Emotional Trauma

Serenidipity. Sometimes there is a need, and we have JUST the perfect thing.  Although we wish we had not had to.

Roberta is one of our staffers in Production.  On Monday night, in her apartment parking lot she was robbed at gunpoint.  The story is here. She was thrown to the ground, badly bruised, and, of course,

traumatized.  We could help her with the physical bruising (She says "That's Better is another miracle blend.") but she didn't share the emotional toll until Wednesday afternoon.  Since the incident, she had been afraid to shut the light off at night.  She said she could not sleep, because whenever she closed her eyes, she saw the man's face.  When she did doze off, her sleep was ruined with nightmares.

And I remembered a blend we had decided not to present.

Some of you know we have been working on blends to present for a pilot Aromatherapy program at our local Alive Hospice.  Their second priority that they would like to address with Aromatherapy is Agitation/Anxiety.

Every blend must have published clinical research to support each ingredient, so I've been spending a lot of time combing various databases.  We had designed one blend that I knew would be effective. The research was there, the personal and anecdotal experience was there.  Jim and I blended it.  We didn't LIKE it.  We tweaked it. We added more of this.  We added more of that.  I was bound and determined to stay with the original four oils selected.  We tweaked some more. Finally we had decided to give it up, not to present it. We did NOT like it, and I can NOT be enthusiastic about an oil or blend that I dislike.

We put it aside and decided on an alternate for our Hospice pilot program, one that the Hospice staff is already familiar with and enjoyed.

What I didn't like in this blend is the aroma of Angelica Root. Even at only 1/30th of the entire blend (one ml out of 30) it overwhelmed the other anti-anxiety oils.  But I knew this was exactly what Roberta needed.  You see, Angelica is cited in some research studies as an effective anti-anxiety agent, but I have been taught that it works by "shutting down" the emotions; actually preventing you from "feeling your feelings."  Normally, this is not a healthy reaction, but sometimes it is exactly what is needed, at least for a short period.   At any rate,  I gave Roberta a bit of this blend to see if she liked it. She didn't LIKE it, but she said,yes, I could use this.   During the day, she frequently sniffed a drop on a tissue. (We have to make her an inhaler!)  She said "She felt like something was just draining out of her, being removed."

Wednesday night, when she got ready to go bed, she brought the blend with her, again, on a tissue. Several deep inhalations,  and tucked the tissue inside her pillow case.  For the first time since the robbery, she shut off her bedroom light, and closed her eyes. She says the next thing she remembers is her alarm going off, and she had no idea what that noise was.  (Now, after no sleep for two nights, we know that she was exhausted, but the blend calmed her terrors so her body could sleep.)

We had not planned on making this blend available with our other blends for emotional healing, but due to many requests, we will be adding it to the website in January, 2018

I hope you will never need this.   but if you do... here it is.

Post script, Friday morning:  When I was double checking with Roberta to make very sure she was comfortable with our sharing her story, she said, "I forgot to tell you. Monday night the policemen suggested I take some Ibuprofen for my knee, and I did. (Marge's note, it was swollen larger than a softball.) Since then I've not needed to take anything,  Trauma Oil and Kunzea, and That's Better have eased the pain and the swelling is gone."  More evidence of the physical, as well as emotional, effects of the oils.

And by today, Friday, she is no longer inhaling the blend during the day.  It's just a bit too relaxing when she needs to stay focused.  Time to switch her to our Reunité synergy.