Grief, Emotions, and Essential Oils, Part One

This week on the Allender Center Podcast, Dr. Dan Allender is joined once again by his long-time friend Jeanette White, Program Director at The Allender Center. Dan and Jeanette talk about the necessity of caring for our bodies as we engage the hard work of wrestling with our stories of trauma and abuse, and particularly about the powerful way that essential oils can help that process of self-care.

Jeanette: “Our bodies were created for optimal health, and the human body possesses an astonishing and persistent capacity to heal itself. But we do have a lot of things in our environment and in our daily lives that end up being an overload of stressors on our system.”

Dan refers to Jeanette as his essential oils “dealer,” sharing how he used to be skeptical, thinking they were basically perfumes, but has been convinced of their profound effect for good. Jeanette shares in a compelling way about the nature of essential oils and how, even though they have only recently seemed quite popular, their healing potential has been documented for ages—including in ceremonies and prayers in the Bible.

Jeanette: “It’s a growing cultural value to find more natural, non-toxic ways to support wellness for ourselves.”

While essential oils can be effective in helping us navigate the stressors and emotional issues of day-to-day life, they also have a powerful capacity to help with more deep-seated health issues and to offer comfort and containment in traumatic and disruptive times. Jeanette shares how they have helped her own healing and recovery after a year of profound loss, one in which “grief has felt like a constant companion,” by helping her focus in the midst of disorientation and emotional fog.

“It’s been more about helping me be in the grief and not buried under it.”

Jeanette: “Our sense of smell is one of the only methods that can reach the limbic system of our brain. That’s our emotional control center.”

For more of Jeanette’s story, you can listen to our podcast series on “The Grief of Miscarriage.” And if you would like to learn more about how essential oils might fit into your own life, Jeanette will be offering a free online class about oils and emotions launching July 10. You can find out more through the Facebook group Oil Powered Emotions, or you can email Jeanette at oilpoweredemotions@gmail.com.