dream, and the present is a gift, that’s why we call it a present.*  We cannot change the past, and the only way to improve the future is by focusing on who we are being in the present moment, and what we are thinking, believing, and doing right now. 

When I work with clients, I often delve into experiences in their past with them, in order to help them in the present and future. Recently, a new client asked me, “But if we focus on the past, won’t that reduce the power of now?”

What a great question!

Stress appears to be endemic in our lives, perhaps even more so in urban areas (yes, I just attempted to ride the metro this morning, and it took three times as long as usual!) 

Stress negatively impacts our health because it constantly activates the adrenal glands and their fight-flight-freeze-or fold response to external events. 

Physical Effects of Stress

Further, stress activates our sympathetic nervous system, which keeps our bodies in a chemical and nervous system state of high alert. This is fine for short sprints away from potential predators, or a climb up a steep cliff, but creates problems for our bodies when we do not allow them to calm down again and remain calm and relaxed for several hours at a time. 

The official definition of aromatherapy is the inhalation or bodily application of fragrant essential oils for therapeutic purposes. In layman’s terms, aromatherapy is the study of scent.  

Essential oils are volatile aromatic compounds, extracted using a specialized distillation process, from the leaves, stems, bark, flowers, roots and fruits of a particular plant.  The oils are the essence of the plant; highly concentrated and very powerful.  They provide the plant with protection, defense, healing, communication and help them attract pollinators.  A myriad of benefits is passed on to us when we utilize essential oils.  

Whether you are an engaged couple, married couple, or partners who have been committed to one another for a long time, there is often more that you can do to enhance your relationship.

Would you like your marriage to become just as perfect as your wedding, or even better? So many couples seem to be a “perfect match,” but what does that really mean? How can you make and keep the very best possible relationship, built to last a lifetime?

Most of us desire things like a really attractive and sexy partner who is independent, reliable, earns a decent living, who gets along with our family and friends, and whose friends and family we really like, as well. Most of all, we desire to be with someone we love and who loves us. But even if you have all those things, how do you know this relationship can really work well and last a lifetime? Here are seven tips to a happy marriage plus four signs you are in fact, a “perfect match.”

Four signs your partner, spouse, or fiancé is the “perfect match” for you.

You are already an expert in subtle energy, but you probably do not yet know it.

Have you ever attended a ball game or sporting event and “felt the excitement in the air?”

Most people have felt that feeling of excitement in the air somewhere. Interestingly, no one had to tell you that what you were feeling was “excitement,” because the energy itself sends the message, and you are intuitively programmed to feel it and to know what that it is “excitement in the air.”

Have you ever been in a room, perhaps at a meeting, in which the tension was so thick, that as the very old saying goes, “You could have cut the tension with a knife?” No one had to tell you that this was tension that you were feeling. No one had to explain the difference between how excitement feels and how tension feels. You just knew it, and could feel it in your body.

Have you ever experienced someone standing in front of you who was so angry, you could literally feel the anger coming from them? Most people have also experienced this feeling of the subtle energy of anger, and again, no one has to explain to anyone “Hey, guess what: this is anger energy – watch out!” The subtle energy of anger (not so subtle, perhaps) actually sends a message that we understand intuitively is anger, and we know to be cautious.

Can you feel the love?

One of the first considerations and one of the most important elements of true and long-lasting healing is healing the heart.  Our heart is our body’s ‘power center’ in terms of attempting any kind of healing.  At any given time, as much as 95% of the ‘communication’ throughout our body, is from our heart. Wow!  Think of the implications of that statement and what it means to your personal overall health.

What is Your Heart Saying?

What is your heart communicating to you?  Are there lingering unresolved emotions and blocked energy held in your heart that seek resolution?  Likely.  Most of us don’t get to be of adult age without suffering some kind of emotional pain and/or trauma.  That’s the nature of life.  And because we humans, don’t ‘come with a handbook’, few of us receive the guidance or learn good methods of resolving the slings and arrows that often come our way.  Familial emotional and behavioural patterns get passed down from generation to generation, resulting in a continuation of usually woefully inadequate methods in ‘heart healing’.