The outbreak of Coronavirus has, I believe, sparked a shift in people’s perceptions of wellness. With 84.9% of adults reporting that they’ve felt stressed or anxious as a result of the pandemic*, wellness is not just to be considered something only available, or indeed attractive, for the elite but more accessible and needed than ever.

What is wellness, I hear you ask? Experts have defined it as how you FEEL when you wake up, how you BREATHE, EAT, SLEEP and how you THINK.

Simple, right? How on earth do we get it so wrong ??? In fact, in a nutshell, the question answers itself…. are we even looking beyond what we see on earth? In other words, what is really presenting itself right in front of us, how are we perceiving it? This perception or looking requires us to pause, breathe and just keep looking, not engaging our emotions and reacting to every situation, and that is not as simple as it sounds.

I would also like to ask the question: what would it look like for us to come at everything from the perspective of a child? So, let us ask the question, “what do children do best?” For me, that looks like resting, playing and being creative. How much have we strayed from this blueprint? Yes, we have responsibilities but who said we had to lose sight of having FUN and using our IMAGINATION and CREATIVITY. How can I act differently to this situation?

I know I am posing a lot of questions. However, these are questions I have been asking myself lately. I am also proposing you ask the inner you, the one that you live with and drives your thoughts: “Hang on a minute, what do I really want out of this day, week, month, year, season of my life? Have I been simply reacting to life, rather than being intentional with all aspects of my life and their desired outcomes?”

Things like the work/life balance, exercising, drinking water, eating mindfully, sleeping well and feeling happy.

I want to say here - it is, I believe, a journey. With intentionality, it will happen but maybe not overnight. Shifting well-worn patterns of thinking and doing things differently takes time.

The journey to reducing anxiety, stress management and emotional strain requires you to be real with yourself and take off the critical self-deprivation inner critic. Discovering the childlike faith to believe for a better future, and factor in some serious FUN!!!! I believe this is the answer to a more holistic way of living. JOY, JOY, JOY is the greatest medicine and the antidote to a fear-filled world.

Can you relate, have we lost our joy? Let’s take it back, it is ours for the grasping.

I would like to consider the BREATH and ESSENTIAL OILS over the next small series of blogs.

Essential oils are more than just another product on the market, essential oils are problem-solvers. They’re natural gifts at our disposal that can help solve many of the things we worry about on a daily basis.

What makes essential oils so powerful? Well, they are extremely versatile. They are not just used merely to make things smell nice or to make a massage more enjoyable. The truth is they have countless uses. They can be used, for example, in cooking and household cleaning, aromatherapy and purifying the air, promoting a restful environment for sleep for you and your family and personal hygiene.

Not only are a wide variety of essential oils available, but each individual oil also provides a unique set of benefits, making the possibilities for use and application practically limitless.

To use an essential oil aromatically means you experience the aroma in the air…experiencing the benefits of the of the oil as it disperses through the air quickly as you breathe.

I will introduce you to the essential oils used in Wild Shore Products and the benefits in providing that restful environment and topical healing properties while promoting that sense of wellbeing and personal care.