Use Your Tools - or the story of how I came to love Magnolia

story time

I woke up this morning at 9 AM after a pretty long night dealing with trigeminal neuralgia. Luckily I’ve learned when it hurts to breathe (meaning the sensation of air entering and leaving my left nostril is acutely painful) it’s time to take the big medicine. As much as I see the misgivings of western medicine I know it’s also saved my life via stopping pain cycles. But, even after taking the medicine last night I woke up with all the shadow pain and discomfort that comes from a flare up. It all still kind of hurt. Not enough to take a second dose of medicine but enough that I was confined to my bedroom in the dim light and as much absolute quiet as I could afford myself.

At some point I recalled I had made myself a Health Oil months ago made with all the things that symbolize health from an herbal perspective and essential oil perspective. And by all the things I mean the things I had on hand. I grabbed that oil, said a short prayer, and anointed myself with it and then instinctively grabbed Tea Tree and Magnolia. Tea Tree is a staple for me but Magnolia? I don’t reach for her often. I’ve maybe reached for her one other time I can remember. I instinctively put Tea Tree on the bottom of my feet, the top of my head, my shoulders, and over my sternum while claiming protection over my body and spirit. Second, I put Magnolia over my pulse points, again over my sternum, and the back of my neck while claiming my space both externally and internally be filled with peace, grace, and all good things.

When Resources Confirm Intuition

After that I thought to pull out my handy dandy notebook… I’m joking - but I will always love Blue’s Clues. In all seriousness, I reached for my print-out of the doTERRA Essential Oil Chemistry ebook to see what Magnolia’s main constituents were. Turns out my instinct (which I also believe is Spirit - but that’s it’s very own post) was spot on. The main constituents are Linalool, beta-Carophyllene, and Germacrene D. Big deal? Here are the main areas that Magnolia could possibly help me considering these chemical markers: calming and relaxing, soothes and calms nervous system, supports a healthy inflammatory response, soothing to skin and tissues, supports healthy cellular function.

Now that being said most of those had an asterisk which stated these are for oils that can be taken internally. Magnolia is not an oil taken internally. So I reached for my favorite EO resource: The Essential Life. I looked in the index for “Trigeminal Neuralgia” and flipped to the corresponding page. Magnolia is indicated for the nervous system to - relax, sedate, regenerate, and as a nerve tonic. It is also listed for “nerve inflammation, sedation, shock”. Yep, I’ll take it. Then I started reading and flipping through the pages and thought to myself, “How do I keep forgetting to use these tools?”

don’t forget to use your tools

It’s like everything else in life we know is good for us. You experience how good you can feel and then something happens and we fall into a kind of amnesia - forgetting the tools we’ve collected along the way that have helped us or at the very least brought us a modicum of joy.

Here’s my point: Use your tools. Whatever they are. Is it moving your body? Nutrition? Essential Oils? Journaling? Meditating? Whatever your tools are that you’ve found along the way that help you. Use them.

A friendly push: if you have essential oils in your home, purchase the latest edition of The Essential Life. Tools without resources on how to use them doesn’t make for very useful tools. I’m over a decade into using essential oils and I still reach for my resources.

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