A Different Way To Look At Illness

Been missing in action lately, I know. I do have an excuse unfortunately as my mother has been unwell and I have been beside myself trying to get her back to the 'Ami' (Urdu for mom) I've known all my life. It's so hard to watch your parents get sick, isn't it? You somehow see them as infallible, unwavering pillars of strength that will never get too old. It is a rude awakening when you discover just how vulnerable they are and as I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, even more shocking when you suddenly find yourself in a reversal of roles. Yeah, doesn't feel as good as it did when I was 13, when I fantasized about having that much power over my mom. Nope, not even close. 

So, on my everlasting quest to find natural ways to cope with illness, in this case Ami's, I stumbled upon a book (thank you to my cousin, A, for introducing it to me) which tackled the concept of being sick in a different way. The book, "You Can Heal Your Life" by Louise Hay is based on the premise that our negative thought patterns cause disease and that by changing those very thoughts, our bodies rid themselves of the ailments that plague us. Sounds easy, right? Well it's not, trust me. We've managed to do a fine job all these years of filling our heads with negative crap and it's amazing just how much resistance we're going to put up in the face of change. Still, it's all about the habit breaking, isn't it? Don't believe the 'you can't teach old dogs new tricks' and "old habits die hard" adages - change is good and it's going to make you feel better.

What I found the most interesting about the book was the correlation between certain kinds of negative thought patterns and common illnesses, some of which applied to children. For e.g. issues with the ears were said to be caused by the need to drown out things you didn't want to hear, parents arguing for instance. Similarly, coughs caused by the need to be heard by the world. The A-Z list towards the end of the book provides these correlations along with some positive affirmations to practice saying to combat the negative thinking. I was fascinated; having always believed in positive thinking and reinforcement, this theory resonated with me deeply. 

Now, I know what you are thinking *wiggling my finger* - "great, another reason to feel that mommy guilt  because my children are getting chronic ear infections/coughs due to the environment at home" - NO, NO, NO!! The very premise of this book is to drop the negative thinking and guilt is prime suspect # 1. The point is to understand why your children might be getting sick and that very understanding and compassion may just prevent the illness from rearing its ugly head or help it disappear quicker than it would normally. 

Still, I can appreciate, despite all my patronizing, that this is not the easiest concept to get one's head around. I am a bit of a self proclaimed geek when it comes to holistic therapies and so, as I once said in an early post, I literally want to jump up and down on the bed when I come across a new one :-) Nerd I am, yes.

I leave you with an affirmation from Ms. Hay which I would like all my readers to adopt:

"Today I release the need to blame anyone, including myself."

~S~

Why Oils Are 'Essential'

I might as well entitle this post as I did the one for GSE - P.S I Love You Too (Eucalyptus)! To be fair to the other essential oils though, I went with the more generic title - after all I'm nothing if not fair! [My true, secret love is Eucalyptus though because it is my best friend during bad bouts of the sniffles or coughs.. shhh]

I discovered essential oils - surprise, surprise - after R was born and I was looking at ways to arm myself against the big, bad world of germs. I bought a book (check Reference Books section), purchased the recommended ones for kids and was ready for combat! (Note to self: I really need to curb this war talk).

Aromatherapy is really a study in of itself  because although there are certain oils whose therapeutic actions you are familiar with, there will also be so many that you will either not know about at all or be unaware their full healing potential. For e.g. I knew that Rose Essential Oil had a wonderful fragrance and is good for the skin but didn't realize it was also a very effective therapy against fevers. (Fun fact: did you know it takes about 10,000 lbs of rose petals to distill 1lb of oil?!)

So, what are essential oils, essentially?! They are basically essences of plants, steam distilled from their different parts e.g. the flowers, the seeds, the leaves. You can combine more than one oil depending on your child's condition and they are safe as long as they are used correctly i.e. diluted in a carrier oil before applying to your child's skin. I know some aromatherapists may call for ingestion of oils occasionally but it is definitely not recommended and I would not suggest you attempt to either. Inhalation or massage works best. More on that later.

My Favs

It is rather daunting to start your aromatherapy journey because there are so many oils to choose from. To help get you started, here are my picks for oils to keep around the house at all times:

1) Eucalyptus Radiata (suitable from 2mos+ for colds, coughs)

2) Lavender (suitable from newborn+, for relaxation, insomnia, wounds, insect bites, great for burns!)

3) Roman Chamomile (suitable from nb+, for stomach cramps, relaxation, headaches, teething)

4) Thyme Linalol (other Thyme may be too strong for a child, suitable for 2y+, for coughs, all infections)

5) Lemon (suitable from 2y+, for general antibacterial action, cleaning around the house)

6) Tea Tree (suitable from 2mos+, for thrush/yeast, infections, insect bites)

7) Rose Otto (suitable from 2mos+, for fevers, relaxation)

8) Geranium (suitable from 2mos+ natural insect repellent, sunburn, anxiety)

9) Ginger (suitable from 2y+, for stomach cramps, for coughs, for nausea)

10) Mandarin (suitable from nb+, for digestive issues, irritability, constipation)

How to use

Skin: Massage/Body Rub. Always dilute before applying to the skin. A good carrier oil is Sweet Almond Oil but you can use any bland smelling oil that doesn't overpower the essence.

Inhalation: Tissue/Pillow/Clothes/Steam Inhalation (for older kids). Keep away from the eyes (make your child close the eyes when using steam) as eyes can water/sting from close contact. Dilute for younger kids, can use pure oil for older ones with this method. 

Water: Sponging/Compresses/Baths. Add to a bowl of water to sponge or for a compress (great for fevers). Or add diluted oil to bath and swish.

You can also add to a humidifier or vaporizer which is especially effective when your child has a cold and  can't breathe at night or has trouble sleeping in general. Another method I thought was interesting was adding to a spray bottle to mist around the house - replace that Febreze stuff!!!

All in all, Aromatherapy has been a Godsend for me both when the kids have been sick and also just generally when I needed help to calm them down or get them through the night when they were having trouble sleeping. 

Try it!

Essentially yours,

~S~