We’ve asked Connie Scheel to focus her article this month on a very special essential oil blend from Young Living: GRATITUDE — the essence of our celebrations. Connie has been experiencing this oil for herself all month, and she shares her thoughts with you. We are full of gratitude for the time she invests in bringing you her insights on living with essential oils. You may follow Connie on her Facebook page. You will find Gratitude essential oil blend and all the other Young Living products on Connie’s website.
Does Gratitude Smell?
by Connie Scheel
What’s the scent of your gratitude? Do you associate a scent to gratitude? I’d venture to bet that most people don’t, yet scent is the best way to influence our brain activity as I shared in an article last July (The Scents of Learning).
I was raised to count my blessings, like many of us. Gratitude, however, became part of my daily life about 4 years ago during the process of my second gynecologic cancer diagnosis. I was angry at myself and my body, scared that my life would end too soon, concerned and overwhelmingly sad that my nieces wouldn’t remember me and I would never know them, and searching for meaning beyond cancer. I don’t recall exactly how I was lead to beginning a gratitude practice, it seems to have just appeared at the right time. Shifting my focus from fear and anger into gratitude was truly the beginning of my treatment and healing process.
The words of author Melody Beattie expresses the essence of gratitude to me quite well.
“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity… It turns problems into gifts, failures into success, the unexpected into perfect timing, and mistakes into important events. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
I’ve since learned that there is quite a large amount of scientific research studies that show the benefits of gratitude to our bodies and minds. These benefits are beautifully outlined on the website Greater Good: The Science of a Meaningful Life’s Gratitude Definition Page. The list may surprise you. It includes: increasing happiness, reducing depression, sleeping better, becoming more resilient, strengthening our relationships, expressing forgiveness and helping children create greater life satisfaction. I’m particularly amazed by effects of gratitude on our bodies so I’ll quote from Greater Good’s site
“Gratitude is good for our bodies: Studies by Emmons and his colleague Michael McCullough suggest gratitude strengthens the immune system, lowers blood pressure, reduces symptoms of illness, and makes us less bothered by aches and pains. It also encourages us to exercise more and take better care of our health.”
I’ve experienced all of these and know this to be true in the heart of my soul. Truly, I believe my gratitude practice has been the most powerful medicine of my life. Gratitude, to me, is a prayer of thanksgiving to the Divine.
Does this inspire you to become more grateful? Perhaps encourages you to start a gratitude journal? It may also challenge you. There are moments and days when I too find it challenging to be grateful. We all experience seasons- long or short lived- where we struggle to find our spirit of gratitude. It’s these seasons and moments of darkness that gratitude can be the most transformational and comforting, though. Aromatherapy, that wonderful means of stimulating your brain activity, may be helpful.
Young Living offers an essential oil blend called Gratitude that may calm emotions, lift spirits, and bring relief to your body so that you can find and magnify your gratefulness. My favorite way to use Gratitude EO is to rub 2 drops between my palms to warm it up a little then rub on my shoulders in a brushing motion. For me the brushing motion symbolizes brushing off the darkness that I’m carrying. You could also lightly massage a drop over your heart to open your heart up to gratitude. Or gently rub a drop onto your throat to help you speak your gratefulness. Then pause for a few deep cleansing breaths and begin your gratitude list. The aromatherapy may help you find fresh or deeper gratitudes.
YL’s Gratitude EO blend contains the Biblical EOs of frankincense and myrrh, which I find quite appropriate and lovely. There is also Idaho balsam fir, rosewood, galbanum, and ylang ylang. To me the scent is earthly and rich with a touch of sweetness. What does it smell like to you, I wonder?
May gratitude enrich your life and holidays……
