By Kellene Bishop

In my previous article about essential oils I addressed some of the scientific reasons why essential oils work on our body. Today I’m going to continue that bit of information and also address how best to use essential oils.

First of all, I think I should make it clear that essential oils are not oils at all.  They are simply the extraction of a cold expeller process (which IS commonly used for extracting oils.) But essential oils—if they are pure and haven’t been contaminated by cutting in other ingredients such as genuine oils—should not leave a stain on your clothes, clog up your humidifier, waterfall, etc.  I’m not sure who the person was who started using the “oil” terminology, but the term oil is misleading in this case. Mind you, the contents in a pure essential oil are not the same consistency as water. Most weigh more than water, actually.

As I shared a bit in the last article, all of our bodies consist of frequencies. As such they house an electrical charge. As you no doubt are aware, not all electrical charges are equal. Even though plants have an electrical charge, we are not “shocked” when we touch them. However, were we to touch a live power line or to be struck by lightening, we would definitely feel the power of such a charge.

As I shared earlier, the more healthy your body is, the stronger the frequency is. Since there is opposition in all things, we can appreciate that if there are positive charges in the world, there are also negative charges. The frequencies in plants consist of a positive charge. Whereas disease, anger, depression, viruses, etc. consist of a negative, frequency-sucking, charge. I realize that there are some out there who may read this and think I’m getting into the crazy, hippy world of things. I promise you that I’m not.  I stay far away from such premises or artificial truths. Having dealt with such cancerous philosophies in the past, I consider myself to be highly sensitive to such misleading, although perhaps well-intentioned premises. Anyway, rest assured that what I’m sharing with you thus far can be scientifically verified. Every living thing has an electrical current running through it. This is part of the reason why defibrillators are used so successfully in emergency medical treatments for the heart. The electrical current gets things running again when the frequencies have stopped functioning. So keep that in mind and then stay with me here a moment.  Ok. so where do essential oils come in to all of this?

As I shared previously, all plants have a positive charge/frequency in them. Now, understand that one single drop of an essential oil is extracted from an entire pound of positively charged botanical resources.  That’s right. If you are using rosemary oil, every single drop you use is the harvest of an entire pound of rosemary—that’s one of the reasons why pure essential oils don’t come cheaply.  When you are able to condense all of the frequency and positive charge of an entire pound of live plants into one drop of oil, it’s bound to make an impact on your own body’s frequency—for the etter. The key is to use it in or on your body in its most effective manner. So next, I will discuss how best to use essential oils.

There are actually several schools of thought that have been handed down through the ages. Some say that the French initiated the learning of essential oils, when in fact, it originated with native American Indians. As you may recall from your history books, the French were once close allies of the Indians. As such, the French were first exposed to the use of botanical oils to cure all types of ailments—even those that many of us would go to the emergency room for today—through their dealings with the native Indians. However, the French elected to take their newfound knowledge and break it down into a science in hopes that they could better understand it. Parts of Asia also used this method of medicine as well. Eventually, England and Europe embraces the use of essential oils and even included it into their mainstream medicine. The various ways that you hear about using essential oils today are all rooted in the thought process of these few nations. Unfortunately though, when their initial research was done, it didn’t have the benefit of the scientific advances that we have today. It’s been quite a while since a major study has been led on essential oils on the same level that they were researched in the early 1900’s.

Inhalation: The school of though for Germany was that the inhalation of the essential oils was the best way to get them into your body. This premise holds a lot of weight when we recognize that some of our favorite smells usually bring about a strong physical or emotional reaction in us.  I find merit in using essential oils by diffusing them into the air, but not usually for an immediate medical need. Again, as a reminder, ALL essential oils have an anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, and anti-virus component to them. Thus releasing them in the air is sure to make your breathing better and improve the amount of bacteria and mold that you may have in your home. Weber State University did an extensive study on this fact when they were commissioned to study the Thieves oil blend from Young Living Oils. While the science does prove that the essential oils can gain a less obstructed access to the blood stream in this manner, when the essential oils are diffused in the air they run into a whole lot of obstacles that hinder their maximum efficacy in entering your lungs and nasal passages. Think about it. Even if you were to diffuse the essential oils as close as two feet away, the essence would still need to get by millions of negatively charged particles before accessing your system. While that’s great for diffusing the negatively charged dust and mold particles, it only produces a small amount of benefit that accesses your system. I have discovered in reading the writings of many experts, that the inhalation method is a great supplement to other, more effective methods of using essential oils, but for the reasons I’ve outlines is not the preferred option.  Also keep in mind that when heat is used to infuse an oil, it can compromise the positive effect of that oil by rendering it rancid. So infusing it with air, water, or a spray into the air are much more effective methods of infusion.

Consumption: The French advocate using essential oils in every possible way, but they lean heavily on taking the essential oils orally. While there is still benefit done to the body through this manner, it’s still not the most effective manner, thanks to the liver which works so hard for our bodies. Anything that is eaten is metabolized by the liver, thus the liver cleans out  as much as 90% of  medicines, vitamins etc. While essential oils are more friendly to the body than chemical compounds, a portion of their efficacy is lost during the metabolization process. This problem is much more prevalent if you are using oils that have other ingredients cut into them such as almond oil, olive oil, and other herbs or foods.  While essential oils have a much better “security clearance” in your body than do these other ingredients, the other ingredients compromise the ability of the essential oils being able to pass through the cellular walls easily without obstacles. So, if you can tolerate using a pure, unadulterated essential oil bilingually, meaning holding it under your tongue for 30 seconds or more, it will better enter your bloodstream and get to the cellular level faster and with a higher frequency still in tact.

Topically: This is by far the best way to get the essential oil directly into the blood stream. There are many areas of the body in which the blood vessels are closer to the surface or which lead directly to other vital areas of the body faster, but applying the essential oils topically certainly eliminates some of the other obstacles which I’ve shared. When you apply an essential oil topically, you are increasing the medicinal effect by 10 times as opposed to taking it orally. In other words, any medicine you can use topically will have ten times the impact on your body that taking it orally. This is primarily because you are bypassing the “health sentries” known as the stomach acids and the liver. Instead of waiting for the sentries to give the essential oil “permission” to go into the blood stream—after losing a lot of its efficacy while traveling throughout the body—you get to apply it directly into the blood stream where your most vital living cells are.  This means that you can get more benefit for your buck when you are able to apply them topically. For example, I have one oil blend that I drink during the day—about 5 drops per 20 ounces of water. I started applying it to the bottoms of my feet at night and I discovered that I could feel the benefits in the morning the same as if I had been drinking water all night.

There are many stories in which persons believe they’ve had a negative reaction to topically applied essential oils.  In such a case, I remind persons that moderation and common sense are critical—especially when applying essential oils. Essential oils are POWERFUL folks. You can’t put apply an entire pounds worth of a tingly oil such as cinnamon on your hand without experiencing a healing crisis. For example, the essential oil, Clove, is quite powerful. When applied to the body directly and without any other oils it can cause an uncomfortable burning sensation. While it won’t irritate the skin, per se, it can certainly deter a person from using it properly. When you have oils that are strong, like the clove oil, you may want to consider weakening the initial impact that the oil may have on one particular area of your body. This can easily be done by mixing the oil with a bit of water and then rubbed onto your skin. The water evaporates while the oil makes its way into the blood stream. This subdues the initial reaction of your skin coming in contact with a powerful herb like clove or cinnamon. This can also be done with healthy carrier oils such as coconut or almond oil.

Ok. So we’ve talked about the positive charge of essential oils. As you well know, there is opposition in all things. We have positive charged frequencies and we have negatively charged frequencies all around us. Disease, depression, anger, viruses, bacteria, etc. are all negatively charged.  As such, in the body’s effort to neutralize these invaders, it uses positive frequencies in an attempt to neutralize the negative charge.  What the net balance is at the end of the duel is what indicates your overall health. Think of this like your checking account. When you have money in your account you’re in the positive until withdrawals take from that positive balance. At some point, if you make too many withdrawals you can end up in the negative.  When your body is in the negative, then you have a health problem that manifests itself physically and emotionally. There are obviously numerous ‘anti-frequency agents in our life that we are exposed to on a daily basis. At the very least, these negatively charged exposure translate into stress in our body. Stress is a physical compromise in our body. Some other well-known offenders are caffeine, pain killers, processed sugars, molds, mildew, pollution, loud/threatening noises, as well as processed starches. All of these things actually have a negative frequency, meaning that when we put them in or on our body, they diminish the positive frequency of our bodies.  When this happens, the frequency levels of our body are compromised—kind of like when the Imperial Falcon had its force shield down and was taking all of those damaging hits. This leaves us wide open for a myriad of diseases, unexplained  mood swings, bacteria, and viruses that surround us.  It also compromises our emotional and mental strength as well.  So, in order to keep yourself fully charged and not live your life in an unrealistic bubble, I suggest that you regularly use pure essential oils on a dailybasis, even possiblymany times a day, to put the odds in your favor.

When using essential oils, just picture them being part of the daily “force shield” you and your body needs to get through the day.  Since we have so much negative garbage that flies at us everyday, I cannot say with enough emphasis just how important it is for you to do something proactive every day in order to maintain your positive frequency charge. Yes, I am saying to PLEASE apply at least one essential oil daily. I can think of nothing easier or more effective than applying a drop or two of essential oils to the bottom of your feet. Why the bottom of your feet? Because the nerves which end at your feet is where the buck stops with all of the nerves of every other vital organ in your body. You want to access the bladder, apply oil to the feet. You want to access the heart, apply the oil to your feet. On, and it doesn’t hurt the smell of your feet any either, hee hee.

I suggest that once you start experiencing the wonderful physical and emotional benefits to using essential oils properly, you’ll want to incorporate them abundantly in your life.

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Copyright Protected 2010, Preparedness Pro and Kellene Bishop. All Rights Reserved. No portion of any content on this site may be duplicated, transferred, copied, or published without written permission from the author. However, you are welcome to provide a link to the content on your site or in your written works.

By Kellene Bishop

So, what is all of this stuff  and hooey about essential oils? Are they just another quack medicine? Do they really serve any real purpose? How in the world do you decide which fluffy named oil to purchase? Do I choose the one named “My Life” or “Love Life”? How do you use it?  What are the side effects?  Can you overdose on it? Will it stain my clothes? Can I use them on my cat named Fluffy who’s stresses out every time I leave the house? Is it addictive?

If you’ve ever wondered any one of these questions before, then you’ll love the articles I’ll be throwing at you over the next couple of weeks.  Not wanting to bore anyone and in the interest of keeping things fun and exciting—yes, we are allowed to use those words on a preparedness site—I’m not going to do a series all in order on a set number of days on this subject, but have decided that my goal this year has paid off well and I’m comfortable with my resources and personal experiences to help anyone else who’s interested understand this great, invaluable resource.  I have to tell you, the more I learn about essential oils, the more amazed I am at just one more miracle that’s available to us.  It’s also been kind of fun this year as I’ve studied, because so many times I’ll have an “ah ha” moment in which I suddenly understand the history behind certain actions that we still perform today (I personally love those kinds of moments when for just a second things make sense and are reconciled). So, let’s get going and growing.

Every year I set a goal to study in one particular field of expertise that I want to really master and learn. This year it was essential oils. After using them successfully for about 10 years, I still felt like such a newbie and that there was so much that I was missing. I’m so glad to tell you that my hard work and time has paid off so far. When it comes to essential oils I feel as excited as I did when I first learned about scrapbooking. That’s pretty excited if you consider the fact that my husband had to build me two closets to keep all of my scrapbooking supplies.

As you know, I’ve written numerous times about using essential oils here and there, but today I thought that I would establish a foundation of some general information on essential oils so that you can determine whether or not they should be a part of your preparedness efforts. Today I’m just going to address in what ways essential oils are beneficial to us. Then in the next piece—say, “Essential Oils 201”, I’ll address the fundamentals of selection and storage of essential oils, how to determine which one to use, etc.  I may even get into some of the combinations and uses of oils for specific issues. (According to the FDA I can do that as long as such anecdotal information doesn’t come from a company which actually manufactures and/or sells essential oils.  Gotta love freedom of speech, eh?)

As some of you may already know, every living thing has an electronic frequency—that includes us humans. Each of us has a electronic current pulsing through us at varying frequencies. That’s right. Each of us has a vibrational frequency, otherwise known as megahertz (aka MHZ)  (In fact it was a science geek who originated the term “sparkling or electric personality—who knew they had a sense of humor? *grin*). Most people’s normal level of brain frequency during normal waking hours of the day is 70-78 megahertz. The healthier and happier you are, the higher the frequency.

Essential oils are living things as well derived by plants (Note: All plants do not create essential oils). As such essential oils are made up of frequencies ranging in number from 52 MHZ to as high as 320 MHZ. Blossom essential oils, such as rose oil, always have the highest frequencies—which is why the tradition of bringing flowers to someone who was ill has been practiced for literally thousands of years.  So, when your frequencies are low due to disease, fatigue, depression, or stress, you can improve the health of your body simply by improving the megahertz level by introducing the frequency of an essential oil.  Essential oils add to and supplement your own frequency. So even if you introduced a low frequency essential oil into your body, you would still have an improvement. What this means is regardless of what essential oil you introduce to your body, you will be improving your frequency level which will assist you in combating what ails you. So while yes, some essential oils are even more effective for what’s compromising your health than others, no essential oil will be bad for you.  It also should be mentioned that essential oils actually have several times greater frequency levels than herbs and food—so if you are into homeopathic remedies and quality foods for the purpose of better health, I think any repertoire would be incomplete without the benefit of essential oils.

When using essential oils, it’s important to understand that true essential oils do not have side effects when used with common sense.  A person can overdose on carrots and cause some great discomfort and even turn orange.  Likewise, a person can use too much of an otherwise harmless but helpful substance in the form of essential oils. But as a general rule of thumb, it is highly unlikely that you are ever really allergic to an essential oil. While you may have heard stories of folks breaking out in a rash or getting stuffed up because of an essential oil, such an occurrence is not a side effect of the oil. It’s actually a healing or cleansing crisis. Chances are that if the person were to continue using an essential oil they would no longer have such a reaction after a couple of weeks. Think about it this way; pimples, for example, are the result of toxins leaving your body. Sometimes such toxins do not leave gracefully. Sometimes there is such a surge of toxins in our body that they all try to leave the same pore at the same time, thus causing an inflammation (kind of like what happens at Wal-Mart on Black Friday when the doors finally get opened)  That doesn’t mean that what you just ate was a toxin, per se, it simply means that your body is getting rid of toxins in your body. Toxins come from what we eat, what we breathe, what we bathe in, etc. and our body miraculously knows to get rid of such toxins as best as we allow it to do so. So, when someone believes they are allergic to a particular essential oil (which is rare, but still possible) the options are to either continue on with that particular oil but at a lower usage amount, e.g. 1 drop instead of 3; try an alternative essential oil instead; or take a break from using that particular oil and then try it again in about 72 hours.

So, why does one to three drops of this stuff have any affect our on physical bodies? Because it has a unique attribute that very few nutritional or medicinal products do—it actually goes right to the cellular level!

As you know, you’ve got a whole bunch of living cells in your body. Each of the cells has a membrane to protect it. In some instances that membrane gets beat up and damaged due to free radicals, disease, and abuses we may inflict on our body. Essential oils have the unique ability to actually penetrate even damaged cell walls because the molecules are so small.  When you consume a medicine or vitamins, they have to be broken down to small enough molecules so that they can benefit your body. However, there are very few medicinal and nutritional treatments that get broken down and used right to the cellular level. The molecules of essential oils are so small that they get through easily to the cells without having to ask permission from other components of the body (such as the liver, kidney, pancreas, etc.) and they can immediately go to work on the scrubbing and cleaning of the membranes and the cells.

Essential oils bring oxygen to the cells, which trigger great healing effects. They are also all anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral, anti-infectious, anti-tumoral, anti-parasitic, and antiseptic to some degree or another—with some being more so than others. Even more amazing is that the litany of clinical studies that have been conducted to this extent have all shown that they are able to perform such valuable “anti-functions” without any side effects that are so notorious with pharmaceuticals. Essential oils also activate capillary circulation, so they are a great asset to have post-surgery, etc. Essential oils, particularly lavender and coriander, are effective in helping cell renewal, which makes them great to prevent scarring and for skin care.

Understand that one drop of an essential oil is powerful stuff! (Yes, “stuff” is a new medical term I’ve picked up with all of my studying.) It takes one pound of botanical material in order to create one single drop of pure essential oil. So, due to the nature of essential oils and how they can penetrate the cell walls within minutes, it means that in a very short period of time the benefits of this powerful single drop of essential oil can be realized.

On the hand though, chemicals, as we get with every single pharmaceutical drug out there, have a hard time making their way to the cellular level.  In fact, one of the greatest challenges of chemical research in the medical industry is being able to create a compound that will cross over the blood/brain barrier, thus having an affect on the nervous system. This barrier is the membrane between the circulating blood and the brain that protects the brain from damaging substances affecting the brain tissue and the cerebrospinal fluid. This has been quite the dilemma for the medical industry and more particularly the pharmaceutical industry. Billions of dollars are lying on the table waiting to be claimed by the first drug that can be manufactured to successfully cross over this barrier (Hmmm. I guess God created our bodies to be a bit smarter than the FDA and drug company warlord’s eh? Guess that should tell us something).  The American Medical Association determined that if they could create a product that could cross over the blood /brain barrier then there would quickly follow cures for Alzheimer’s, Lou Gehrig’s, Down Syndrome, Parkinson’s and other nervous system ailments. Interesting to note though is that sesquiterpenes (pronounced sess-quǐ-tur-peens– it’s fun to say and you sound so smart when you say it) ARE able to cross over this barrier. Oh, and guess what?  Yup, several essential oils are a significant source of sesquiterpenes and do have an amazing affect on the nervous system! (See Reference Guide for Essential Oils—Connie and Alan Higley, and June, 1994 University of Berlin study)  This means that essential oils can actually have an impact that no pharmaceutical compounds could ever hope to!  Some good sources of essential oils that are rich is sesquiterpenes are sandalwood, myrrh, and cedarwood. Frankincense also contains sesquiterpenes (yes, I love using this word and saying it out loud while I type) although less than most of the other oils I’ve already mentioned. However, frankincense has a wonderful synergistic effect because of all of its other attributes that makes it a favorite oil to use for sesquiterpene therapy. But we’ll get into the synergistic effect of essential oils in the upcoming articles. I think I’ve given you enough four and five syllable words for one day.

Until next time, you may want to do some researching for yourself. If you’re anything like me, you might just get a bit excited at all of the natural, accessible, affordable, and effective options there are for your health in the world of essential oils. I sure am. I recommend “The Chemistry of Essential Oils Made Simple” by David Stewart, Ph.D., D.N.M. and also check out your local health food store and see if they are offering any essential oils classes.

Now, where did I put my favorite sesquiterpene oil? I’m feeling a little discombobulated.  Oh, and yes, essential oils are addictive, but in a really, really great way.

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Copyright Protected 2010, Preparedness Pro and Kellene Bishop. All Rights Reserved. No portion of any content on this site may be duplicated, transferred, copied, or published without written permission from the author. However, you are welcome to provide a link to the content on your site or in your written works.

by Kellene Bishop

I’ve decided to be very forthright and open in today’s article in hopes that it truly does help someone else.  I often hear people say “I don’t know how you do all that you do.”  I smile and thank them for their gracious compliment, but the truth of it is, I do what I do while challenging a significant obstacle—depression.

Depression can take hold of anyone. photo c/o hopeworkscommunity.wordpress.com

I realize that in this kind of forum I’m only going to be able to scratch the surface on this topic, but I firmly believe that it has not been appropriately addressed in real-life terms and is especially absent topic in the arena of preparedness.

First of all, allow me to dispel some myths of depression.  Depression isn’t a mood, it’s a disease. It’s a break down in the chemical functions of the body that impair communications from the brain to the rest of the body.  The impairment of proper brain charges and chemicals is much like someone having low blood sugar, or high insulin levels, a heart murmur, or a person in need of blood thinners, etc.  In other words, it’s about a deficiency in the body.

Depression isn’t about “woe is me, I want to end my life,” although many forms of depression can get that serious.  There are many levels of depression. Some levels of depression are the lowest of the low and considered “manic.” Other forms manifest themselves when a person eats poorly or doesn’t get enough rest.  Still other forms manifest themselves on a low level throughout a person’s life or on a higher level when a great deal of decision making is thrust upon them. (it feels more like an anxiety though, at that point rather than what some people would associate with “depression.”) Feeling grief or unresponsive due to a severe tragedy in a person’s life isn’t depression. It’s responding naturally to life. Although some people do have a physiological change in their chemical make up in response to such an instance and succumb to depression as a result.  It’s actually very similar to someone being injured in a car accident. Instead, a person’s heart, brain, chemical balance, etc. is injured in a collision with grief.

The grief process can be exacerbated by depression photo c/o www.theocentric.com

Contrary to assumptions, depression isn’t always about a feeling of low or sadness. Sometimes it’s feeling a serious lack of energy to do anything proactive. Sometimes the chemical imbalance demands a great deal of sleep. Depression isn’t something that a person can just “snap out of.”  You can no easier get a person to “snap out of depression” than you can get a paralyzed person to get up out of their wheelchair and walk as the result of a superhuman will.  Some who struggle with depression appear to the outsiders to be wallowing in their victimization status or their “Eeyore moods.”  What many folks don’t realize is that the depressed person literally can’t see it.  Getting them to “snap out of it” when they are in that state is like trying to get a blind person to see clearly. The vision of a seriously depressed person is physiologically skewed and does not represent full faculties. A person suffering from serious depression simply does not see the world as it really is.  They have chemical blinders, much like a person whose mental capacity is altered by drugs.

Another misconception that I really wish people understood for their own benefit is that depression is NOT triggered by the actions of someone else or a particular experience. Too many folks take blame upon themselves for the heavy level of depression experienced by a loved one in their life. While a great deal of stress or a mean hearted act of someone else may not be helpful to someone who struggles with depression, it’s never solely responsible for the depression. Think about it.  Any person who doesn’t deal with depression is affected by stresses of the day, right?  But what happens in response to life, with a person who has depression, is based primarily to how the body responds to the instance—chemicals and electrical charges and all.  Sometimes the chemical and brain signals are insufficient to appropriately deal with a situation. But just because someone has depression doesn’t give an edict of authority to the rest of the world to change and accommodate the person who struggles with depression either.  Just because I may struggle with depression doesn’t give me the right to alter someone else’s behavior.  To put it another way, my car running out of gas on the way to your house isn’t about you living 500 miles away. It’s about how much gas I have in my car. I have a girlfriend who is married to a man who struggles with depression. She can love him, she can be accommodating to a point. But that doesn’t mean that she is to allow his disability to define her worth and virtue as a wife. In other words, when dealing with a person who has depression, it really is NOT you, it’s them.

Compassion and understand is imperative for those living with depression photo c/o brucefong.wordpress.com

So, if you or a loved one struggle with depression, what can be done so that the disease itself doesn’t preclude you from surviving everyday now as well as serious trials in the future?  The answer is specific to a person with depression at any level, but it also has some commonalities with someone who suffers from diabetes or hear or kidney problems. There is only so much you can do to be prepared. But there are a whole LOT of “so much you can do” actions to take.  And then simply let what will be, be from there.

First of all, the key to surviving depression is accepting it.  It’s real. It’s not going to just go away, and person who has depression MUST deal with it as such. When it comes to depression, I feel like dealing with it is just as serious as dealing with a firearm. I use a firearm regularly, but I have the ultimate of respect for its power. I instinctively keep my finger off of the trigger unless I’m in a safe environment or a necessary environment to use it. The same bodes true with depression. I do NOT mess around with it. I don’t treat it as an inconvenient gnat. I’m not casual with it.  I take care of it head on just like I would if I had diabetes. . What I mean by that is one of the most dangerous things people can do is to ignore their depression.  Such persons must be spoken to when they are not suffering a bout of depression and be brought to realize that this can be a killer disease. Worse, it can not only kill someone physically, but it can zap the life, confidence, and worth out of all of those around you that you love.  That’s the worst kind of death, in my opinion.  Professional assistance should be sought out for ANY level of depression. It may not be at a level which requires medication. But it should be watched just as aggressively as a cancerous lump.

Visit with your doctor about any depression symptoms you may have photo c/o www3.whig.com

Secondly, do everything NATURALLY to help battle the depression as possible. This is where I really get to apply some control over this disability and so can many others. As I’ve often said, Preparedness isn’t about being ready for an emergency. It’s about being independent from your vulnerabilities and conquering them. Even those with a physical limitation can do a great deal to be independent in spite of that challenge. When it comes to depression, taking proactive steps to conquer it has a compounded positive impact because not only do I benefit from the independence and peace that such actions take, I also benefit physically in my minimizing the effect of the disease.  Just as many paraplegics refuse to be a burden on those around them, persons who struggle with depression will also benefit substantially from taking on this responsibility as well.

Every time I drink water, for example, I know that I’m taking my depression head on.  Every time I make a healthier food choice or avoid harmful foods I am taking charge of my depression and how it affects those I love.  Every time I work out, I am showing the depression who’s really the boss. *grin* Every time I push myself towards a proactive work I’m “pushing past the pain” so to speak, much like physical therapy.

(As a side note, proper water hydration, excellent nutrition, and physical activity are ALL significant aids in battling depression but they do need to be consistent.)

Excercise and staying hydrated are a must in battling depression photo c/o skynewswire.com

Next, I treat depression with respect.  When I feel it coming on significantly, I do not ignore it. I let my husband know, “hey, it’s coming on and I’m going to just go lie down.”  He’s been educated enough to know that it isn’t about him or what he did or didn’t do. He knows it just comes about sometimes.  Sometimes it’s more like this kind of conversation: “Honey, I’ve got a bout of depression coming on and I still have this to do to get ready for a class. Can you help me?”  It’s no different in my household than if I were to say “Hey, Honey. I just threw my back out; can you lift this for me?”  I don’t hide it from my husband.  But I don’t worry him excessively because he knows that I treat it head on and listen to what’s going on in my body and pay attention. Doing this actually gives me ability many times to censor myself or my actions in the event that I do feel a bout coming on.  It’s almost like a head game. I can realize that I’m about to respond one way to a scenario, recognize it as being driven by my disability, and instead proactively choose to deal with the scenario by my own agency and not that of my disability. It’s because of this that I sometimes jokingly refer to my depression as that stupid hump on my back that gets in my way sometimes.  “It’s alive!,” I sometimes kid, pointing to the imaginary hump on my back, when I realize that I just did something depression driven. While I respect depression, I refuse to be overcome by it, or be less than I’m created to be as a result of it.  I know an 89 year old man that still gets on his stationary bike at 4:00 a.m. to work out. I know amazing Special Olympics children who thrive beyond many non-impaired persons of privilege. I know mothers who went through horrible abuse at the hands of their husbands and who still set the example for me as the epitome of motherhood.  And so when it comes to depression, I’ve taken on the attitude of “there are no victims, only volunteers.”  It’s not always the magic fairy dust that works, but it puts me in an independent state in spite of the obstacle, and that’s what preparedness is all about.

Give all your pains, frustrations, griefs, worries, and despair over to Christ and He will give you peace.

Lastly, I firmly believe in the power of the Atonement for healing all of our ailments. I know that He suffered not just for our sins, but our pains, griefs, and illnesses as well. Thus I am certain that if I will “wrestle with the Spirit” on a consistent basis that I too will have claim on the efficacy of His atonement to heal what I cannot with all of my best intentions.  I know that the Balm of Gilead is real.  I cannot expect to do 5,000 sit-ups in one day to get a 6-pack of abs.  The price has to be paid over time for such a result, with consistent behavior. This is yet another reason why I’m certain that spiritual preparedness is the number one priority of preparedness. Everything else we may work on can be at the mercy of our effectiveness in that one aspect. Regular fervent prayer, meditation, scripture study—and ensuring that my other activities don’t negate the affect of these actions—is just as important to my depression management as is the medical and nutritional aspects.

And that, my friends, is how I recommend overcoming ANY physical impairment in favor of preparedness today and in the future.

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Copyright 2010 Preparedness Pro & Kellene Bishop.  All rights reserved.  You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to www.PreparednessPro.com & Kellene Bishop

By Kellene Bishop

Sanitation is one of the ten critical components of emergency preparedness.  In my book, it is usually one of the top two that are most overlooked.  A lot of us take emergency sanitation for granted until our toilet breaks down or the sewer backs up.  Keep in mind, if there is a quarantine, who’s going to maintain the proper working order of the sewage services?  If there’s a financial collapse, how will we even have the wherewithal to send our waste somewhere else?  If you don’t take emergency sanitation seriously, then the consequences can be extremely dire—even up to a 50 mile radius.  Preventing waste from contaminating the soil is just as important as preventing the spread of any other disease as it contaminates crops, water, and air.  Additionally, as water will be scarce in a time of emergency, ensuring that it does not get contaminated with improper sanitation habits is critical.  

High amounts of hydrogen sulfide results from human waste.  It not only smells horrible but can also be very dangerous if a great deal of build-up occurs locally.  Flies, rodents, and other unwelcome “guests” are attracted to the smell of fecal matter.  Flies actually consume it.  Unfortunately, this also means that human waste is speedily spread to humans via flies and rodents to multiple locations and can subsequently affect an entire community with a sanitation disaster within 48 hours.  Thus ensuring that your toilets are covered and you have the ability to break down the waste is critical in order to ensure the best health in a stressful circumstance.

Your Toilet photo c/o ehow.com

Your first line of defense for emergency sanitation will still be the toilet in your own home—for a little while at least.  You may only have enough time to build an alternative source, but you should at least have some time to implement these initial strategies.  So long as you have water supply, flush conservatively.  When you aren’t able to flush any longer, plan on pouring water down the toilet to get rid of the waste.  (Think how fast you’ll be using that water folks.  Now do you start to see why I say a gallon per person, per day is the minimum amount you want to store?  Although, keep in mind, you can use dish water, laundry water, or leftover cooking water for this purpose.)  After you no longer have this option, plan on using the toilet as more of a “bucket.”  Turn off all of the water to the toilet, and then plug it up with a tennis ball to ensure that no sewage comes through.  Then line your toilet with a bio-degradable, compostable bag.  When you’ve exhausted the use of that bag, seal it, and then bury it so it will decompose properly.

In the eventual likelihood that you will have to move your “outhouse” outdoors, there are several additional considerations for emergency sanitation.  Obviously, you want to keep it away from any food or water supply.  But you will want to be sure that you have chlorinated lime or bleach on hand to chemically and safely break down the waste matter.  (Note: Powdered, chlorinated lime is available at building supply stores and it can be used dry.  Be sure to get chlorinated lime and not quick lime, which is highly alkaline and corrosive.)

Toilet Lid for 5 Gallon Bucket photo c/o amazon.com

Every single time a person uses the toilet, some type of disinfectant should be sprinkled on top.  It can be chlorinated lime, bleach, or even some other household disinfectants such as Pinesol, Lysol Cleaner, Arm & Hammer cleaners, plain baking soda, laundry detergent, etc.  (All of which, by the way, I’ve obtained for dirt cheap lately using my coupon strategies.)  Remember, regardless of the smell or condition of your toilet area, it should always be kept well covered for emergency sanitation.  Don’t use DRY bleach.  It can eat away at your bags and containers.

We have a few options on hand in our home in addition to the indoor toilet.  We have a 5-gallon bucket that has a “toilet lid” which fits securely on top. If you’re going to use the bucket method, I recommend you line it with a garbage bag, then fill it with about ¾ a gallon of water with one cup of liquid chlorine bleach.  This will help in breaking down the smell and the waste immediately upon use.  (I have a lot of Acco clips stored to help ensure that the plastic bags stay in place.) When the bucket is about half full (no more) seal off the bag and bury it properly.  If you have babies in diapers, be sure to store their used diapers in this bag as well and dispose of accordingly. 

Gotta Go Toilet from ChemiSan

We also have a “Gotta Go” potty from ChemiSan.  We’re sure to also have plenty of garbage bags, plastic gloves, and disinfectants available.  What good is making a great meal if the aroma is overwhelmed by the nausea you feel as a result of the pervasive stench of sanitation problems?  I actually highly recommend the ChemiSan products.  (Do a Google search to find a dealer near you.)  They are truly amazing in ensuring proper sanitation.  The ChemiSan company has portable toilets made of cardboard, ideal bags for the disposal of waste, and of course, their ChemiSan powder product that actually consumes the human waste in a matter of hours, neutralizing the odors so that flies and other rodents aren’t attracted to the waste area.  (This powder can be obtained in small, individual packages—ideal for camping as well.)

In addition to the human waste aspect of emergency sanitation, be sure that you consider the most sanitized way of disposing of your regular garbage.  If you drain your garbage of all liquid, it can be stored longer.  Obviously, the ability to burn your garbage is ideal.  Both garbage and human waste should be buried no less than 12 inches deep in the ground, preferably 18 to 24 inches.

Perhaps not so obvious to some is to ensure that you are constantly keeping your hands clean.  Typhoid fever, amoebic dysentery, diarrhea, infectious hepatitis, salmonella and giardia are diseases that spread rapidly in times of emergency and threaten the lives of all of those around you.  Yet these are all diseases that can easily be controlled by simply following the rules of good sanitation.   

Along these same lines of emergency sanitation, do you even know how much toilet paper your family goes through in a week so you can plan accordingly?  If not, then the next time you put a new roll of t.p. on, use a Sharpie and mark the date on the inside of the roll that you’re putting it on.  Then when it’s empty, check the date and you’ll eliminate the guessing.  In my opinion, you can never have too much toilet paper, especially for emergency sanitation.

Copyright 2009 Preparedness Pro & Kellene Bishop.  All rights reserved.  You are welcome to repost this information so long as it is credited to Preparedness Pro & Kellene Bishop.

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