A2Z in the News!
A few months ago I was interviewed by a local magazine, San Diego Voyager. They were looking for “stories about people who inspire the community” and I gave them the names of two amazing women who are pushing hope, healing and positive vibes into the world. Check out Jessie Gardner of Hey Soul and Monique Minahan of The Grief Practice. Oh… and here is the article about A2Z Healing Toolbox – it was just published! 🙂
Healing Book Recommendation
Getting Grief Right is a wonderful book that my dad sent me, after he heard the author speak at a conference in Fort Worth, Texas. The author, Dr. Patrick O’Malley, is a grief educator who has been counseling clients for over 35 years. When he and his wife lost their infant son, his inability to “move on” challenged everything he was taught as a psychotherapist. “This book explores how the familiar ‘stages of grief’ can trivialize our experience, mislabel it as a disorder, press us to ‘get over it’, and worsen our suffering with shame and guilt when we don’t. With uncommon empathy, he shows us how embracing our loss and telling our story allows us to weave both our love and our sorrow fully into our lives.”
Check out it at drpatrickomalley.com.
Tips, Tricks & Tools for Healing
Tool
F = Flowers & Fragrance. Scent can be used to boost overall wellness and provide a simple, natural way to improve emotional and psychological health. Many researchers and medical doctors are now integrating the use of flowers and fragrance into their practices. “Common sense tells us that flowers make us happy. Now, science shows that not only do flowers make us happier than we know, they have strong positive effects on our emotional well-being,” notes Julie Chen, doctor of integrative medicine. “Aromatherapy can be utilized in a medicinal fashion with tremendous healing benefits.”
Trick
Harness the Powers of Flowers: In lieu of food or drinks, ask friends and family to bring fresh flowers when they come to visit. Choose one day of the week or month to bring fresh flowers into your own home. Take walks through a public garden, local park or farmer’s market.
Tip
Float in Fragrance: Pick an essential oil that lifts, calms or relaxes you. Add drops of essential oils to your bath. Use a diffuser to circulate healing fragrance in your home. Light candles that have comforting scents.
Maya’s Healing Story
In the months following my dad’s passing, there were many tools I used to take care of myself and support my grieving. One of the best and most effective tools I used was provided by Mother Nature’s flowers and plants! Using essential oils as aromatherapy helped put me in a more positive mood, reduced my anxious feelings, and supported more restful sleep. It was amazing to me how quickly the oils I was using helped to take the edge off the severity of my feelings. The flower and plant-based essential oils provided a healthy coping method for me to move forward and start to heal. Essential oils can have a supportive effect on our energy, emotions, hormones, immune system, stress levels, and more. Essential oils have helped me in so many areas of my well- being, providing me emotional support during one of the most difficult times in my life. In fact, I am so passionate about them that I have now decided to pursue becoming a certified aromatherapist to share essential oil knowledge and guidance for others.
– Maya
