More Explorations with Essential Oils

Last week's dental visit went very well. I got high marks for the condition of my gums and teeth. In fact, there's been improvement in the gum-pockets. I can't help but wonder if using Thieves essential oil on my toothpaste twice a day hasn't helped the condition of my gums.

We've had more week-end house guests and so I've had more opportunities to offer essential oil uses and remedies to folks to try. Our friend, Dani loved the Lemon oil in water with stevia that I mentioned in my last post. Since writing that post, I purchased some Grapefruit oil and have been using it the same way. Dani loved that one too. One day she also tried some Thieves on the bottoms of her feet after a shower to help with an allergy-symptom (stuffy nose, watery eyes). She may have been allergic to one of our cats, although she has a cat. I think she love the Thieves oil as much as I do.

Another guest had a congested cough. He'd listened to us talking about how some of us had used a couple of drops of Thieves in some honey for respiration, problems dealing with colds, etc. Finally he asked if we could fix him some Thieves and Honey for his cough. We did and he stopped coughing almost immediately. He slept later than normal the next morning; and, when he awoke he said that he'd slept better than he had in a few days.

I ordered the Essential Oil Desk Reference -- the package that included the big book itself along with a smaller version that's spiral bound to carry, plus a CD. The CD is wonderful for doing searches and the small spiral bound book goes with me wherever I take my case of oils, i.e., trips. If you're interested in purchasing this desk reference, go to www.essentialscience.net.

Lastly, I've got a Young Living website up: www.youngliving.com/dsaunders. Come visit my site and take a look around.

That's it for now. I'll keep on writing about my experiences and explorations.

Discovering Young Living Essential Oils

Such an exciting time! A couple of weeks ago I took a plunge that I didn't see coming. I signed-up to be a Young Living product distributor. If someone would've told me I'd be doing this, I would have looked at them in utter disbelief. Why? Because I typically don't like selling anything. So, why'd I do it? Hmmmm, let me see.

A distributor gets all products at wholesale value which is 24% off the retail value. To maintain my wholesale customer pricing, the only obligation is to purchase $50 worth of product(s) per year. That’s it!

So, to get started with my exploration of essential oils, I enrolled as a distributor with one of the four Start Living Kits: Everyday Oils. The Young Living Everyday Oils Kit includes the following 5 ml bottles of essential oils: Lavender, Peppermint, Lemon, Thieves, Frankincense, Valor, PanAway, Peace & Calming, and Purification.

When my package of essential oils was delivered, I felt like a kid opening everything and smelling everything. It was wonderful. I'd been researching all the ways I could experiment and use the oils.

One of the first things I did was to put a few drops of lemon oil in a 10 oz glass of purified water along with a package of Stevia then stirred it and drank it. It was the most delicious-tasting lemonade I've ever had. I carry a bottle of lemon oil in my purse to add a couple of drops to water served in restaurants.

Here are some other ways I've been experimenting with the Everyday Oils:

• peppermint -- (1) I massaged my husbands back with a few drops where he was sore from working on re-building our deck; (2) A house guest asked me if I had anything that would help her with a sore neck and shoulders. I offered her the peppermint oil and explained how to use it.; and, (3) Another house guest had an upset stomach and I suggested one drop of peppermint in a 10 oz glass of purified water.
• Lavender -- For relaxing before sleep, I massage a couple of drops on the bottom of each foot before going to bed; then, I run my hands over my pillows to pick up the scent off my hands.
• Thieves -- I've been adding one drop of Thieves to my Tom's toothpaste. It tastes great and I feel like it's helping my gums as well as possibly reducing plaque (will need to research this).

I'm still experimenting and will continue to write more about what I discover. In the meantime, if you or anyone you know is interested in becoming a wholesale member, or distributor, for Young Living Products, feel free to contact me.

HoloSync CD: Awakening Prologue Continuing

It's been about 10 weeks since I began my daily practice of listening to the Awakening Prologue CD. I must admit I'm still amazed at how I look forward to sitting, listening, and at times, even adding my Kath-meditation practice while I'm listening. So, it's true that you can do your regular meditation practice while listening. Time goes so fast, or maybe it just doesn't even exist while doing this practice.

Here's something interesting I've discovered: I can do this practice in the car -- as a passenger, of course; and, I still feel the meditative-state is very deep. We've had a couple of 4-5 hour car-trips where I knew that I could grab an hour on the way to listen to my HoloSync CD. I brought my eye-mask to block out the light, put my headphones on and it all worked like a charm.

There's only been one instance where I felt any discomfort in listening to this first CD set and that was when I accidently pressed a button on my CD-player where I realized after about 5 minutes that I was listening to Immersion (Track 2) instead of beginning with The Dive (Track 1). Before I realized my mistake, I noticed I was feeling "antsy" (which was very unusual). I kept feeling like time was dragging and yet I knew I hadn't been sitting and listening for very long. I wanted to get up and do something else. The experience was so unusual that I decided to look at the track-window on the CD-player. That's when I saw Track 2 rather than Track 1. Since then I've been very careful to make sure that I'm on the right Track before I take my glasses off!

Since that one uncomfortable experience, I've re-read a couple of the support letters I received from Bill Harris, Centerpointe's founder, and he mentions the importance of noticing, watching, and just observing with curiosity what's happening. That's excellent advice to use when I'm meditating at other times during the day without the CD.

It seems that I'm not the only one who for a long time had this image in my head about what it looked like and felt like -- how it should be -- to be meditating properly. No one ever told me that the times when you're struggling during the meditation are often the deepest meditative states. I didn't know that until I read some research Bill Harris mentioned in his book "Thresholds of the Mind."

So, yes, I'm still practicing and learning and enjoying the whole exploration!

If you're interested in trying this new technology that truly helps one reach meditative states, click here.

HoloSync CD: Awakening Prologue

For 14 days I listened to Centerpointe's HoloSync CD called "The Dive" -- the first part of their program called "Awakening Prologue." There was definitely a sense of deeper meditation and not as much monkey-mind chatter as I normally experience with other meditation/sitting practice.

I found, and continue to find after about 40 days with the program, that I look forward to listening to these CDs and have included this listening as part of my spiritual practice. I listen according to the protocol provided by Centerpointe's founder, Bill Harris: I listen to "The Dive" for the first 30 min. and then immediately follow with listening to "Immersion" for another 30 min. This one hour sitting/listening goes by without noticing time -- it's as if I just sat down moments ago and the hour is up.

There's another CD that I listen to at night as I'm falling to sleep; it's called Longevity. I love the idea of communicating with ones's DNA. There are two parts to this CD that I alternate on different nights: (1) the first track is beautiful music with nature-sounds plus Bill Harris' voice leading a sort of guided meditation with affirmations concerning health of DNA, etc.; and, (2) the second track's music is a little different along with the nature-sounds and includes the same affirmations but on this track they're silent (subliminal).

There are a number of benefits that I'm experiencing that I feel I can attribute to listening to the HoloSync CDs, one of which is that my sitting practice has finally become consistent. Not only am I sitting and listening to the HoloSync CDs, I'm also doing my other sitting practice once or twice a day. I can't tell you how amazing this consistency is for me! Other benefits I'm discovering are the same as what many who meditate experience consistently: (1) lowered stress-levels, and (2) increased energy, intuition, ability to focus, and problem-solving skill.

I must admit that I'm looking forward to moving to the next level (set) of CDs in the near future; and, I'll write more about this subject in the future as I continue with the programs.

For more information about Centerpointe's Holosync CD programs, CLICK HERE.

About the DVD “The Secret”

I’ve procrastinated in writing about it, but I’ve clearly known that I need to write about it. Writing helps me connect to the deeper recesses of truth for me, so here goes.

Let me begin by admitting that I actually cried (well, tears welled up in my eyes) a couple of times while watching the DVD. I felt “some truth” being touched within me; and, simultaneously, I sensed what I’ve termed “snake-oil salesmen.”

We create our own reality? I don’t think so . . . at least not in the sense that this DVD portrays. Now, I can see how different identity-structures within our psyche create what might be believed to be reality. It’s not reality though . . . it’s an image of reality seen through the lens of an identity-structure – a limited perspective from our ego/personality.

I do agree to some extent that what we focus our energy on can manifest. What does this really mean? It means that when we’re clear and determined about what we want or need, the potential is there! Actually, potentiality is always there, but it takes recognizing what we want, being clear about it, opening to all the possibilities of attaining it, and taking action to move toward it (whatever “it” is). Another piece that I think is extremely important is being aware of our own capabilities and limitations, which doesn’t need to be a show stopper, by the way.

If, on the other hand, we’re stuck in an identification having to do with some deficiency, i.e., not good enough, smart enough, not worthy, etc., then guess where our energy (thoughts and actions) are focused! Speaking of deficiencies . . . we ALL experience deficient feelings – including these so-called “enlightened ones of The Secret”! Repressing or ignoring them does NOT make them go away. These feelings provide rich soil to dig into and explore. Replacing these “negative feelings” with positive feelings only covers them up. When we do cover up whatever we’re experiencing (because it’s ‘negative’), we are not in touch with Reality and we’re digging a deeper hole for ourselves.

Speaking of hole reminds me of Almaas’ “Theory of Holes” which has to do with deficiencies. Our culture of advertising and consumerism feeds our sense of deficiency; and, this DVD does exactly that! Here’s a short excerpt describing the “Theory of Holes”:

“ . . . the sense that something is lacking, and therefore, something is wrong. When we feel such a deficiency, we try to fill the hole we feel in ourselves. . . we try to fill the hole from the outside.”

The DVD is selling “how to fill your holes from the outside.” This tactic is not as empowering as portrayed. How can you be empowered if you are unconscious as to what’s really going on inside? Why not be curious about a limiting belief and explore how you came to believe it and even challenge it? Inner-exploration is more likely to lead to manifesting what you want, because (1) you’ll have more clarity about what you really want; and, (2) you’ll be more relaxed and open to the possibilities of whatever it is.

Opening to the Flow of Reality that is Life
Continuation of Exploring a Kabbalistic View of Nothingness

Hesed-like Nature –
There’s nothing fixed about Reality. Reality is dynamic, constantly changing from moment to moment. Any identity structure, whether perceived as good or bad, is fixed. From this perspective, how can any identity structure be a part of true reality? The soul itself is dynamic, flowing, and can be experienced as such; however, these aspects of the soul cannot be experienced directly from within any fixed-structure of the personality.

Initiating the Opening – Expanding the Container
Possibly the most important step toward initiating even a crack of an opening is to recognize the contracted-state imposed by the identity-structure. Recognition is not easy when one is locked in place within an identity. Opening to ‘what is’ can be perceived as very scary at first, especially from the perspective of a contracted state, from within an identity-structure.

It’s ironic how an identity can make one experience a variety of negative emotions and feelings and yet the mere thought of exploring the experience feels threatening. Why? The negative emotions and feelings are familiar – known. Exploring them moves one into fear, fear that whatever will be experienced will be terrible, painful, and eternal. Now how does an identity know what will be? It doesn’t know.

Identities are comfortable with their miseries because at least the miseries are familiar territory.. The soul, by its very nature, is curious about experiencing whatever arises and exploring every aspect of the experience to see and feel whatever there is in the moment. The soul is naturally open, dynamic, constantly moving, changing, growing, flowing, developing. An identity is fixed, rigid, narrow, stuck, limited.

Approaches to Opening
All of the following approaches can be used to re-connect with personal consciousness – the soul. The order is not important. For example, one might use the 2nd approach first which can lead to revealing something about the 1st. In the moment that we practice these approaches, there’s a connection resulting in liberation from an identity, an identity that’s rooted in the past. In practicing these approaches, one is present to a direct experience in the present where healing takes place. Healing is about awakening into the present to whom we truly are. It does take practice. The more one practices, the more easily one can be present with ‘what is’ – with reality, life itself.

1. Recognize the contracted state through the feeling, the emotion. Name it.This first step can be enlightening in itself. An identity wants to be seen and understood, because it’s a part of us frozen in time that was not seen and understood. One can recognize the identity through paying attention to what one is experiencing (the feeling, emotion).

2. Ask open-ended questions with curiosity and wonder. Asking questions that are open-ended, like “how” or “what,” invites a full expression of what’s being experienced in the moment. Using beginning statements like: “It’s interesting that I feel a tightness in my chest . . . I wonder, what does this tightness look like from the inside?” Using consciousness itself, with all the creativity available in consciousness itself, invites realizations beyond anything an identity could imagine. Other questions or insights can arise while exploring from the inside of the feeling or emotion.

3. Locate where in the body the experience is taking place; describe it; let it unfold, change, move; and, describe in each moment what’s experienced. Embodying the experience in the present actually metabolizes the experience. Identity structures are really unmetabolized experiences.

To be continued . . .

Identity Structures and Moving through the Tree of Life
A Continuation from "Exploring a Kabbalistic View of Nothingness"

Scanning what I’d written yesterday, I had two thoughts:

(1) This depiction of the tree reminds me of what appears to be mythically god-like characters (Keter, Chochmah, and Binah or gods of Will, Wisdom, and Understanding) who are dropping down what looks like a double rope. When the rope hits bottom, it begins to reveal itself as the Tree of Life.

(2) I thought the process, as I’d written it yesterday, reminded me of how the IKH process works . . . with a client, we first make the space (TzimTzum) and within this space is a reflective (and often transparent) quality that enables the two of us to do the work. Usually we begin with wherever the client is in the moment: an issue arising, a concern, a curiosity. But there’s an identity that speaks, sometimes more than one. And, when anyone is stuck (fixed) in any one identity (Nega-Gevurah within Hod?), there is little to no movement, change, growth (Nega-Gevurah within Netzach?). The issue (content) reveals the foundation (Yesod), insubstantial as it may be, where one stands. One built that foundation, even when one might think others built it. Yet rather than blaming oneself, hating oneself, one needs to promote the change and growth that one needs to move from the stuckness – to grow up. The alternative is to remain a sprout that doesn’t have the energy to reach for the Sun and to receive the nourishment, the nutrients, necessary for growth.

Until one is aware of the Truth of the situation, the stuckness, the complete and utter imbalance in Life that this identification causes, there is no desire to change, no desire for growth. When this desire to change is accompanied with the awareness of the Truth of ‘what is,’ one stands in the midst of Tiferet. At this point, as one can sense the harmony of Reality Itself AND simultaneously realizes the wanting to become unstuck, one may be inspired to remember, to “check in” with Reality often (directly, in present time) in an effort to stay as awake as possible (conscious) of this point that includes both ‘what is’ AND ‘wanting to unstick’ (relax?).

Now, the harmony of Reality doesn’t need to feel like Heaven, like some might think. Who really even knows what Heaven feels like anyway? Actually, maybe a better way to say it is that one can be in-harmony with Reality. From a place of harmony, there’s no automatic reaction to the experience; there’s clarity; and, ‘right action’ is evident. Right action is crystal clear. Why? Because one is in present time. Automatic reactions come from past time, which is something one has learned from the personal historic past.

Gevurah-like Nature of Identity Structures
All identities are structures in our body/mind/soul. These structures are fixed and constrict by their very nature. Young children, however, play with identities. A young child can expand (1) personal self-boundaries, their sense of self, to include identity structures that they’re curious about exploring. This exploration is relatively easy for young children since their sense of self is tenuous until age six or seven – the structures that comprise the personality/ego is still forming until that age. So, to young children, these structures are as disposable as the cardboard boxes they love to imagine as forts and castles. In play, young children don the garments of an identity that they’re interested in exploring. The garments include not only clothing, like cowboy boots or ballerina tutus, but also the assumed character traits the child imagines might go with the chosen character-identity.

These character-identities created during play come and go easily for the young child, depending on the interest and explorative nature of the child. These identities are imaginary and are chosen by the child. Depending on the depth of imagination available, the identities can be perceived as real ‘temporarily’. In play, the young child temporarily leaves collective reality to enjoy a wonderfully imaginative world that exists in the child’s mind.

As so-called adults, our identities are also donned like garments, yet most of our identities are not chosen consciously, however; and, these identity-structures (fixed-structures) form fixed-personalities. The structure of the fixed-personality thickens and becomes more and more rigid with age. Within this rigid-fixedness, there is no room, no place for growth or for change. And through this fixed-personality lens, one participates in a fixed-reality without dynamism, flow, potentiality – a narrow, lifeless dead-zone. True Nature itself is obscured, hidden from the individual.

The very basis of an identity-structure foundation is formed from a mistaken identity -- “this is who I am.” Some time in the past, the child perceived something to be true based on a mis-perception of the reality of an experience. The child is never taught how to “check out” reality, so the identity becomes a fixed-structure in the personality. This personality retains a fixed-belief about the way reality is and his/her relationship with that reality resulting in the world being created in the image of this belief born from a quite innocent mis-perception.

To be continued . . .


(1) This capability to expand has a Hesedic-quality where there’s more space for creativity and flow.

Exploring a Kabbalistic View of Nothingness

Awakened at 3:33 a.m. thinking of nothingness and emptiness; and it was like a part of me trying to write poetry about it. And, then, my mind began looking at those two word-concepts and experiences. I thought of Ayn Sof Nothingness and Malkhut as emptiness.

In the Kabbalistic creation story, Ayn Sof (Nothingness) pulls back and makes space within Itself for creation to take place – Nothing-ness makes room for Something-ness. From my analytical (?) perspective, it appears that Nothing becomes One and then makes room for an Other – Two. There’s a part of me that asks: “How does that work?” And, another part answers: “Don’t even try to figure it out.” Well, the true part of each of these ‘voices’ in my head is that, yes, I’d like to understand, and yes, I don’t think I can ‘figure it out;’ however, I can be open to the potential of understanding as it unfolds – if it unfolds.

This Kabbalistic view of nothingness included a memory of my experience of Malkhut and emptiness as the last sephirah on the traditional Tree of Life. In this memory-concept, Malkhut is empty – has no light of its own – yet reflects the light from all the other sephirot. Malkhut has this reflective quality, like a mirror, or still water, or . . . hmmm . . . a question just arose: “I wonder if the qualities of clear transparency AND reflectiveness can be combined (integrated)?” As I look up from my writing, I notice a glass covering on the doors to our stereo cabinet. I can see a reflection; AND, I can see it’s transparency -- I can see the stereo equipment through the glass. So, my direct experience in this moment answers the question – yes, both qualities can co-exist together. So, this could mean Malkhut’s quality of emptiness can co-exist with its quality of reflectiveness. Could this be called transparent-reflectiveness? Or, maybe reflective-transparency? Interesting.

I’ve always thought of Malkhut as a container; and, in my perception of containers, they hold something, or nothing (could be empty). And, here’s where my distinguishing nothingness and emptiness came from, I think. I experienced emptiness as the inside of a container and nothingness as nothing, boundless nothing. I’m thinking of how, when one says: “there’s nothing in there,” that the reference is to there being nothing inside (within) and that is usually synonymous with empty.

Now the Buddhist “Emptiness is Form; Form is Emptiness” arises. And, with this Emptiness-Form-Emptiness I think “because boundlessness is not perceived” – the form, some boundedness, exists to hold the emptiness, as well as fullness . . . without the boundedness there is no form; then there is nothingness.

I just noticed the reflective quality of my cat’s eyes as she sits in my lap and looks up at me. This experience reminded me that reflectiveness is not always empty as well; it’s the surface that’s reflective, in this case, where with water and the glass door-cover, it’s the substance, the material (matter); however, in each example, light is necessary for the reflectiveness. I would not be able to see the reflections without light. Now the question arises: “Does the quality of reflectiveness need light?” I think so.

And, now I’m sensing this “bouncing-ness” that’s a felt-thought having to do with the relationship of light and reflection. There’s a bouncing-back-sense. This piece feels important but I’m not “getting it” yet. It does feel that it has to do with soul, personal consciousness, but I’m not getting the particulars yet.

I just got this image-thought-question: “What if Ayn Sof created Malkhut first?” And then, this scenario flowed out from that question:

The space within (that Ayn Sof created from Itself) had a reflective quality, so that in the presence of light (with the awareness of Itself), One could see a reflection of Itself. This reflection is an image. Assuming Ayn Sof was aware of the Light (since It is Light), It would see Itself, or the image of Itself.

Another thought arises: “We were made in God’s image.” Then, “We are a reflection of the Divine.” Then, “Everything we see is a reflection of the Divine.” Next, this image-thought of Ayn Sof shining a light on parts of Itself. Since Ayn Sof is boundless, I can’t imagine a “mirror” capable of reflecting boundlessness in total (an interesting limited perspective, possibly?). The Kabbalistic perspective, however, is that we could not perceive this totality without shattering. Is the “we” that would shatter our personal consciousness, our very soul? Or, is the “we” that would shatter our identifications created by our Ego-Personality?

Back to the “idea” of Malkhut being the reflective quality and the first sephirah. This looks to me like an upside down tree now. And, now the thought: “Out of nothingness, an awareness arose that included a desire To Know Itself and To Understand Itself.” This statement reminds me of Keter, Chochmah, and Binah. The question arises now: “How far back in time have human beings (wise ones?) been saying: “Know Thyself.”

Let’s look at this upside-down tree now as a process To Know Thyself:

1. Malkhut is the reflective quality; it reflects back as Light shines (awareness shines?) It may also include the quality of transparency. (depending on what?)
2. Yesod is a foundation and is the ground (of Reality? Being? Awareness?). Our perception of the ground upon which we stand, our reality, our Being depends on what? Or, is it Yesod that has the transparent quality? i.e., a glass bottom boat.
3. Netzach/Hod – a process of becoming – is like a seed planted in the ground. Within the seed is the blueprint of whatever the see is to become. And, within the growth and development process, there’s persistence and determination to continue, to survive at first, and then to thrive. There are stages in this process of growth and development. During each stage there are various identifications, i.e., a seedling, a sprout, a young plant, a mature plant. Growth can be affected by any number of conditions: container size, food, light, water. A healthy Hod is awareness of its own nature of becoming; awareness of itself in relation to its foundation; and, it’s movement toward the Light and growth (change).
4. Tiferet is the attainment of a natural balance, harmony with the Truth of the process of becoming with awareness of the present state within this process, which has evolved from previous states/stages.
5. Gevurah/Hesed is the contraction and expansion that is eternal and present within each moment of the process; it’s a Divine inhalation, exhalation, and the pauses in between.

To be continued . . .