Connected parenting can be a roller coaster ride on a good day. Children with developmental trauma have a complex neurological highway with which to process day to day stimuli due to the changes trauma creates in the brain. This can cause them to be 'all over the map' from moment to moment. Subsequently, it's not uncommon for children who have been touched by trauma to receive a diagnosis of ADHD, anxiety, etc. from their medical provider as their caregivers seek help. A couple of my readers recently asked about using coffee essential oil for anxiety/ADHD behaviors. There are some folks that ..read more

Essential oils have become so commonplace these days it's hard to find anyone who hasn't heard of them. Certainly individuals who participate in social media likely know multiple people who use and/or sell essential oils. The uses of essential oils in the daily life for Americans are often many and multi-faceted. Folks have been coached to add essential oils to water and drink them. Some folks may also be adding them to baths and soaking in them. They're applying essential oils to the feet, neck, back, and assorted other body parts with or without being diluted. There are also thousands of pe ..read more

My apologies, my first edition of this blog post was what my hubby refers to as a “Cynthia moment”. I have this habit of starting conversations (and apparently now blog posts) in my head. Then when I start talking, or in this case writing, I forget that I need to go back and start at the beginning. I failed to do that in the first draft of this post. So here’s the part you weren’t inside my head to get. :) As I mentioned in my blog post “Trying Essential Oils vs. Clinical Aromatherapy" I’ve seen a lot of parents "try" essential oils as a way of increasing connection with their children from h ..read more

This post is dedicated to Dr. Bessel van der Kolk whose book, The Body Keeps the Score, literally changed my life; to my first best friend, my sister Cheri; and to three amazing teachers who saved my life: Mrs. Wells, Ms. Kirkwood, and Ms. Riley. My apologies if any of it is triggering for you. Today is the anniversary of my oldest sister’s suicide. My body has been talking to me for the last three weeks. I have struggled to write this post. I couldn’t figure out how to get started or which direction to take it. At this point, the fire in me won’t let me rest until it is written. My apologies ..read more

I was recently asked to explain the difference between using essential oils and aromatherapy. It was such a good question I had to share my answer in a blog post. The minimum to become a qualified (holistic) aromatherapist is 200 hours of governing body recognized training. That training must cover anatomy and physiology, essential oil chemistry, methods of extraction and absorption, 20 case studies, an 8-10 page research paper, ethics, and much more followed by taking and passing a qualifying exit exam. The Alliance for International Aromatherapist defines it as: "Qualified aromatherapist ..read more

As we celebrate Veteran's day I want to take a moment and give thanks to all the brave men and women who have stood in the gap to serve our country. I especially want to thank their husbands, wives, parents, and children for sharing their loved ones with us during their term of service. I want them to know that our family appreciates the sacrifices they made missing births, birthdays, holidays, baptisms, weddings, and funerals as they were deployed. I want to thank my brother in love who gave over twenty five years of service to our country as an Army doctor. Thank you Ken for taking good car ..read more

Warning this post may get a bit preachy. I apologize in advance and will try to restrain myself. I typically keep my personal beliefs private because I was taught to never mix business and religion/faith. Church was church and business was business and my mama would never allow us so much as to do a cookie sale or anything else in church. For those of you don't know me please let me introduce myself a bit. I am first and foremost a strong independent woman with a deep sense of faith and strong personal convictions. I can easily be summed up as Missouri born, Texas raised, DC finished and Wash ..read more

One of my readers asked me about the veracity of this statement. This post is dedicated to you Ms. Inquisitive. Most essential oil consumers are familiar with this catch phrase. It has become ubiquitous to the essential oil consumer culture. The reality is there truly is not an essential oil for everything. Essential oils can greatly support mental, emotional, and physical health when used correctly. Essential oils, hydrolats, and infused oils can be immensely supportive of building connection through relaxing the hyper-vigilance of the individual who has experienced trauma. Using the appropr ..read more

This post is in memory of my first best friend. May she rest in peace. Until we meet again on the other side. Her memory is what drives my passion for supporting children impacted by trauma. I am determined that her legacy will be to give children hope she never had. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtNYA4pAGjI ..read more

One of the questions I get asked most frequently is about preventative use of essential oils for immune support. My response is always the same. You don't use aromatherapy unless you need aromatherapy, anymore than you would use a cancer drug if you didn't have cancer. When you're living with a trauma survivor this is especially true because chances are their physiological system is already over stimulated from stress as mentioned in my previous post. Dr. Bessel van der Kolk is the authority on the biological aspects of trauma on the body and his most recent book The Body Keeps The Score is a ..read more