no bad kids here

When the excitement is rising.  The anticipation is too hard to handle.  The frustration is building.  Children with healthy brains can filter and control their reactions on some level that is developmentally appropriate.  Their brains have been given coping skills that relax their brain until the feeling passes.  Their brain tells them the reward will come.  Their brain understands that disappointment is a part of life sometimes.  Other children, children with trauma and disabilities have a brain that has been wired differently.  Children with trauma or a disability struggle with knowing what to do with emotions.  The brain fires emotions in directions that tells the child they are unsafe and need to protect themself no matter the circumstance.  This is not the fault of the child.  This is not the fault of their brain.  It is the way they have been made.

The beauty of the brain is that it can be taught.  It can be retaught.  It can be trained.  It can be retrained.  The neural pathways can be retried when given new strategies and patience.  It can be rewired with kindness and security.

In my classroom that is filled with emotional disturbance, autism, post-traumatic stress, current trauma, and oppositional defiance, each day is new and different than the days before and the days to come.  It is a new challenge that has the same prior knowledge only with a different outcome.  The words and phrases I used yesterday or last week may not work today because a new neural pathway is being used.  Some things I use consistently every day are patience and essential oils.  Research and science tells us that our emotions are controlled in the lymbic system part of the brain.  The lymbic system is the part of the brain that holds our memories.  The lymbic system is triggered through scent.  If we trigger the good parts, the healing parts, our emotions can be controlled and our behaviors will change.  If we trigger the trauma it can be healed with love, kindness, and essential oils.  Patience, kindness, and essential oils are century old strategies that change brain patterns.

Here are the doTERRA Essential Oils that I use in my classroom almost on a daily basis:

Balance: *Grounding Blend's soft energy is excellent for calming hyperactivity children who have difficulty settling down.  It aids in staying present with a specific plan or idea until is is embodied.

Serenity: *Calming Blend brings a person more in touch with the qualities of love, openness and receptivity.  It helps heal the open wounds in the heart so that love may flow freely.

Citrus Bliss: *Invigorating Blend inspires creativity.  It motivates individuals to use their true creative power by letting go of old limitations and insecurities.

On Guard: *Protective Blend extend beyond the physical level by aiding individuals in warding off energetic parasites, domineering personalities and other negative influences.  It strengthens one's immune system, which governs the ability to defend against attacks from physical pathogens and negative energies.

Peace: *Reassuring Blend invites individuals to connect tot the true source of unending peace and let go of control and excess attachments in order to experience the incredible peace that flows from the Divine.  It invites us to trust in Divine goodness and grace.

Juniper Berry: *Oil of Night assists those who fear the dark or unknown aspects of themselves.  It helps individuals to understand that those things they fear are intended to be their teachers.

*Taken directly from "Emotions and Essential Oils: A Modern Resource for Healing" (4th Edition, 2015)