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Once in a while one has a really ghastly few weeks. I have just had such a time and it has completely put me off my stroke. Therefore, this month’s newsletter is going to be a little light on content. Also I have just realised that it is almost 40 years to the day since I published my first ever newsletter - about stocks and shares - and I feel like a break. Furthermore I thought that I would enjoy the luxury of a larger font size, because I have just been reminded that it is time again to have my eyes tested. Tripping over Mungu, my lion-sized (so they tried to convince me!) Ridgeback, probably did little to help my cause. These darned bifocals!
Getting myself in a tizz.
My angst was prompted probably by the increasing size of the protuberance on the underside of my left wrist.
Several had viewed and prodded it, and had pronounced it probably a ganglion. Nevertheless, with warmer weather and short-sleeved shirts the order of the day, I was overly conscious of the angry lump and smaller bumps which seemed attracted to its mass. What’s more, my hand was really beginning to ache. Being extremely squeamish, and reluctant to seek advice, my mind was working overtime. I realise now that I was getting myself in quite a state. To compound my anxiety, my back and shoulders were covered suddenly with an eczematous rash. I felt very low and out of sorts.
I endeavoured to console myself with the thought that the trouble with my wrist was probably due to too much gear-changing, and sought refuge in my elderly aunt’s ancient Peugeot with automatic gearbox. The eczema was less easy to explain, because I had never suffered before, but I convinced myself that a rarely-worn leather jacket was the culprit: I cast it hurriedly aside. Meanwhile I searched surreptitiously through Jan’s selection of natural remedies, secreted in the bathroom cabinet. Never have St. Luke’s words been more apt: Physician, heal thyself.
Sorting myself out.
Aha! Castor Oil (Ricinus communis L.) - The Oil That Heals. Jan swears by it. I dabbed gingerly a little on my lump and smeared more upon my back and shoulders.
In the office, I pulled out William McGarey’s fascinating analysis of a medical doctor’s research on and verification of the healing properties of castor oil packs, first recommended by the noted psychic Edgar Cayce as an adjunct for many ailments that resist traditional medical treatment.
Just as I was about to start reading Under the Impulse of These Ganglia, an e-mail from Sheila Ayers landed on my desk.....
Another’s problem points the way.
I would be grateful for any tips you could give me. I have been approached by a potential new client who suffers from Psoritic [sic] Arthritis.
Any idea what oils I could use to help him?
Psoriatic arthritis (or psoriatic arthropathy) is an inflammatory seronegative arthritis occurring in patients with psoriasis. In some patients the spine may be involved when the condition may be indistinguishable from ankylosing spondylitis. Less frequently some patients have a form of symmetrical arthritis resembling rheumatoid arthritis. The psoriasis and the arthritis usually require separate treatment.
As many will know, aromatherapy can provide one of the most effective treatments for arthritis, not only in retaining the mobility of joints but in giving pain relief and helping to relieve swellings and inflammation. In all cases of arthritis, however, the first area of attack must be diet which, when changed, can in some patients completely change their condition.
Several mention that it is a good idea to write down the date and time of pain attacks and the foods eaten previously. It is important to be thorough about this. In some people a crippling effect can be felt just half an hour after eating the guilty food, in others it may be several weeks. Obviously for this latter group identifying the cause will be a problem, but keep a food diary and a pattern may emerge.
There is much evidence also that daily supplementation with vitamin C, vitamin E, B-complex and beta-carotene can assist, but check with a nutritionist. Cod liver oil is also beneficial. Take at least a dessertspoon with 5 drops of Evening Primrose oil (Oenothera biennis L.) or Borage Seed oil (Borago officinalis L.) added.
Nevertheless, as far as aromatherapy is concerned, many propose a 14 day detox. treatment in the form of daily baths. Valerie Ann Worwood, in her ‘household manual of the future’ - The Fragrant Pharmacy - suggests that to each bath you add two handfuls of Epsom salts and one of rock salt, and then 4 drops of the following blend: 30 drops Sweet Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare var. dulce Batt. & Trab.); 16 drops Cypress (Cupressus sempervirens L.); and 10 drops Juniper Berry (Juniperus communis L.). These quantities should be enough for 14 days. Do not follow any other treatments during this time, even those using essential oils.
After that, and because the term arthritis applies to several diseases of the joints, it is necessary to discern the particular cause of the discomfort - rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, juvenile chronic arthritis, or any of the spondyloarthropathies such as ankylosing spondylitis - and tailor the treatment accordingly.
The treatment of psoriasis on the other hand is tricky, according to Patricia Davis, because neither orthodox nor complementary medicine has had much success in doing more than alleviating symptoms temporarily and cases treated by aromatherapists have seldom shown more than slight improvement. Is this so?
However, some of my suggestions concerning arthritis may assist psoriasis as well: diet and supplements can play a big role so I’m told.
Patricia mentions also in her encyclopaedic A-Z that stress certainly plays a very important part in the onset of psoriasis, and symptoms may come and go as the individual becomes more relaxed.
Stress?! It had not occurred to me that this might be my problem, because I always consider myself a pretty laid-back individual. Nevertheless the recent postal strike had concerned me not a little, and I had had to cancel the Slepe Randonnee which had upset me more. Perhaps, after all, I was as susceptible to pressure as any other.
Under the Impulse of These Ganglia.
As Dr. McGarey points out, stress plays a prominent role in today’s society. All of us feel its effects in everyday life, and individuals in positions of
responsibility sometimes suffer extremely from the effects of stress on the human frame.
Laboratories have been designed to search into the mechanisms of stress and to find ways to prevent it or alleviate its effect. The Christian church offers as its antidote to stress the application in one’s life of a simple concept called faith.
Edgar Cayce, in his readings, made infrequent use of the word stress, but he commented constantly on its activity in people’s lives as he described their physical bodies and what was going on inside them.
In the course of his internal description, Cayce referred to the autonomic nervous system in nearly every instance as it related to other functions within the body. In the reading he gave for a forty-three-year-old man who was exceedingly tense, Cayce described functions of organs as being under the direction or impulse of ganglia, especially those found in the sympathetic trunk alongside the spinal cord.
Cayce indicates through several other readings that these centres or ganglia play a much more important part in the functioning of the body and especially the autonomic nervous system than just directing the organs and their workings. In his unconscious state, Cayce indicates that these ganglia are, in fact, the brain where mental processes take place, where sometimes the physical (as well as the physiological) activities of the body itself can be controlled through mental ability.
As McGarey concedes, the causes of disease are multitudinous, and we are well aware of this.
We often blame such causes on bacteria, viruses, changes in the weather, our heredity, and much more; but we avoid like the plague attributing any causation to our emotions. We may be willing to accept the idea that anger, for example, could cause disturbance and perhaps disease in someone else, but in me? The conscious quirks and make-up of all human beings permits us to overlook it in ourselves, while seeing it full-fledged in others. The presence of anger, yes, we see and admit, but causing trouble?
I had been VERY angry. Could this have been my problem?
I would cure myself through mental ability. The conscious mind and the will of an individual, through self-suggestion, self-hypnosis, and positive thinking certainly get into the unconscious in ways that control bodily functions.
Of course the ganglia of which Cayce speaks are semi-independent, organized masses of nerve cell bodies outside the brain and spinal cord, forming subsidiary nerve centres that receive and send out nerve fibres, whereas my own ganglion is a cystic tumour. Nevertheless I had it in mind already that, if I could think away my ganglion, my problem would be solved.
Cayce suggests that all healing of any nature is a new awareness in the consciousness of the cell or organ which leads toward a oneness with the Creative Forces of the Universe; an awakening, an arising above the nature of the earth into the nature of that which created earth. Cayce often said that healing of any nature is to bring to the consciousness of those forces within the body an awareness of the Creative Forces of God.
Healing may really be peace - a peace that comes to rest in the body, that is a reflection of the “peace that passeth understanding”.
I admit readily that I don’t really understand but, believe it or not, my angry protuberance is now a mere, pale, blip upon my wrist and my eczematous rash has all but gone! Faith?
Meanwhile, back to psoriasis!
Aromatherapy can be a valuable de-stressing technique, so in this area at least may be a great help. All the sedative and antidepressant oils are suitable, though Bergamot (Citrus
aurantium var. bergamia Risso & Poit) has been reported by several as being most beneficial. Also I would mention that we have had some success with a blend of Seabuckthorn Seed oil (Hippophae rhamnoides L.), Evening Primrose oil (Oenothera biennis L.), and Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia Mill.).
Lavender close to London.
Several have phoned to ask where they can view a lavender field close to London.
Carshalton in Surrey lies on a branch of the River Wandle some 12 miles south of London. Together with its sister villages of Beddington and Wallington, it was associated with extensive lavender - (L. x intermedia or lavandin) and peppermint-growing from the late 1850s onwards. In 1850, 50 acres (20ha) of lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) were grown at Carshalton. Lavandula latifolia Medik (Spike lavender) had been grown, had set seed freely, but was not well thought of.
Mr. William Wood , who died in 1920, farmed in Carshalton for 60 years and owned 20 acres (8ha) of lavender fields. He daily sent wagon-loads of flowers to Leatherhead for distilling.
The last lavender fields in Carshalton were sold during the 1920s. W.J. Bush & Co. Ltd. purchased the standing crops from the local growers during the final years of harvesting.
That, I thought, was that. However, fortuitously, Pat Tuffey phoned to tell me that lavender is growing once again in Carshalton.....
In recent years a project has revived the industry on a small scale. Now there is an annual harvest and distillation of oil. Immediately prior to the harvest there are Open Days at the field when you can come along and pick your own lavender. There will be other attractions, for example, local artists at work, beekeepers, barbecue, etc.
Subsequent research revealed that the BioRegional Development Group, a local charity, has based their Ecology Centre there. In 1997 they acquired a disused 1ha site on Stanley Road Allotments at Carshalton Beeches. They have planted up the site with cuttings from old local lavender bushes.
This year, the dates for their Open Days are Saturday, 24th July, and
Sunday, 25th July, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.
There are more details about the day, how to get there, and a map on www.bioregional.com (click on Local Lavender), or you can phone
020 8404 4880 for further information.
For those who can’t get there, I have managed to secure a few millilitres of this unique distillation. Not cheap, but a most worthy addition to any essential oil library!
Here’s where I take a break and let others do the talking!
Due to unprecedented demand, Jane Buckle has agreed graciously to do a further weekend.
The ‘m’ Technique
A Hands-on Certification Course
To be held on 7th & 8th August, 2004
at
Essentially Oils Limited.
Course Aims
To educate aromatherapists and health professionals on the use of the ‘m’ technique to enhance their practice and its integration into their working environment.
Course Goals
At the end of this course you will be able to:
1. Touch someone who is very fragile or critically ill in a holistic way.
2. Give comfort to the dying or critically ill.
3. Demonstrate the ‘m’ technique on the hand, foot, face, head, neck, arm, leg, stomach, and back.
4. Demonstrate a full body ‘m’ technique in the correct sequence.
5. Use the ‘m’ technique in clinical conditions.
6. Compare and contrast massage therapy to the ‘m’ technique.
7. Play an active role in multi-disciplinary health teams.
8. Carry out two cases studies using the ‘m’ technique.
9. Successfully complete the externally-administered Examination of Certification.
Course Content
* 14 contact hours
* Students are required to complete two written case studies and a short multiple-choice question test and submit them within one month of the course for certification.
Effectiveness of the ‘m’ technique.
The ‘m’ technique can be useful prior to invasive medical procedures. It can have also measurable therapeutic effects on the following conditions:
* Fear, Anxiety, Grief, Anger
* Chronic Pain, Chronic Fatigue
* Depression, Headaches, Insomnia
* Migraines, Sprains and Strains
* Low immune function, Stress
Different from massage, the ‘m’ technique can be used on anyone who wants to be touched. The ‘m’ technique is at the heart of holistic nursing.
Cost of Course: £200 inclusive of VAT.
(Students are required to bring a couch)
Lunch and refreshments will be provided.
ESSENTIALLY OILS OPEN DAY
Sunday, 26th September, 2004
at
8 - 10, Mount Farm, Churchill, Oxfordshire, OX29 9NP.
(0945 - 1715)
Your annual opportunity, albeit a little later than usual, to meet friends old and new, to learn something new and interesting, to have a cracking good lunch in a convivial atmosphere, and to rummage through our stock to your heart’s content!
Cost of the Day: £65 inclusive of VAT.
(Lunch, refreshments and beverages are all included)
The above have been approved as CPD activities.
If these two events have failed to sate your thirst for knowledge,
may I suggest
CPD Study Day
School of Health & Social Care
Approved as a CPD activity by RCN & IFPA
Saturday, 16th October, 2004
(1000 - 1630)
at
Oxford Brookes University, Headington.
Dr. Susie Wilkinson, RGN, Head of Research & Development, Marie Curie Foundation, will report on a multi-centred project researching the use of essential oils in cancer and palliative care.
Peter Mackereth, RGN, Head of Complementary Therapy Services, Christie Hospital, Manchester, will present his Ph.D. work on supervision within complementary therapies.
Denise Tiran, RGN, midwife, aromatherapist, and author of Clinical Aromatherapy for Pregnancy and Childbirth, will discuss the use of essential oils during pregnancy.
There will be the opportunity for small group working and networking.
Cost: £60 (including meals) if booked before 20th September.
£80 after that.
Further information available from Sapna Shankar.
E-mail cpcu@brookes.ac.uk or telephone 01865 857651.