Aromatherapy: Sweet Orange Oil

I go through phases of my favorite essential oil. Sometimes it's chamomile, oftentimes it's lavender, I am a huge fan of lemon and also of it's citrus-y cousin orange.

Cheery, energizing, wake-you-up sweet orange oil. 

Orange is the ultimate happiness-inducing oil, or maybe that's just me. I love oranges so it would be natural that I just love the smell of oranges too. It puts me in mind of orange groves and country breakfasts. Maybe that's why I find it energizing too!

I use a sweet orange perfume oil, which is a mix of a carrier oil, sweet orange essential oil, and a wee bit of alcohol, I like it way better than traditional perfume and it smells wonderful. 

Orange is great for bringing feelings of joy, it cheers you up, chases away the grumps and makes room for joy to rush in. It reduces fear and also helps you to rediscover your belief in yourself. It's also good for relieving stress and has even been known to lower blood pressure by a small amount. If those are things that you struggle with you can mix sweet orange essential oil with a carrier oil for a massage or to dab on yourself. One of my favorite ways is to put it in an oil warmer, which will dispense the scent through out your home. Because the scent is strong you only ever have to use a drop or two. 

If you aren't into the whole essential oil thing you can still add orangey-ness to your life.

I use Nivea Touch Of Happiness body wash, which is orange scented. You can also make potpourri out of orange rinds. You can either boil them in water and let the scent diffuse through your home, or dry them out and mix them with spices for a dried potpourri. There's also candles, lotions, bath soaks, and so many other ways to orangeinize your life.

What's your favorite way to use oranges? What's your favorite essential oil at the moment?

When using essential oils remember to do your own research, dilute the essential oil, and don't use if you are pregnant, nursing or have a medical condition. This is not a substitute for medical advice. 

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Don't Put Your Happiness In One Basket

Are you guilty of pinning all of your happiness on one thing? That thing goes wrong or it doesn't go your way and suddenly life just sucks? *raises hand* I am guilty as charged but I am trying to do better.

Just because one thing sucks doesn't mean everything has to suck.

That was an amazing lesson for me to learn that I discovered through SARK's Glad No Matter What. Just because you are sad about one thing doesn't mean that you can't be happy about other things. You don't have to let your emotions bully you into feeling only one thing. You get to be in control, you get to tell 'em what's-what's.

It's all about balance and compartmentalizing your feelings and emotions. 

If you are upset about a relationship it doesn't have to bleed into your happiness about your business or vice-versa. I've gotten into tough spots with friends and suddenly all of the happiness gets sucked out of me no matter what else is going on in my life, regardless of the other things that could and should be making me happy. I ignore them and allow one situation to dictate whether or not I'm happy.

Other times I'll be feeling a bit wibbly-wobbly about my business and then I stop noticing what great friends I have, how much I like my other job, and how amazing life is in general.

Your happiness isn't contingent on one thing.

Remember that, even when it's hard to remember, even when one thing goes wrong and you're tempted to let it ruin your day. You are allowed to be happy and sad. You are allowed to be happy and upset or happy and angry. Allow your emotions to coexist with one another instead of letting one beat the other over the head until it goes away.

Do you have trouble allowing your emotions to co-exist?

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How Big is Your Brave?

I am a huge fan of inspirational music. It makes my world go 'round, it's been a great healing tool for me and provided a lot of food for thought. If you're a big fan of happy and inspirational music, (or you want to be!) you should totally check out the free ebook Soundtrack Your Life. It's full of my favorite happy tunes. And now I have a new one by Sara Bareilles! Brave.

When I first saw the video I got all weepy because not only do I love Random Acts of Dance but the video was so inclusive of all shapes, sizes, and ages and I absolutely LOVE seeing that in the media. It makes me want to throw my fist up with a "Hell yeah!" because that's what I want - diversity. So watch this video and even if the music isn't your thang, appreciate the diversity and the inclusion of everyday people. That's a step in the right direction.

And bonus points if you dance along.

Say what you wanna say and let the words fall out. Honestly I wanna see you be brave.

It makes me think about bravery and how much it encompasses and how different it is for everyone. For one person "Brave" might mean wearing a new shirt, or taking the trip around the world, or taking a step outside of your home, or believing that things will get better even when they suck. Or maybe it's sharing your deepest thoughts and feelings with the big wide blogosphere, even when it's hard and the doubts creep in and you wonder if you are really making a difference, and it's so much work, and you wonder if it's worth it at the end of the day.

It is "your" brave not someone else's. It's defined by your life, your comfort zone, and your limits. It's defined by you. Which is all kinds of beautiful.

What's the bravest thing you've done so far this year?

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What's Your Self Worth?

I was looking through my Angels, Gods, and Goddesses deck when this card called out to me to be shared and it's really appropriate to how I'm feeling right now.

This is for anyone that lets other people undervalue them.

If you are currently undervaluing yourself or letting others undervalue you it's time to stop. Have you ever settled for something or someone because you didn't think you deserved any better? Or you don't let yourself dream that you can have anything better or be anything better because you just don't deserve it.

Or maybe you do believe that you deserve better but you don't know how to say it or how to make it happen or you're scared that it won't happen so you hunker down and settle for something that's not nourishing and doesn't truly make you happy.

It's time to regain your self-worth.

Stop letting other people take advantage of you and stop believing that you deserve it. Stop settling for a life that doesn't make you happy just because you feel like you aren't worthy of anything better.

You are worthy.

Your self-worth is assigned to you by no one but you. Start believing that you deserve all of the things that you want. You deserve to be respected by the people around you. You deserve to have a job that fills you up and makes you happy, but most of all, you deserve to believe it.

Do you value yourself? Do the people around you value you and show it? 

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What's Your Morning Routine?

Life can be ordinary and still be extraordinary. It's the little things that matter.

I have a confession to make, a few weeks ago, I was a grumpy bear. I'd wake up with a groan, after abusing my snooze button multiple times. I'd lay in bed trying to convince myself that I could get out of bed in just 30 more seconds.

The next few hours would be spent in a haze of grumpiness wanting nothing more than to curl up with a blanket for a nap. When the haze of sleepiness wore off I'd put myself in such a bad mood by that time that it really didn't matter anyway. That set the tone for several days and I hated it.

So I asked myself why I was doing that to myself.

I knew that I was staying up late in order to get more into my day and even though I knew it was having a negative effect on me I did it anyway. Don't you hate when you do things like that? So I put on my big girl panties, decided to change it, and gave myself a mandatory bedtime.

Then I worked on my morning routine.

Creating a nourishing routine changed my mindset immediately. It turned the ordinary mumble and grumble morning into something that sent me to work with a smile on my face and a positive attitude. I allowed myself to wake up after a full 8 hours of sleep, which eliminated the battle of wills with the alarm clock. I gave myself enough time to get ready for work and have a morning cup of tea as well as spend time communing with Spirit.

It was extraordinary. 

My challenge to you this week is try to find away to improve your morning routine. Add a bit of Spirit to your morning, add a few minutes to appreciate the fact that you woke up and it's a new day and you're here to experience it.

How can you improve upon your morning routine?

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Raccoon Wisdom

I love learning about animals and what they can teach us on a spiritual level. I think that they hold a whole lot of wisdom in the way that they behave and act in nature as well as how they're portrayed in myths and stories.

Today we're looking at Raccoon Wisdom.

Since seeing Disney's Pocahontas I have been fascinated by them. I love their curiosity and the black masks over their eyes. They are really interesting animals. They embody the traits of dexterity, disguise, and curiosity. One of the really cool things about the raccoon is their ability to use their hands. They have very agile paws and can open a variety of things, which gives them the reputation of being little thieves, and they can be, because they take things that they find fascinating.

Raccoons are very curious and are always getting into things that they shouldn't. They love to explore and get into things. 

Raccoon reminds us to indulge in the ideas that we find curious or interesting.

Pick them up (metaphorically of course), feel them out, and see if it's something that you want to play with.

Raccoons have a black mask over their eyes and this allows us to look into the use of masks and disguises. We all have daily masks that we wear, ways that we act that are not being true to how we're feeling. You've heard the term, put on a happy face. Sometimes we have to do this. Raccoon helps us to acknowledge why we wear the masks that we do. How they protect us from the world and the use that they have in our lives.

This may also be the time to start wearing actual masks. It can be very liberating to hide your identity behind a mask, allow yourself to transform into something different than you are. Try wearing a mask while you dance, let your body become something else. 

Maybe hiding behind the mask you will no longer be afraid to be exactly who you are.

What masks do you wear? Do they help you or hinder you?

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Remember Where You've Been

As you may or may not know, I celebrated my birthday, the big 28th last month! My mind keeps reminding me... only two more years until 30, as if something important is supposed to happen then.

I'll be an old spinster.

Hahaha, I know, I know 30 isn't that old, it just feels like I should have something accomplished by then, something important, something big.

It's been a whole decade since I became an adult. In a personal capacity I can't say I've gone very far... ((I just wrote that and started giggling... silly Dominee)) Okay, let me rephrase that, traditionally in a personal capacity I haven't gone very far. No serious relationships, I live in a one bedroom apartment, I haven't even had any pets aside from goldfish. By the standard of my peers, who are married with kids and houses by now, I'm leagues behind.

However when I look at the mental and emotional progress I've made, I want to weep with appreciation for how far I've come. I am a completely different person from who I used to be, and while you can't measure that in a traditional sense, I am still uber proud of myself.

I have come so far.

It's a huge lesson to me in not comparing my journey to anyone else's because you can't measure success by looking on the outside. I think that's a good reminder for us all. We can't use someone else's success as a tool to put ourselves down or makes us feel badly about our lives.

Judge where you are by how far you've come.

We each have a different path and to judge ourselves by someone else's journey is just silliness. So I have an assignment for you: Acknowledge how far you've come from where you were. Acknowledge how many obstacles you've overcome in your life and be so proud that you're here today. Think about the worst thing that's happen to you. You were strong enough to get through it, you, you, were that strong.

You are so amazing.

Do you fall into the trap of comparison? How do you deal with it?

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