Ronda Snow's Blog, page 24
February 27, 2014
Aromatherapy and Acne Q&A
Q: I’ve heard aromatherapy helps acne. How can something that just smells good help your skin?
A: Aromatherapy isn’t all smell. Real aromatherapy uses oils that have been strongly concentrated from plants, and can have some the herbal / medicinal effects as an herbal treatment, except you apply it to your skin instead of take it in a capsule or tea. In fact, because essential oils are so concentrated and strong, you never swallow them or even use them full-strength on your skin unless directed by a professional. But if you put real essential oils into another inert or “carrier” oil, they can be applied to the skin very safely, and have some of the same benefits as over the counter acne medicines without as much drying, redness or flaking they can sometimes cause.
Grapeseed Oil is a good choice as a mixer / carrier oil for acne because it is mildly astringent (oil reducing) on it’s own. It is easily absorbed by the skin, and does not seem to block pores like other waxes and oils sometimes can.
Aromatherapy focusea on the same basic two things as over the counter acne treatments: killing germs and reducing oily skin.
Citrus oils like lemon and grapefruit are a classic choice because they do both things at once. Citrus reduces oily skin and kills germs BUT they are not a good choice for this, especially on the face. Citrus oils can cause sun sensitivity and should not be used on skin for 12 hours prior to sun exposure.
We can avoid this problem and get the same end effect by using combinations of other oils. Consult an aromatherapist to create a blend for your unique needs:
Thyme Linalool – this oil is from the thyme plant, but it is a special type of the plant, not exactly the herb you use in cooking. This special sub-type is gentle, safe to use on skin, but still has thyme’s strong germ killing properties
Juniper Berry – pleasant smelling, also gentle, and germ killing
Tea Tree Oil – is a strong germ-killer, but has a strong scent as well. Some people don’t care to have the scent on their face.
Lavendar – mildly antiseptic, but more useful for the way it normalizes skin oils. It will soften dry skin and dry oily skin, bringing it back into a healthy balance.
Ylang Ylang – very pleasant smelling, reduces oily skin.
Frankincense – reduces oiliness, reported to help a little with wrinkles too. May be helpful for adult or middle aged acne.
You’ll probably be asked to wash the affected area and apply a thin layer of the blend once or twice a day.
February 21, 2014
Scattered Life Collective – 21 Feb 2014
“Scattered Life Collective” was begun by Cyntia Lee on SpiritUncaged.com. It is a celebration of life as it is, here, now, “no rules, just sharing together”. She seems to post on Fridays, and reflect on the week past. Everyone is invited to do the same and kindly asked to link back to the original blog. I first heard of the project through www.taotechingdaily.com. You can follow Cynthia’s format or whatever you like.
On the TV: Olympics, of course. Usually it is all fun and giggles and snarky comments about curling. This time, one event really grabbed me by the heartstrings. It’s longer story than is appropriate here. “Untitled ” on my other blog Baihu’s Haikus might give you a glimpse.
On the itunes: I don’t know if it was this week, but downloaded U2′s “invisible” during the (red) benefit. Some company or another made a small donation for time the song was downloaded or something like that. Also bought their “Ordinary Love” from the Mendala soundtrack and “Dark Horse” by Katy Perry. I’m not usualy a big Katy Perry fan, but I liked the song a lot when I saw it watching the Grammys with my daughter. Reading on the ‘net how it weirded out the evangelicals in the audience just made my oppositional self like it even more, although I really think it’s the drums.
On the menu: Winter squash soup. Can’t decide what to make to go with it…am thinking something cinnamon, maybe muffins.
Out the window: three deer! Very windy, too. I love wind, the sound and the feel of it. Especially when it’s cool but not too freezing like this. Best part of spring in my book.
Highlight of the week: Found a new brownie recipe that sounds just insane over on backforseconds.com. Aren’t simple pleasures the best?
February 20, 2014
Tao Tuesdays – Chapter 37
I’m usually so behind with these posts, I should start calling them Tao Not-Tuesdays. But here’s the deal. On actually Tuesdays, Amy Putkonen posts a chapter from her version of the Tao Te Ching and invites other bloggers to comment. I like to read the chapter, write my impression, then read her commentary. I invite you to do the same. If you do, please link to her post at www.taotechingdaily.com
Tao is non-action,
yet nothing remains undone.
When leaders follow the Tao,
the Ten Thousand Things are transformed.
When old habits arise,
I will press them into silence with the uncarved block
called Tao.
The simplicity of the uncarved block
will free old habits.
Without old habits,
everything under Heaven will be settled.
Not to sound juvenile, I see this chapter through the lens of “says who?!”
National TV medium John Edward always says to “leave your expectations at the door”. I think that is what this chapter is about too.
Pre-conceived notions, social expectations, even our individual hopes and expectations can often put the brakes on experience, slow down accomplishment.
Another aspect of this is the old adage “It is what it is”
“The Tao is nonaction yet nothing remains undone”…where there is life, there is action, change and movement – it’s going to happen whether we like it or not. Whether or not a particular thing gets “done” or not is entirely a function of our expectations and desires. “Says Who?” something is done or undone? That comes from us, our definitions. Expecting things to be a certain way causes us to miss what naturally happens. Our expectations and striving can make us miss what is.
Often, especially in politics, we say that it doesn’t matter how things are, as much as they are percieved to be. In this, the Tao Te Ching shows the deep and utter pragmatism of Taoism…”When leaders follow the Tao, the Ten Thousand Things (their way of saying the “big picture”) is transformed. When leaders accept things are as they are, and persuade others toward realistic expectations, suddenly nothing is left undone. If it seen as OK…mission accomplished. If things are, realistically, unacceptable, then real pragmatic action can be taken to rectify the situation…mission still accomplished (just in a different way at a different time).
“With the simplicity of the uncarved block we will free old habits”…Sez who it’s a bad habit? Full disclosure: this part is colored by my upbringing by evangelical christians in the American south…just because someone tells you it’s a “bad habit” doesn’t mean it is. I tend to measure things…habits included…by the yardstick of compassion. Is this “bad habit” wrong or harmful to anyone, really? If it hurts your soul or health, then yes, it does, and it should be improved. After all, the Tao Te Ching itself is sometimes translated as “Virtue and the Way” or “The Way of Virtue” or some such thing. But if it harms no one…not to go all Wiccan on you…if it does no harm, then who says it’s a bad habit anyway?? One example that comes to mind is the “Dudeist” icon, the title character from the movie “The Big Lebowski”. Wearing your houscoat around all day might be a bad habit to some, but it isn’t hurting anything in his situation, so – so what? He follows his nature to wear housecoat. The unarved block frees that old habit. It is freed from being an “old habit” into being “so what?”
Without the judgement of non-harmful old habits – they are freed. “Old habits” touched by the uncarved block are not habits of concern any longer. Without judgement ‘carving the block’ things are calm and setteled and OK.
Judgement and expectations change what is by changing our perception. Judgement and expectation ‘carve the block’ so to speak. If we abide in the Tao, we let go of our judgements and expectations…we leave the block uncarved…and then old habits are free to either exist, or to change as needs be.
February 18, 2014
Reiki, Faith, Higgs Bosons and Agnostic Computing
Faith and Reiki are a curious mix. So often they are thrown together. In my home state, they are lumped together legally, and professional paid sessions are governed by the same rules…even though they are totally different in my mind.
Do you have to have faith in Reiki for it to work? No. Not at all.
Look at it this way…do you have to believe in gravity to stay stuck to the Earth? Do you have to believe in photons for your flashlight to shine? Do you have to believe in the Earth’s rotation for the sun to rise over the horizon?
Nope.
Reiki is very much the same. Actually, it is closer to sub-atomic particles and quantum mechanics than to religion or ‘faith’. For example, think of the Higgs Boson that was in the news last year: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/14/higgs-boson-discovery-confirmed-cern-large-hadron-collider_n_2874975.html.
You can’t see a Higgs Boson. You can’t touch, smell, taste or hear it. We only know it exists from the evidence it leaves behind on sophisticated equipment. We can’t – yet – detect Reiki directly, but we can see the evidence it leaves behind.
In my dissertation, even though the sample size was agonizingly small, people who received a short 10 minute seated Reiki session felt more relaxed (on a subjective 1 to 10 Likert-type rating scale) Those same people had measurably warmer hands after the session – increased peripheral circulation is associated with relaxation. We can’t directly, scientifically measure Reiki, and it is wicked hard to control for it in a study, but we can see its effects.
Animals don’t have faith in Reiki – or anything else so far as we know. Yet Reiki, acupuncture and other energy-based treatments are effective for them as well. Your dog probably doesn’t give a fig about religion or belief…but an animal will walk differently when its joint pain is gone.
IS Reiki “a faith” in and of itself? No. Not at all.
Reiki is like “agnostic” cloud computing. You can access the program, use it, and it doesn’t care one whit what operating system is on your computer. It just works. Reiki doesn’t care what your faith, religion or beliefs might be. It just works.
Reiki isn’t a system of life-morals. It says nothing about the existence or not of divine beings. There are guidelines about how Reiki is practiced, just as doctors, lawyers and many professions have ethical standards for their practices. But is being a physician a “faith”? Is the law profession a religion? I say no, and neither is Reiki.
I view Reiki as very naturalistic. It isn’t super-natural, mystical or divine. It is just part of the universe we live in, not unlike gravity, or electromagnetic radiation. We can work with Reiki to enhance our natural healing, just like we work with electricity to make lightbulbs shine or work with gravity to go bungee jumping.
At most, Reiki can become “Reiki-do”.* The “do” is in Japanese much like the “Tao” in China’s “Tao Te Ching”. It is a way of doing things, a way of living – a lifestyle. You can live a healthy lifestyle. You can live a night clubbing lifestyle. You can live a Reiki embued lifestyle.
Reiki and Faith? It depends on you. Reiki IS. Your faith IS what it is. The overlap of the two lies only within you. You make both your Reiki practice and your faith-beliefs your own, as it is for each other person. Reiki and Faith are within you, and something you must decide for yourself and can never dictate to another. We can only respect the unique blend of Reiki and Faith within each other.
*Please consult the printed works of Frank Arjeva Petter and Walter Lubeck for more information.
Watch This Space – again
I love the way the blogging dashboard shows the top recent searches. It gives me great ideas for posts. I want to know what you want to know. If I don’t know, I’ll find out or at least give you some idea where to keep looking…so like Rachel Maddow says so often “Watch this space”.
Really. If you search for something, come back every now and then and search again. Chances are that I saw your original search and came up with some tidbit or another that might help.
OR…even better….send a question on the “Ask the Expert” comment form. It can be anything Natural Health, Holistic Health, Stress Reduction, Reiki, Aromatherapy, Meditation, Spirituality, Tarot, or Intuition Development related. That’s a pretty broad field, so even if you’re not sure it fits…give it a try anyway, then….
Watch this space.
February 17, 2014
Tarotbytes – 8 of cups
More overlap between Meditation, Natural Stress Reuction, and Tarot from my Modern Oracle blog.
Originally posted on Modern Oracle Tarot:
Meditation can seem like a paradox.
February 16, 2014
Tarot and the Tardis
From my other website and blog, http://www.ModernOracleTarot.com
Originally posted on Modern Oracle Tarot:
I love Doctor Who. I love that my daughter and I have Doctor Who in common. The 50th anniversary back in November was practically a holiday at our house. As any Whovian knows, one of the key parts of the show is the TARDIS (space ship / time travel machine that looks like a blue police phone booth and is bigger on the inside)
The bigger on the inside thing is the part that is relevant to Tarot.
Tarot should make things bigger, not smaller.
Tarot is supposed to free your mind, to help you get ideas, touch inner wisdom that you didn’t know (or forgot) that you have.
February 11, 2014
Tao Tuesdays – Chapter 36
Each Tuesday, Amy Putkonen posts a chapter from her version of the Tao Te Ching (my personal favorite version right now) on her blog “Tao Te Ching Daily“. She invites other blogger to write their commentary on the chapter and link together on her post. I like to read the chapter, write my impressions from direct experience of the chapter, then go back and read all the commentaries to expand on experience. It’s been a wonderful experience, and I’m so grateful to Amy for this opportunity! 
Please check out all the other commentaries too.
Chapter 36
If something has expanded,
it will soon contract.
If something has been weakened,
it was once overly strong.
If something was thrown away,
it was surely once admired too much.
If something is to be received,
it must first be given.
This is the wisdom of obscurity.
The soft and weak
will overcome the strong and forceful.
Small fish stay deep and survive.
A country thrives
when its weapons are not displayed.
I don’t remember where I first heard it put this way, but this chapter is where we get the idea “in each is the seed of its opposite”. It is also the part of Taoism that gets REAL. It isn’t just a philosohy in Tai Chi and Kung Fu: It is how life works. You literally, physically can FEEL dynamic movement, balance (or the lack of it), push and pull and that subtle point where strenght turns into weakness. Train, and you get stronger. Over-train and you get weak again. Strike just right, and even a little nerdy-girl like me can learn to break . If Mr. Muscle Dude over extends his punch or stance, you can knock him over with a feather. True enough, it is all about body mechanics and center of gravity…not some mystical kung fu know-how…but that is still Taoism, yin and yang, at real, literal, physical, feel-able play.
Time and entropy are real things too. Marble buildings will in time crumble. Carbon in time crushes into a diamond. A river will carve a canyon and build a delta given enough time.
In order for one person to recieve, another must give. Create and destroy, flaunt and hide…life is filled with dynamic opposites.
February 10, 2014
Healer Types and the Reader’s Tarot
Over the weekend, I read a wonderful post by my friend and mentor Joy Star about “types” of psychics. I agree with her that psychics fall into “types” (I prefere to think of it as “syles”…we are each so individual, it is hard to classify readers even in a broad, general way). The “type” of psychic we are tends to be the kind of reading we want to get.
I would extend that same idea to energy workers and holistic healers as well. Our practice style mirrors who we are, and the kind of healing we have experienced…the kind we want for ourselves.
I find this true in both fields of work. I do my best readings by email, because I love to write, and love to read books. For me having a written “reading” to savor at my own pace again and again is the most satisfying kind of intuitive guidance in those times when I’m not reading the cards for myself. So there you have it…my tarot readings shine the brightest when I’m writing them for other readers…in other words working through email.
On the Holistic front, I’ve been exposed to all sorts of Natural Health techniques and schools of thoughout my classes for my Ph.D (whatever you may think of online learning like Clayton College). From light therapy, to herbal medicine, traditional chinese medicine, ayerveda, Reiki, aromatherapy and more…I have that whole palette to choose from in caring for my own health and that of my family. Time and time again, the most reliable, effective modalities for me have been Reiki and aromatherapy. I used to be in a very high stress profession, and know first-hand the value of meditation, and intuition development (Tarot) in managing stress.
The only true healing comes from within. We help heal best that which we have healed within ourselves. I offer that experience to you:
Like to read? Love books? I like twitter and luv my tweeps…I’m offering $1 off email Tarot readings all this week to anyone who mentions Twitter, their @name or #PeaceTarot when you place your order. Click HERE to order.
Every single day: Ask the Expert is available here, and mini spa visits bring the best of my Natural Health experience to you. Click HERE to CONTACT me.
February 6, 2014
Oh, my aching shovel
It’s been a snowy winter here in the northeast of the U.S. Several days my workout has consisted of “shovelcizing”. This last bout of winter weather was what we in the ‘biz (medicine, cath lab to be exact) used to call a “cardiac snow”…heavy and wet. People who never exercise would grab a shovel and have at it. The cold, the exertion, lack of fitness, possibly undiagnosed artery disease would all conspire to create a lot of work for the cardiology folks after a snowfall like this.
Falls, breaks and sprains are another winter weather hazard, also best handled by the pros.
Sore, aching muscles are one snow-shoveling hazard that falls (pardon the pun) exactly into the realm of Natural Health. First, it’s very preventable. Weight / resistance training year round makes all those shovel reps a little easier. (A little flexibility and basic agility and coordination doesn’t hurt on the ice either. It goes without saying that aerobic exercise will help protect your heart from the sudden onslaught of driveway-clearing.)
So you followed the advice on the evening news and lifted with your legs. Your back is fine, but every other muscle you have is tired and stiff as a board. Now what do you do?
First, relaz. It will get better with time whether you do anything or not.
When I was taking Kung Fu classes, it was almost a rite of initiation. Everyone had a little of that workout ache as our training level increased. If anyone knows how to take care of the occasional sore mucles, it’s martial arts people. By and large they use topical aromatherapy, even though they never thought of it as that. Essential oils like eucalyptus, low cocentration clove, peppermint, and other oils are combined in traditional recipes (often with tiny amounts of mentol for cooling). Most often they are petrolium jelly or beeswax based ointments. Tiger Balm is a well know brand of essential oil based sore muscle remedy.
Then add to that a little topical herbology. Or add a little spice to life. Both really…
Capsaicin is the stuff that makes hot peppers hot. The dried, ground cayenne pepper in your kitchen is a quick, easy and cheap way to get your hands on some. One way to make your own essential oil based, capsaicin containing remedy is place a small screw-top container of cough and cold ointment (like Vicks vaporub) in hot water until it partially melts. Stir in about 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper then allow the ointment to re-cool to room temperature before applying. Use sparingly on the affected sore muscle area, once or twice a day, and cover with old clothing or cloth…unlike commercial white tiger balm, it tends to stain cloth. Fortunately, it also tends to help make you more comfortable.
There are non-staining commercial lotions that contain capsaicin, but I’ve not found any brands that contain the eucalyptus and other essential oils that are so nice in the ointment versions. One capsaicin lotion (no longer available) had lavendar oil in it. My martial arts coach at the time said it made me smell like a cup of chamomile tea. Thank you, I think….
One of my all time favorite remedies for shovel sore muscles is your basic soak in a hot bath with epsom salts. Sound like your grandmother’s remedy? It was. Because it works. There are some commercial blends of dead sea salts that also work very well. You can find them at health food stores.
The BEST of all is a soak in a hot tub near a swimming pool, if your gym or community canter has that set-up. It’s pure genius for this sort of thing! The warm water and humid air takes away the winter chill, at least for a time. After a soak in the hot water, go for a swim (or wade if you don’t swim) in the cooler pool. Sure it’s going to feel like the North Atlantic after the Titanic sank after being in the spa, but that’s half the idea. Take a swim, then get back in the hot tub to warm up. Alternating between the warm vessel-dilating water, and the cool vessel-contricting water combined with the movement of swimming (or wading) will work out the lactic acid buildup in your muscles that is making you stiff and sore in the first place. Even if it doesn’t help you muscles, hot tubs are gauranteed stress-busters. With any luck, it would help both!
Even if you weren’t able to prevent sore shovel muscles, there are some easy (and fun) things you can do ease the ache, including ointments, lotions, warm baths, or some time at the pool.
