I have always loved the idea of aromatherapy and at times (headache, extreme stress…) have tried it.  But the idea of having to 1) research which essential oils are appropriate for which need, and 2) buy and combine said oils without coming up with something obnoxious, sounded like more than I wanted to take on.  And even though essential oils can be very beneficial they are also very potent and care needs to be taken when using them.

Not long ago Stancie Wilson reported on Nuworld Botanicals Aromatherapy Personals on her blog Fig+Sage, and I just had to try them.  They are little rollerball vials that combine aromatherapy and acupressure, along with health benefits of antioxidants, vitamins and 100% certified organic essential oils.  Nuworld Botanicals uses a base of 100% certified organic Jojoba oil to dilute the essential oils for safe use.

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Energy drinks such as Red Bull, Rockstar, and Monster — laced with high doses of caffeine (up to seven times the amount in a cup of strong coffee, or 14 cans of cola) and other stimulants — have been shown to increase blood pressure, cause heart racing, and increase anxiety, in a study published last fall by Johns Hopkins Medicine.

Another study by Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, published this March, found similar concerns:

The researchers found that healthy adults who drank two cans a day of a popular energy drink experienced a 10-point increase in their blood pressure and a five- to seven-beat increase in heart rate. The study is published in March in the Annals of Pharmacotherapy.

These are “healthy adults” being affected this way.  But our children are also downing energy drinks in record numbers, looking for a quick after-school pick-me-up, or as a sports booster, without understanding the real risks. With their smaller bodies, the 50 to 500mg of caffeine typically found in one can will have much greater effects on children. There is also a concern that children are becoming addicted to caffeine because of energy drinks.

In the study, Griffiths highlights the cases of nine patients treated by a US poisons unit after having an energy drink called Redline, which contains 250mg caffeine. Eight of the nine were boys, with the youngest aged 13. Their symptoms ranged from nausea and vomiting to tremors, chest pain and a racing pulse. (guardian.co.uk)

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Does this sound like you?  If so, maybe it’s time to seek eco-therapy.

Some experts say all the worst-case scenario/gloom and doom type stories about the environment, which seem to be favored by the media, are taking a mental toll on some people.

Because of this, a new kind of therapy has been developed.

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Researchers in Sweden and the United Kingdom collected data on almost 9000 children. They found,

Not surprisingly, children whose parents had divorced or separated were more likely to have high anxiety. But what the researchers found striking was the difference in stress levels between breast-fed and bottle-fed kids. Breast-fed children were significantly less anxious than kids who hadn’t nursed at their mother’s breast.

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Michael d’Estries wrote about Melissa in May, and I had the occasion to interview her recently about this issue, and the field of eco-psychology. You can hear the interview at The Lindberg Report.

Melissa spent several years in the corporate world as a banking executive and trainer for a marketing firm. In an effort to sharpen her people skills, she went back to school and earned a Masters Degree in Counseling. Finding the field personally rewarding, she shifted her business emphasis from organizational development to private counseling.

Melissa has been in practice since 2000, and is President of Soulways Center for Conscious Evolution. The first signs of eco-anxiety emerged in sessions with her clients on a large scale within the past two years, and it appears to be growing. Her work has led to interviews on Canadian television, in TIME Magazine’s online edition, and publications in Spain and Brazil.

What is eco-anxiety? How do we know if we have it, and what can we do to ease the discomfort? My podcast interview with Melissa is HERE…