Happy Christmas

Well I hope you had a great Christmas and are looking forward to new year. If you find this time of year difficult for whatever reason then my thoughts are with you. Having suffered from depression for a number of years and many of the reasons based around the holidays I can relate to you. It is almost a time of enforced fun. Try to remember there will be good times coming uup. I know it sounds like an empty promise, but it is true. I've just stopped crying cos I'm overweight and my teeth are falling out and why didn't I do things differently? Well I didn't and I'm here. My dad said that I have lived fiur lives alreadyand I know where he's coming from. Even negatives can be learned from. Accept my best wishes and feel good that you are who you are because you are unique.

Weird

This blogging is a funny old game. It gives you a wonderful chance to talk about yourself and what is going on. You can rattle on about your favourite things or condemn the things that really bug you. If you've read any of my stuff you'll know I'm a bit of a traditionalist. This doesn't mean I'm a stick in the mud. I like to get drunk and put the world to rights or ride my off road bike into ditches. There is a point to this honestly. This is about making yourself feel good. Well taking part in social media or having a blog can make you feel better. We have all this technology at hand and we concentrate it on work. Have a bit of fun - share a joke on Twitter or put your amusing holiday videos on you tube. I know it's not the same as socializing and I'd rather be down the pub chatting to you about this but this is the best way cos. we all probably live a long way apart but that just gives us more to share! Go on post something start a discussion!

Cold

Just a quick little post. If you get the seemingly inevitable December cold then have a warm (not hot because the oils will evaporate too quickly) bath with 4 drops Eucalyptus and 4 drops TeaTree. As always put a little of the oils on your skin to ensure you are not allergic to them. You can also put some on a tissue and put it by your pillow,

Teeth

Sorry about the hiatus in my ramblings. I have not had the best of weeks. I am no longer going to make plans because it tempts problems. It was just a little plan - I was going to visit the local art gallery and a tooth that had been giving me problems finally exploded into tooth ache. After sitting in the waiting room for two hours, I was booked in for a root canal the following morning.

It wasn't as bad as I thought and the pain had gone. My comfort was not to last long as there are - apparently - three roots on each tooth. So one remained open to pain and it took its opportunity. Back to the hospital and another root canal. This time it really hurt, but he found the root and killed it off.

For the pain I used a little clove oil, that you can get at pharmacies and health food shops. It does numb the pain foor a while, but smells and tastes disgusting, but if you have toothache you'll try anything won't you. I once made a mixture of clove oil and some other oils and managed to make the side of my head completely numb.

So aromatherapy can help with toothache, but the bottom line is that you have to get yourself to your dentist!

The Best

PooThe single most useful, adaptable, effective and commonly used is the oil of Lavender. It calms a restless mind, lifts a bad mood, helps you sleep, takes the pain and helps with cuts and burns. It is also the only oil an aromatherapist would suggest application to the skin without a mixer oil. We'll come to mixers later.

Even lavender ought to be tested on a small piece of skin to check for allergies.. It is number 1 and the first oil to get

Aromatherapy

It's amazing how we are affected by smell, often without even realising it. This time in Autumn is when some bad things happen to me and I find myself being brought down because of the smell in the air.

On the other hand certain smells have the opposite effects and make us happy, like the first day of spring or a fryig breakfast. This has good memories for me because a friend of mind and I would go out early on our motorcycles and as we drifted through villages you could smell food frying.

This is by way of an introduction to aromatherapy. Unless you have used oils before you are unlikely to have any reminiscenses to them. However they do work on a very deep level.

There are a few ain ways to use the oils: put it in a purpose built burner with a candle, some drips on a light bulb (make sure the bulb is cool to start with or it might shatter). \you can drip some on a radiator or pour some into a cloth and put it under your pillow or even sniff it straight out of the bottle. Many drip some in the bath, though the best way is to have a trained aromatherapist massage the oil into your back.

Next Post we'll mentiona few oils and what we use them for..

Exercise

A regular form of exercise is also useful in  the battle against stress. You don't have to run for miles or get tied into a gym membership.

Martial arts are good because you don't get the chance to dwell on any thing because you are concentrating. If you get into it you don't get bored because you are learning something. Yoga is fantastic for stress being low impact. You will only be expected to do what you can withou hurting yourself. Also, you will usually do a guided meditation at the end. More bits and bobs to come.. 

Stress

This blog is going to be about stress. Things that cause it and many ways of dealing with it. The first way to deal with it is to relax...  Being stupid perhaps. You are thinking that I am referring to reading a book or watching a film. What I want you to do is sit quietly and try and think about nothing. This is a meditation and is very difficult to do. You will find your mind wanders in many different directions. If you find you can't concentrate on nothing, try concentrating and counting your breaths. We will mention forms of meditation as we go along. I know it is difficult, but if you can stick with it you'll find great benefits.

New Blog

Well I have finally got to the point where I can start a blog on health-primarily mental health. I am a trained aromatherapist and reflexologist and have knowledge of yoga, martial arts and relaxation. I'll be bringing in all kinds of problems and solutions,but feel free to ask about anything . Speak soon