Repost "Lavender Oil"

In 2010 I had been organizing and hosting a Healing Circle in Arlington, TX for several years so when I was asked to set up and organize a Healing Circle at a local Acupuncture clinic in Fort Worth, TX, I couldn't help being excited in expanding the Circle to another venue. The premise of the Circle was to invite various holistic teachers and healers to speak to the groups that gathered once a month informing them about the different healing modalities that were available. This included essential oils, energy medicine, healing colors, Reiki, massage, music therapy, sound healing, prayer etc...

It was at one of these Healing Circles that I had the honor of making the acquaintance with a women named Carol through a mutual friend who organized and put together the Healing Arts program at one of the local hospitals in Fort Worth, TX. The program was a way of using both western and holistic medicine that complimented each other in helping with the healing process.

Carol was a nurse and one of her specialties in the Healing Arts program was working with the patients using essential oils as a compliment to their stay at the hospital. She came to speak at one of the Healing Circles and her subject that evening was on Lavender Oil. What I remember that really stood out about Lavender oil was using it on burns. This information would become very crucial in my life when I had an emergency later on down the road.

 A few years later I was hosting a family get-together at our home in Arlington and had just made a pot of tea on our electric stove in the kitchen when my sister-in-law who was keeping me company and was telling me a story placed the palm of her hand down on the hot stove. I have to say that both of us were shocked and I grabbed her hand and took her to the sink instantly running cold water on it. I then ran to the bathroom remembering the Lavender oil and the talk that Carol did at the Healing Circle. Grabbing the oil I took her hand and drenched it in the essential oil. Then we used ice cubes on her hand to help numb the pain. Not sure what else to do we talked about the lavender oil and what I had learned at the Circle that Carol had spoken at.

My sister-in-law called me the next day and told me that she didn't have any pain and the skin on her hand was not coming off or even marred. I still was in shock about the whole thing but it wasn't until a few months later when my son had made a pizza and left the hot pan on the stove that I found out just how well the lavender oil worked first hand. ( No pun intended) I came in that day and saw the pan not knowing that it was hot and picked it up only to drop it on the floor burning my fingers. Again I ran for the lavender oil. I used the cool water to sooth the pain and then placed the oil on my burnt fingers. I then used ice cubes to help with the pain. It was painful but the next day I looked at my fingers thinking they would blister up but the skin was good. The pads on the fingers were as if I hadn't burned myself. It was crazy!

I ended up calling Carol and talking to her about the oil as I wanted to know a little more about it. She explained that there were two different kinds of lavender plants that the Lavender oil was made out of for different uses. She warned me to be careful on which one I was using because it could be bad if I used the wrong one. She gave me the names of the different plants but I couldn't remember them when I got off the phone as they were long names and I didn't write them down. However I did know that the Lavender oil I used worked. So now I only buy the two brands that I know worked for me.

When I tell people about those experiences I warn people that there are two different kinds of lavender plants and they might want to "Google" it if they wanted to know more. For me I use the "Young Living" Lavender essential Oil and the other brand I keep on hand is "Aura Cacia." I found out later that Carol was invited to speak in Japan about the essential oils she uses for the Healing Arts program at the hospital. She still works with the Healing Arts program at the hospital in Fort Worth, TX, even today.

 1st photo taken in Ft Worth, TX by Ana, 2nd photo taken in San Francisco in Napa Valley by Steve 

Read Between the Lines

"Read between the lines," is a phrase that always sparks an early memory on the playground that caught the attention of anyone who was present. In those moments we all knew it was a challenge as the energy flowed like an electric current moving swiftly through our energy fields attracting us like moths to a flame. Only a few would run off to tell the teacher while the rest of us were captivated by what was to unfold in front of us only adding more fuel to the fire. It wasn't until later in life when I heard the same phrase the intention behind the words were changed. Instead of an open challenge it was in an expansion of awareness.

Spirituals teacher's all over the world have always taught us that; "Energy follows thought," and as I move through my own experiences this past week visiting with others around me I find that a really good technique to use when feeling a little off balanced by what someone might say is to take a step back to analyze what stands behind the intentions and their words. By doing this it makes it easier to quickly discern if the conversation has touched upon an old wound. Next it is important to ask the question if it is yours or theirs. If it is yours then look for the source of the wound to release it, with gratitude for revealing itself so the energy can be pulled back from the person so not to be pushing up against them. If it is theirs then do your best to push aside the energy as it is really not about you but something that was triggered by their own experiences.


There is something to be said about being conscious of the flow of energy that expands in all of our energy fields. It gives us the power to decide how we want to participate when we feel unsure of our balance as it offers us the opportunity of not to be caught up in the emotional force that pulls us into situations that are not healthy for any of us. Instead it gives us an opportunity to practice stepping into our higher selves so as not to contribute to the turmoil that separates us from each other and even our true selves.

 Again, I find that we are always reminded that we are are all active participants in our own experiences which can change the meaning of  any challenge on the playground. Even a phrase like "Read between the lines,"  can demonstrate something that we are a part of that is larger then ourselves as we all move into a higher state of awareness.

Photos by Steve and Ana.

Lost in translation.

Well this is our third week in our new home and we have had some interesting new challenges as we move through our transition. Looking back I don't know how anyone ever moves and keeps their wits about them.  The newest thing that happened to us is that my sister is also moving and offered us her bed frame that I had seen a few times when I had visited her in California. What I could remember is that it looked like a normal sized frame and I was delighted that she gave it to us as it would fit perfectly in our new home. She offered to ship it to us and all we had to do was to buy a California King mattress.  Looking back somewhere in that first conversation I vaguely remember her saying that we didn't need a box spring and that we only needed a top mattress. 

Simple? So we headed off to the furniture store and before we made it through the bedding department we were approached by a salesman who had us try the electric mattresses with the remote control. Of course when you have all the gadgets it is really hard to go back to a regular old mattress. We bought it not really sure if it would fit in our bed frame but knew enough to buy a California king.  That was two weeks ago. The bed frame came in this past Thursday and we put it together on Saturday. Once we had it all assembled we realized that where the mattresses would set on the bed frame was at least 17" off the floor.

The next day, which was yesterday, the mattress was delivered and placed on the bed frame. I have to say that jarred the memory of my sister telling me that we didn't need a box spring so now the top of the bed stands 43" off the floor with it all assembled! If you are unfamiliar with electric mattresses, they have a base that does all the work with the mattress on top. I am only 5' tall on a good day. Somehow that vital piece of information got lost in the excitement of the announcement of her gifting it to us. My poor husband had no idea what he was in for as I was so excited about the bed itself and didn't think to share that key information when we were buying the mattress. So as the delivery men were leaving I had to ask if they had seen other beds that were that tall and of they both agreed that they had. That gave me a little peace.

The good news was that my sister had also given us a little step stool that went with the bed frame but it was only two steps. We made the bed and then used the steps to get on the side board and then up onto the bed. I used to ride horses in my youth and it reminded me  a lot of mounting a horse. I must admit the bed looks ridiculous but once in it, it is amazing!

After making all our adjustments we turned out the lights only to hear our old cat crying, looking for us.  I had to holler that we were up on the bed, fortunately we had some insight to place an old pet ladder next to the bed and she eventually found us. The kitten had no problem pouncing on us and then bounding off only to turn around and pounce again. Once we were all settled we fell asleep until the dog woke us up wanting to go out. I heard my husband fumbling out of bed trying to find the floor and when I asked if he was okay all he said was that it was a controlled fall! Early on in the morning I woke up thinking about making my way to the bathroom but then decided to wait for the room to get light enough for me to see my way down.  We don't have lamps yet and the light switch is on the wall by the door.

This morning my husband has a few ideas of how to make some adjustments to the bed frame and make it easier to get into. I love that he is creative and only looks at life as an interesting challenge and not a defeat. Again I feel very loved by my sister and my husband both who know that in the excitement sometime we can get lost in the translation only to have the option to experience life as an adventure.