My passion has always been health, wellness and just taking care of myself, in general. This began for me, as a child, when I was a daily witness to chain-smoking grandparents and most of their children (excluding my parents, thank goodness). The house I called my second home always had the faint odor of Marlboro Reds and Capris. My grandparents were raised in a different time, when smoking was a right of passage into adulthood and truly made you “swell,” among friends. I was witness to my grandfather’s heart attack in the early 80’s and both grandparents’ diagnoses of emphysema. Eventually, complications of smoking took my grandfather’s life in 2000. This, for me, was a true realization of what those thin, tobacco-filled papers could truly do to a person. His family, his health, his successful business-nothing was worth enough to him to make him quit. I knew that not only would I never start smoking, but I wanted to help anyone I could to quit this horrible addiction.
I discovered essential oils almost a decade ago. Since then, I have taught myself everything I could about their benefits and how they are used. I was astonished (frequently still am) at their superior benefits over chemical medicines. I am certainly not one to knock my MD or the medical field, in general. However, I am a firm believer that if the initial response to non-life-threatening illness, addiction or injury is to try essential oils, that one might very well find a non-chemical solution to their problem! Woo-hoo!! Who doesn’t like that idea? Henceforth, I began my search for the perfect blend of essential oils to aid willing smokers in the fight over their addiction.
The first essential oil important to mention is black pepper extract. Despite the initial response of “yuck,” this super-oil has been shown time and time again to aid in reducing the physical withdrawal symptoms of smoking. Agitation/mental stress from withdrawal seems to be another concern among smokers. For this, oils like Roman chamomile, bergamot, and ylang-ylang come to mind. I must mention one other, and if you’ve read my blogs before, you know it’s one of my favorites. LAVENDER! This essential oil has so many amazing properties, and I truly feel that its calming effects can do wonders for the body and mind. Any of these oils can be diffused (try a blend of them with water in a diffuser). If you don’t have a diffuser, simply inhaling the essential oil when the urge hits is a great way to start! A smoker friend of mine mentioned that her major concern was boredom and filling time that used to be taken up by smoking. Now, I certainly don’t want to push my healthy, natural-living lifestyle on everyone (OK, maybe I do), but why not add something like drinking an 8oz glass of water each time you feel like smoking? We all need to drink more water, eh? Or, carry a book or journal with intent to jot a couple sentences, or read a paragraph or two each time the urge hits. Just a thought!
None of my statements are intended to be medical in nature or to treat, prevent or cure any disease. However, my desire to help people is strong as is my wish for a healthier, more natural world for my daughter to grow up in. Just think…if all of the smokers were able to quit, by the time our children became teenagers, smoking would be completely irrelevant! So, to smokers out there thinking about quitting-give it a shot you never know what you’re capable of and how strong you are!
