Writing Your Wellbeing
How It Began
My first ever project aimed at promoting the wellbeing of others was a book called Choices in Healthcare, published back in the 90s.
Covering a wide range of healthcare options - from GP services to past life therapy - the book broke new ground when it was published.
I followed this with The Mental Health Survival Guide, which was also translated into Spanish and re-published in conjunction with MIND, the mental health charity.
Since then I've worked as a mental health practitioner and writer, using my skills and knowledge in many different ways, usually face-to-face. However, with the onset of Covid and the retreat into online communication, it brought home to me how sterile this form of communication can be. We are sensory beings, but online communication deprives us of the use of our two most powerful senses - smell and touch - and so I studied aromatherapy, then worked to incorporate the use of essential oils into the creative writing exercises.
Developing the Writing Your Wellbeing self-help packs has been a wonderful way to share writing and mental health care/self-care with anyone who needs it. By incorporating the use of essential oils, the packs have become an enriching path to help deal with the range of the mental health challenges most, if not all, of us will experience at some point in our life.
However, it was fate that determined my next steps - the development of sensory creative writing wellbeing packs for people with - as well as without - visual impairment.
In May 2023, my husband, Steve, developed a rare neurological condition that caused his immune system to attack his central nervous system and irrevocably damage his optic nerves, causing him severe sight impairment. One year after this life changing event, I was diagnosed with dry macuIar degeneration, an incurable condition which nibbles away at the central vision.
It never rains, but it pours, eh!
Thankfully, the condition does not yet impact my vision, although the news was a shock. But maybe not so shocking when you consider that over 2 million people are living with sight loss in the UK. And this is estimated to more than double by 2050 (source: RNIB)
So, quality of wellbeing for people both with and without visual impairment became our focus. Hopefully you will enjoy the information on this page and go on to get a lot from the writing wellbeing products we offer, whether in text, audio, or braille.
Namaste
Elaine and Steve
Writing Your Wellbeing (and ours!)
How essential oils enhance the Writing Your Wellbeing experience
When we inhale an essential oil, the scent molecules travel directly to the brain's limbic area, which is linked to emotions, memory, and behavior, ultimately influencing mood and potentially other physiological responses.
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Inhalation and Olfactory System:
When you inhale an essential oil, its scent molecules travel through the nose and come into contact with specialized nerve cells called olfactory receptors.
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Olfactory Nerve and Brain:
These receptors send signals to the brain via the olfactory nerve, which then transmits the information to the limbic system, a region of the brain associated with emotions, memory, and subconscious behaviors.
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Limbic System and Response:
The limbic system, including the amygdala (emotional center), processes these signals, leading to emotional and physiological responses.
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Potential Benefits:
The scent of essential oils may influence mood, reduce stress, improve sleep, or even have other therapeutic effects depending on the oil and individual response.
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Image description. Bottle of essential oil.
Do I Have To Be Able To Write?
NOT AT ALL!
Before writing was invented, people told stories.
The oral tradition is how we received so many of stories going back thousands of years.
Many of the stories that have been written down have their roots in the oral tradition, so if you can't, or don't want to, write, then you can record your creative writing on a phone or computer voice recorder, or just hold the story in your imagination, or become a STORYTELLER in the best oral tradition.
DO YOU WANT TO BE A STORYTELLER?
Check in to our FACEBOOK page using the link on the HOME PAGE and get regular tips and, hopefully, some inspiration.
Image description. Person on a beach looking at her phone.
