In this fast paced society, sleep deprivation in on the rise. It is vital we get enough quality sleep so we can function properly and not feel exhausted. Many illnesses and diseases are a result of chronic sleep deprivation. Many of us can avoid this by adapting these 3 top tips.
Increase Melatonin Naturally
Melatonin is probably the most known hormone associated with sleep. Melatonin is made in response to darkness and the sleep/wake cycle. It is at its highest levels in the late evening, in preparation for sleep during the night. Bright lights inhibit the production of melatonin, stopping you from getting asleep. Don’t use bright centre lights in the evening. Instead use lamps or dim the lights.
The blue light from our computer screens or mobile devices stops the production of melatonin, our sleep hormone. Install an app called ‘Flux’, which will take out the blue light according to the daylight hour.
Wind Down
Don’t engage in anything that is stressful leading up to going to bed. Stressful activities can lead to worry and keeping you from going asleep. The last hour before bed should be dedicated to peaceful and relaxing things.
Finding a night-time routine with consistency will help the body to unconsciously recognise that it is time to wind down and switch off.
When you can’t get to sleep, your mind is probably racing with thoughts and your body is tense. Here are some relaxing techniques to help:
Listen to soft gentle music
Slow deep breathing helping to activate the vagus nerve
Hot bath with magnesium flakes and essential oils
Meditation
Tai Chi or Qi Qong to restore energy flow
This can trick the mind into feeling safe
Deal with Anxiety
Most people with anxiety just can’t get to sleep. You lie in bed starring at the ceiling, getting more and more frustrated because you can’t go to sleep. When you are in the quite of the night, there are no distractions and so you are alone with your thoughts. You mind is racing with thoughts and it feels like it’s going to explode. This is typical most nights going to bed. So for some, before you even get to the bedroom, you are already worried that you won’t be able to go to sleep. This brings up fears around sleep and more anxiety.
Cortisol is naturally high in the mornings and reduces in the evening time, part of the circadian cycle, in sync with night time and going to sleep. It is also involved in the regulation of your sleep/wake homeostasis cycle and is also produced with adrenaline, in response to stress as part of the ‘fight or flight’ response. In our fast paced society, the problem now is that we are continually pumping out cortisol in response to stressors.
People who have anxiety or fatigue normally have a low functioning vagus nerve. The vagus nerve is part of the parasympathetic nervous system and it controls the heart, lungs and the digestive system. In fact, it has an influence on the functioning of all the major organs, involuntary muscles in the body and high cortisol levels (especially at night-time when they are naturally lower).
When the vagus nerve is stimulated, it calms everything down allowing the body to go into homeostasis and brings the body back into balance. The vagus nerve contributes to how we are feeling and our mental wellbeing. It is part of the mind body connection since it is connected from the brain right down to the abdomen.
Chanting, singing, laughing and gargling water can all stimulate the vagus nerve. Massages around the neck area are also quite effective. When we hug, we release the oxytocin hormone which is responsible for our social bonding and feeling loved. This hormone in turn also activates the vagus nerve. Yoga, meditation and deep belly breathing are also very effective ways to stimulate the vagus nerve.
Our sleep is a natural process and many of us still try to control it instead of just letting it happen naturally. It’s the very struggle that is stopping us from getting asleep. In order to get out of this head space, you can do some things to bring yourself back into the body which will help the natural process of sleep without trying to control it. If you’re having racing thoughts or worried about the next day, write it all out on paper. You are safe in knowing that the list is stored somewhere, other than in your head, and can reliably be recalled. Take a shower and gradually turn the heat up and then gradually turn it down. This is a great method I use to get out of my head and it works.
Conclusion
There a lots of other tools and tips that you can also apply to get a better night’s sleep. However, if you implement these 3 into your routine you will get fast results and be well on your way to sweet dreams.
There are many irritants that may cause nasal congestion or a stuffy nose. Irritants like cigarette smoke, air pollution, pollen and pet fur may trigger allergy reactions causing inflammation in the nasal membranes. The common cold may cause congestion which may lead to a bacterial or viral sinusitis infection. Mucus membranes that line the cavities in your nose produce a combination of mucus and fluid designed to wash away impurities. When the nose dries, it impedes this important function.
Our microbiome (good bacteria) helps to modulate the immune responses when there is an infection or inflammation and are a very important part of our makeup. Over use of anti-biotics are killing our good bacteria and now becoming more resistant to bacterial infections.
Here are some possible causes are nasal congestion:
Aromatherapy and essential oils can be used as a natural remedy to help fight against the symptoms of hayfever and allergies. Essential oils are known for their anti-inflammatory and decongestant properties to help fight against colds and flus. Using an oil diffuser or candle burner will act as a humidifier helping to keep the air moist and ridding the air of impurities. Essential oils help to tackle stress which is often a cause for the fight or flight response which leads to sugar imbalances in the blood and more inflammation in the body. Essential oils are not only known for their relaxing & uplifting properties they have natural antimicrobial properties aswell.
A saline solution spray is often a good remedy helping to clean the nasal cavities, reduce the risk of infection and reduce excess mucus.
Plenty of rest and good quality sleep is vitally important to the body’s innate healing abilities, fighting infections and balancing hormones. Here’s 8 top tips for a good nights sleep.
Today we are in Wexford and I’m going to be talking to you today about hayfever and hayfever symptoms. At the beach we can enjoy the wonderful salt air. Salt air can be very therapeutic against hayfever. It helps to open up the airways and helps to fight any infectious microbes in the airways. It also acts as a decongestant and it helps to stop the effects of hayfever; water eyes, coughing and sneezing. Hayfever typically occurs between March and Oct. If you experience allergy attacks during the winter, then you are probably experiencing other allergy responses from things like animal fur or dust mites.
In addition to the salt air you can also use aromatherapy and essential oils as a natural remedy to help fight against the symptoms of hayfever. Get a half cup of coconut oil, a quarter cup of beeswax and a quarter cup of almond oil. Into that you can add essential oils. Some good essential oils to use are peppermint oil, eucalyptus oil and lavender oil.
Recipe:
Half cup of coconut oil
quarter cup of beeswax
quarter cup of almond oil
20 drops eucalyptus
10 drops peppermint
10 drops of lavender oil
Mix all the ingredients together and make them into a balm. Apply the balm around the nose. This catches all the pollen in the air and stops it from going into the respiratory system. It therefore stops the allergy symptoms.
Peppermint oil is known for it’s anti-inflammatory effects. It’s highly effective and has a lot more properties but in relation to the hayfever the anti-inflammatory properties are probably the most effective in this case.
Eucalyptus oil helps with opening up the airways and acts as a decongestant and is very power in helping you to breath.
The lavender oil is very calming and helps to calm down the histamine. It is a de-stressor also aswell. It has a very calming effect.
The essential oils are very effective; they are natural and come from the plant. It is highly unlikely for anyone to experience reactions to essential oils because their molecular makeup is similar to our own. They are extremely natural and powerful plant remedies. You can also use this balm when you have colds and flus. Apply to the nose when you are blowing your nose. You can use it as a lip balm, a chest balm, lots of different things.
What happens when we get hayfever?
It’s an over-reaction in our immune system to a response to pollen in the case of hayfever. Our immune system produces immunoglobulin e which causes a production of histamine which in turn causes inflammation effects all over the body. This is what causes all the coughing, watery eyes and sneezing.
Johann Callaghan talks to Mary Anderson on NearFM (90.3) Lifeline about the benefits of essential oils and how they can help you in your everyday life. Johann talks about the power of inhalation, how to use the oils and what to look out for when you are buying essential oils.
Mary: Well, I told you we were going to a great conversation this morning about all things essential oils, and I have on the line with me, Johann Callaghan, an aromatherapist. Hello Johann.
Johann: Hi Mary. How are you this morning? I’m doing fantastic, especially after your meditation. Thank you for that.
Mary: Ah did you enjoy that.
Johann: Oh, it was amazing!
Mary: And did you dance in the kitchen?
Johann: I sure did, with my dishcloth.
Mary: With your dishcloth, like a pasodoble, flinging it around lol
Mary: So you are going to talk to us a little bit this morning about essential oils and a lot of people are beginning to turn to essential oils to help them in everyday life, why is that, what are the benefits of essential oils, what do we get from essential oils?
Johann: 0:52 Absolutely, well the power of smell with essential oils is really what’s attracting the people and how the oils are making people feel. Essential oils work on all levels of the body, so they work physically on the body so if you have a sore knee or a muscle ache you can use the oils for that process, you can use the oils to life the spirits on a spiritual level and also on a mental level and emotional level. And really what’s coming to mind with people is the effects of inhalation with the essential oils are really starting to be acknowledged now. We don’t actually appreciate the power of smell, we take it for granted. Just to give you an indication, with smell and all our senses, how it works with the brain, when you inhale a smell it goes up into the olfactory bulb and into the nervous system and into the amygdala and then into the limbic system. This is the emotional seat of the brain.
Mary: 2:00 So the amygdale is our emotional space.
Johann: Yeah, exactly. The sense of smell is the only thing that will activate the amygdale and this helps to recall memories. Through the process of conditioning from when we where growing up, from our parents, society and teachers etc., we’ve learnt to associate smells with different things. We hold a lot of emotions in different parts of our body, we are not aware of this, we don’t acknowledge this. The essential oils help to facilitate the process of releasing all these emotions in a safe environment. It’s profoundly effective and it works quite quickly aswell. When you inhale a smell it’s only 1 synapse away from the limbic brain. You sense of sight and sound is about 3-4 synapse, they go through the thalamus (central hub of the brain) which redirects the signal to the visual cortex or where ever else in the brain. Whereas smell is 1 synapse, so it is profoundly effective.
Mary: 3:15 And the synapse would be the junction where it travels through.
Johann: Yeah, in the nervous system.
Mary: So that would make sense, sounds like its an explanation why we can have a smell that takes us immediately back to childhood or some positive memory like the smell of my mother baking breads.
Johann: 3:40 Yeah and the thing to remember is we know certain oils are good for certain things. For example lavender essential oil, we know is calming and cooling but lavender was a big favourite smell years ago. Your grandmother could have grown the lavender our her back garden and your grandmother could have beat you around with a sweeping brush and you could have hated your grandmother so when you smell lavender again you are not going to like it cause it reminds you or your grandmother. So you have to like the smell to work with it.
Mary: And essential oils can have a negative effective?
Johann: Absolutely, like the grandmother.
Mary: Yeah, my mother used to always give me milk of magnesia when I was young. When I became a nurse, and I would give this to a patient, it would remind me of that yukey smell, even though I wasn’t taking it. So smells are very powerful.
Johann: Yeah, and when you are smelling something, the first thought that comes to mind is “oh what does that remind me of”? and you are trying to associate it with a person or an experience or a situation. That’s what’s going on in the brain when you are smelling a smell.
Mary: 5:13 How can we use essential oils? Is smell the only way or are there other things we can do to use them?
Johann: No, a lot of people associate essential oils and aromatherapy with massage. Aromatherapy is a stand alone treatment aswell. You can diffuse essential oils in the air to kill airbourne germs. Lemongrass, eucalyptus and tea tree are good. I love the eucalyptus radiate because it’s more gentle that the other eucalyptus. So you can use essential oils to kill airbourne germs and also to get rid of those excess positive ions in the air. We have so many devices in our homes from tablets, laptops, tv screens, mobile phones and they produce positive ions in the air (static electricity). So the essential oils helps to neutralise them. Also we have the aroma which gives that uplifting smell or calming smell or whatever mood you are looking for. You can also use it topically. So you can add some drops to your shower gel, or a lotion or cream or you can make an oil blend. Just get some almond oil (basic vegetable oil) and add some drops to it and you have a massage blend. I do have a lot of recipes on my blog, so you can get them there. There are lots and lots of ways to use essential oils.
Mary: 7:15 So I was reading the other day, that a lady who has epstein barrs, a virus, and she was using tea tree oil (melaleuca). She used it topically and she also used it in capsules. She had black mould in her blood. She used a combination of cinnamon and other essential oils and she used them in capsules. Is this a way to take them?
Johann: 7:45 I don’t really go down that path of ingesting essential oils. I haven’t really done a lot of research in that area but it would be a last resort. There are lots of other ways you can use essential oils before you start ingesting them. I know a lot of people put drops of oils in water and use capsules to get them straight down into the stomach. But just be mindful that the oesophagus is only one cell thick so you need to be very experienced and know what you are doing when you are ingesting essential oils.
Mary: 8:25 So we can inhale them, we can use them topically (diluted) and they can help us release emotions and feel better in ourselves. So what so of tips would you give if someone is looking to buy an essential oi? What do they need to see on the label when they are buying them?
Johann: 8:55 That’s very important. Essential oils are so potent and to give you an example it takes 50 roses to make 1 drop of essential oil so you can appreciate the cost of some of the oils. So jasmine and rose are very expensive oils and you would be looking to pay about 40 – 50 euro for a 10ml bottle of oil. There are other essential oils that are more cost effective oils that you can buy like your lavender, lemon and all the citrus essential oils. The one thing to look out for is it must have the latin name on the label and that denotes what plant it comes from and what part of the plant and the country of origin. Also know your supplier, make sure you know your supplier. Essential oils go through a series of tests aswell. You should be able to get a safety sheet, if you are in the business of aromatherapy. But just for the regular buyer, make sure the latin name is on the bottle and the country of origin and know that it is a reputable reseller you are buying from.
Mary: 10:15 Now you yourself are running an online course to help people understand better how to use essential oils for their own health and wellness.
Johann: It’s and amazing course. I have lots of students lined up on it at the moment. It’s a five week course and I have a special offer that I’ll tell you about in a few seconds.
Mary: Yeah, if you could just tell us a little bit about the course so people could know and then tell us about how people can find out more information.
Johann: Sure, it’s a five week course. I did a survey and I asked people what is it that frustrates you what is it that really keeps you up at night in relation to your health and well-being. So, the response I got back was that a lot of people are fed up with the cold and flu epidemic in the winter season, the second thing I got back was a lot of people are experiencing a lot of allergies and skin irritations, psoriasis and eczema and the last thing was people are having great difficulties around sleeping so getting to sleep and staying asleep. So I designed the course around those three topics. So using essential oils and healthy living, holistic living. I bring a bit of diet and nutrition into it and lifestyle aswell. So on the course I teach you how to make up your own products and it’s a very simple process that only takes 5 minutes. That’s my mantra it only takes 5 minutes to make up.
Mary: I love it!
Johann: 11:42 Yeah, we are so busy, mothers are so buys. We have kids to take care of and men can be a big job aswell sometimes lol. I don’t know whose worse, the kids or the men! I’m talking about making oil blends, balms recipes for kids if they have chesty coughs. You can rub it in through the feet aswell. The oils get into the system within 30 seconds if you do a foot rub. It’s great for relaxing the children and helping them get to sleep aswell. And then I have lots of recipes like aromatherapy inhalers that you can use and I give you a wind down routine that you can use before you go to bed at night. So you’ll see me in the kitchen making us these products aswell. Everything is converted into an audio file aswell, so if you are in an area where there is bad internet you can just listen to the audio or if you prefer to just read you can download the transcript in a pdf file.
Mary: That’s amazing! So how can people find out about you and where can they find out more information about this.
Johann: 12:55 Ok, so I have a website courses.therapeutic-healing.ie. You’ll find all the courses there you can enrol in the school to access some of the free videos and you can also enrol on the paid courses. For the listeners today, you can go to therapeutic-healing/offer you will get 50% off the course of that course until the end of this month.
Mary: 13:44 Thank you so much Johann for coming on and helping us understand a little bit more about how essential oils help us feel better, be better and to remember good things.
Johann: It’s my pleasure Mary. Thank you so much, Have a great day!
Mary: I will, you do the same. Bye bye.
Johann: Thank you, bye bye.
Mary: And that was Johann Callaghan, Aromatherapist, telling us how essential oils can help us take better care of ourselves.
Johann Callaghan opens up to Alan Hennessy and Howard Hughes on The Dublin Business Show about her still birth and her journey to question who we really are and her path to creating Therapeutic Healing. She talks about the power of essential oils, her Aromatherapy & Holistic Living online training and her live webinars.
Transcript below
Alan Hennessy: Good evening to you and we are here with the Dublin Business Show. Don’t forget, if you do want to tweet us, you can do so @allcharityradio and you can use the hashtag, #dubbizshow for the last time. That’s @dubbizshow is our Twitter handle. We are joined in the studio tonight, our very last guest, how good is this? We wanted to say a big hello to Johann Callaghan from Therapeutic Healing. See the way I got that right?
Johann Callaghan: Hi, Alan. Thanks [00:00:30] for having me in.
Alan Hennessy: It’s wonderful to have you in the studio. We met a couple of weeks back. We’ve met a couple of times, but we only actually got to really speak the last time we met. It’s great to have you in, and you might tell us a little bit about your background, and how you are, and where you came from, and what you … Planning to take over the world. Give us a little background on your [force 00:00:51] I suppose.
Johann Callaghan: Not quite planning to take over the world.
Alan Hennessy: Never say never.
Johann Callaghan: Close enough. It’s Johann Callaghan and Therapeutic Healing’s the business name and I’m based in [00:01:00] Athy, County Kildare. I do have a bit of a story about the background as to why I came to work in this industry. I used to work in a company for 17 years doing web programming and VBA programming, so complete change. Alan is looking at me there with surprise. I was working that industry for a number of years. In 2007, both myself, my husband, decided that we were going to have a baby together and we [00:01:30] were going to move to a four bed house, detached house. That was our dream, that was our vision. So we got pregnant. Well, I did.
Alan Hennessy: I was gonna say, “He didn’t get pregnant.”
Johann Callaghan: Paul helped.
Alan Hennessy: Yeah, he helped. There’s a hand there somewhere along the line.
Johann Callaghan: Yeah. Everything was fine. We moved to Athy. There was a lot of life changes in 2007 and life was good. I had no regrets leaving the job after 17 years. It was the one and only job that I’d ever been in, made a lot of friends and contacts there. So [00:02:00] we planned to do the pregnancy and everything was great. I was going to be the stay-at-home mom. I had no intention on going back to work, and Paul was going to support me, and that’s how it was going to be. We’re going to get the family dog and all of that.
Alan Hennessy: Happiness.
Johann Callaghan: Yeah, it was great. My brother, in the meantime, decided he was going to get married and he was living in Australia. He was to be married in December, and unfortunately, that was when our little bundle of joy was due, so I could not travel over to Australia. [00:02:30] When December came and our baby was due on the 7th of December, and when our time came to have the baby, everybody was wishing me well, and everybody was ringing me from Australia. Some of my family was still in the air traveling. I had a terrible feeling in my gut that something was wrong. We went to the hospital and to make a long story short, there was no heartbeat.
Alan Hennessy: Oh.
Johann Callaghan: I felt her last kick. I remember [00:03:00] her last kick, and it was quite traumatic, obviously. We went home. We were told to go home and to reflect on what had happened and to come back into the hospital to have the baby. I still had to have the baby. It was on the 7th of December that this happened. That’s was when she was due. We went back into the hospital two days later and those two days were just a lifetime’s worth. It was just unbelievable. We went back into the hospital, and I had the baby, and my family were devastated, [00:03:30] needless to say. It was devastating enough losing the baby, but I had problems of my own, psychologically, having a baby because I was very young having my first baby. I was 17 years when I had my first baby. I had a lot of difficulties around that about having another baby, so it was a big deal for me to have this baby and to agree to have the baby and all the rest. Losing the baby then was a double tragedy.
Life carried on [00:04:00] and I said, “I’m going to have to go back to work now.” It was a big decision because I was only ever in one job. It’s the only job. I was petrified. I decided I’m going to have to go back to work because I was going through all the steps of grief and all the rest. I was angry, and upset, and all the rest, and my husband was going through his own different stuff.
Alan Hennessy: Of course he was going through it as well.
Johann Callaghan: I went back to work in [00:04:30] May. I think it was May the following year I started work. It was about six months after I had Megan, was my daughter’s name, Megan. I went back to work and I was getting back into it, but life was difficult. It was very, very different. I appeared to be fine, and function fine, and all the rest, but I had a lot of anger and I hated anybody who was having children, even my own brother’s. He was expecting a child at the time as well. I had an awful [00:05:00] lot of hardship around that and trying to deal with that emotionally. This went on for a number of years and one day, I just said to myself, “I can’t live my life like this. Something has to change.”
I started seeking out help and I found girl who had done some spiritual work, and energy work, and work around positive mindsets. I went into the local health shop. That’s where I found her, and for some strange reasons, she had no other customers, only myself, and I was going to her for six weeks. It was supposed to be a circle [00:05:30] of people and it was only myself that was with her for the six weeks. It was like it was meant to be because there were two hour sessions. I had six weeks of two hour sessions one-to-one with this lady and she was a fantastic lady. She really helped me out is what she did. It started to put a perspective on my life. I started getting into spiritual kind of stuff, finding out who I was. I started asking all the questions, who I was, as you do, [00:05:58].
Alan Hennessy: You were [00:06:00] going awfully good.
Johann Callaghan: I was going on a tangent there. That was the new direction of my life and I started asking all the questions. It was like a new change, a new path to my life. I started doing massage work. I was always one for learning things and doing courses and what have you. So I got into doing massage work. One thing led to another and I’d done the reflexology, and all the other therapies add ons. The aromatherapy, in particular, I liked. I always like the oils. [00:06:30] The oils, for me, I found really helped me emotionally and it helped me to feel safe going through some of the processes. I was just overwhelmed at how profoundly effective [00:06:40] the oils where-
Alan Hennessy: So these are the oils that you use for massage.
Johann Callaghan: Yeah. At this stage now, I wasn’t qualified as an aromatherapist. I went on to do aromatherapy a few years later.
Alan Hennessy: Sorry, I’m being silly here now. I’m just asking the questions. The oils, [00:07:00] how does … I don’t understand what you mean.
Johann Callaghan: The essential oils, they’re aromatherapy oils. I used to always have them around the house. I just have the lavender, lemon, and orange or the usual oils, everyday oils that people know about. I used to just burn them in the oil burner and that was it, but I really liked them. I eventually started adding onto all my therapies. I found a school in Obus in Leixlip. I found a teacher there, Christine Courtney her name is, lovely lady. She [00:07:30] taught me aromatherapy. It was a professional level of aromatherapy and it’s with IFPA. While I was doing that course, I was dabbling and making up oil blends, and creams, and all that kind of stuff as well.
Alan Hennessy: Fantastic.
Johann Callaghan: Fortunately, Christine was making creams herself as well, so she had a few bits that she had added into the course as well. It got me curious when I was experimenting. So one thing led to another and I was making up my formulas. [00:08:00] So that’s when I started getting interested in making creams with the aromatherapy oils. I started to make them. I can’t explain it now very well, but anybody who’s sensitive to energy could pick up a lot of energy in these oils. I named the creams LEAH Aromatherapy Skincare. Leah is my daughter who I had three years after I lost Megan, and she is … Oh my God. I [00:08:30] know children are gorgeous, but this little girl is absolutely amazing. I love her to bits, but as it turned out, Leah, when you take the letters out of Leah and turn them around or whatever, it actually spells heal, and I never realized that.
Alan Hennessy: Yeah, that’s true.
Johann Callaghan: Yeah, I never actually realized that. I was fascinated with the creams. The stage that I’m at now is I’m trying to get all my creams licensed and tested. That’s where I am at the moment with the creams. [00:09:00] So that’s just really to bring you up to date where I am today. That’s why I got into aromatherapy and all the therapies. I felt that I didn’t want to do computers. I just felt people didn’t appreciate the work that goes into doing websites and all that sort of things.
Alan Hennessy: I know.
Johann Callaghan: It’s very hard for people to appreciate and understand, but I liked the healing that I got myself through the therapies and [00:09:30] using the oils. So I wanted to reach out to other people in the way that it helped me. My life is still on a journey, and I’m still learning, and I’m very excited about what’s coming out over the next 12 months.
Alan Hennessy: That’s fantastic.
Johann Callaghan: Yeah.
Alan Hennessy: That’s a great story.
Johann Callaghan: Yeah?
Alan Hennessy: It’s a great story, absolutely brilliant. As you say, to go from that stage of pure sadness [00:09:55]
Johann Callaghan: Two to three years.
Alan Hennessy: To bring it to where you are now today, which [00:10:00] is fantastic, as you say yourself, the oils, and the smell of the oils, and whatever was changing everything around. It was making you feel better. Fantastic. At the end of the day, that’s what everyone wants, is that peace and that peace of mind as well, as much as anything else.
Johann Callaghan: Yep.
Alan Hennessy: If you’re getting it from the oils, it’s absolutely brilliant. It’s brilliant, and then to create a business out of it is even better [00:10:30] again, I think, because it’s something you really enjoy and something really that you’re passionate about.
Johann Callaghan: Yeah, and the great thing is that I can use the oils in my treatments. I also do what’s called foot reflex, which it’s reflexology, but it’s using creams and oils on the feet. It’s a different twist and you’re also getting the oils into the body as well. It’s a fantastic, very powerful treatment.
Alan Hennessy: Excellent, excellent. What we’re going to do is we’re going to play some music, and then we should come back, [00:11:00] and we should talk a little bit more. I know we have been on Facebook Live, have we? We just finished on Facebook Live, but we will do some more and you can see behind the scenes here. If you do want to get in contact with us, you can tweet us @allcharityradio and you can use the hashtag, #dubbizshow, and we’d be delighted to have a chat with you. If you have any questions, as well, for Johann, please do tweet them in and we’ll see if we can get her to answer them. In the meantime, let’s play some music. I’m in the humor for a little bit of rocking music, so here’s the sound of the Rolling Stones.
Announcer: Say hi, mail hello [00:11:30] at charityradio.ie or tweet @allcharityradio.
Alan Hennessy: Yes, indeed. Welcome back. This is the Dublin Business Show and this is our interview tonight. I was all over the place there. I was looking at one thing at a time. Our interview tonight is with our wonderful guest here, Johann Callaghan from Therapeutic Healing. You can find her on her website, which is therapeutic-healing.ie, and she’s also on Twitter. [00:12:00] Johann, you might tell us, what’s your Twitter handle in there?
Johann Callaghan: The Twitter handle is @JohannCallaghan. It’s spelled J-O-H-A-N-N, long story behind that. So J-O-H-A-N-N so you’ll remember me.
Alan Hennessy: Yeah, and you’re also then, on Facebook as well.
Johann Callaghan: I’m on Facebook as well. You’ll find that if you search for Therapeutic Healing or LEAH Aromatherapy Skincare.
Alan Hennessy: Very good. People can get in contact with you either that way.
Johann Callaghan: Yeah, I’m on LinkedIn as well, and Google Plus.
Alan Hennessy: She’s everywhere.
Johann Callaghan: Yeah.
Alan Hennessy: You’re all over social media.
Johann Callaghan: I’m all over [00:12:30] the place, yeah.
Alan Hennessy: Your phone number, if someone wants to get in contact with you.
Johann Callaghan: It’s always 5-227-1704.
Alan Hennessy: Very good, very good. We can contact you in any way, and also you have an email address there as well.
Johann Callaghan: Yeah, it’s info@therapeutic-healing.ie.
Alan Hennessy: Very good. So tell me, obviously we have the business now and we’re up to speed, and we know where we are. We’ve found out about the business. So [00:13:00] what actually … Do you do products? Do you have products and do you have treatments? You might tell us a little bit about them and what you do there.
Johann Callaghan: I started off with making the oil blend products. I have a lot of bodying massage oils that I use. From the oil blends, I brought up to room sprays and aura sprays. I do reiki as well, so I use the reiki on all of my products that I make. [00:13:30] From then, I went onto making creams. I do a wonderful hand cream and foot cream. I use that in my reflexology or foot reflex treatments. I use all organic products. I use the organic shea butter and coconut oil. All these oils have wonderful properties, therapeutic healing properties. They have essential [00:14:00] fatty acids and they have all the vitamins and all that in them, full of goodness and from nature.
The oils themselves, they have to bring the body back into balance as well, so it’s just a great combination. They’re very healing and it’s all natural. It’s highly unlikely for anyone to have an adverse reaction to these products because all of the ingredients come from plants. With the essential oils in particular, the molecular makeup of the oils, they’re very similar to [00:14:30] cells in our own body. They have the carbon, oxygen, hydrogen. It’s very highly unlikely for you to have an adverse reaction. The only kind of reactions you’d have be sensitization, so overuse of the oils or if you’re using them neat on the skin or anything like that.
Alan Hennessy: Obviously, there’s some instruction to when you’re buying them.
Johann Callaghan: Yeah, absolutely. There is guides out there for safe use of essential oils. They’re so strong and so potent. I could tell you, for example, it takes 150 pounds of lavender to make a 10 ml bottle of lavender oil. So that’s [00:15:00] how much oil is squeezed out of those. It’s very, very potent and very, very powerful. In fact, essential oils are known to be maybe 20 times more powerful than herbs. If you were to drink a cup of peppermint herbal tea, you’d have to drink maybe 20 cups of herbal tea to equate to one drop of peppermint oil.
Alan Hennessy: Really?
Johann Callaghan: Yeah.
Alan Hennessy: That’s amazing.
Johann Callaghan: Yeah, very, very strong.
Alan Hennessy: Amazing, it really is.
Johann Callaghan: A lot of people underestimate [00:15:26].
Alan Hennessy: People can buy these. You have an online [00:15:30] shop.
Johann Callaghan: Yeah.
Alan Hennessy: On your website, you can actually go on and you can actually purchase these.
Johann Callaghan: Fortunately enough, I was able to create my own website, so I also saved a few bob there.
Alan Hennessy: Excellent. I know I’d be coming to you.
Johann Callaghan: When I make my millions, though, I’m going to be outsourcing that and spend all my time doing what I’m good at doing at. So they’re all online and yeah, you can buy them online. I do pop up shops as well and I’m doing lots of craft fairs over Christmas and that as well.
Alan Hennessy: Fantastic.
Johann Callaghan: [00:16:00] So that’s with the creams. I love them.
Alan Hennessy: Excellent. You have webinars.
Johann Callaghan: Yeah, I do. What I do at the moment now is I’ve identified a new way of making money and monetizing this information that I have. What I’m doing now is I’ve created an online workshop.
Alan Hennessy: Fantastic.
Johann Callaghan: I have the online training so I’m doing webinars as well. I do live webinars. I’m doing an awful lot online and [00:16:30] trying to interact with people online. I do have a webinar coming up in about a couple of week’s time. You can go onto my website. It’s therapeutic-healing.ie/free-webinar. You can register there. When you register, you also get a free ebook. It’s an aromatherapy ebook that you can download. It’s full of valuable information, and it has lots of recipes in there as well, easy to use recipes.
Alan Hennessy: Very good. I’m just looking here on the website, actually. [00:17:00] You have it as course …
Johann Callaghan: Courses.
Alan Hennessy: Courses.therapeutic-healing.ie.
Johann Callaghan: That’s it.
Alan Hennessy: All the information is up there on that.
Johann Callaghan: There’s a free preview on there of what’s actioned up there.
Alan Hennessy: Yeah, that’s fantastic. The website is fantastic as well, very easy to maneuver around. That’s a huge plus. Obviously, with your background, you understand that. That’s obviously where my skills are, but what I would say [00:17:30] from anyone going onto your website, it’s very easy to find the information that you’re looking for. We’re only touching the tip of the iceberg here on what you do.
Johann Callaghan: This is all gonna blow out of the water very soon now. I’m doing a course with Paul O’Mahoney.
Alan Hennessy: Oh, the famous mister O’Mahoney, famous Mr. Paul.
Johann Callaghan: I’ve already started another blog on blogger.com.
Alan Hennessy: Very good.
Johann Callaghan: The topic is called Holistic Healing Transformation. There’s just lots of blogs. There’s some of my own blogs and some blogs from experts there as [00:18:00] well. Paul is teaching me all about affiliate marketing as well so I’m adopting that into my strategy as well. I’ve signed up with Amazon Affiliates, and loads of different other affiliates, ClickBank, and a few others.
Alan Hennessy: Don’t be giving all your hints out. Don’t be giving all your tricks away.
Johann Callaghan: Fantastic. I know, a lot of it will go over people’s heads so I’m not gonna go into it, but affiliate marketing.
Alan Hennessy: If they want more information, they can go and see the blog.
Johann Callaghan: Come and talk to me.
Alan Hennessy: Exactly, yeah. You have to become an affiliate of Paul O’Mahoney. He’s excellent [00:18:29]
Johann Callaghan: Yeah, exactly.
Alan Hennessy: [00:18:30] Well, I’ll tell you what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna play some more music and then I’m going to hand over to my co-host for the very last time. I’m handing over and we’re going to sail the ship anywhere.
Howard Hughes: Welcome back to the Dublin Business Show here on Charity Radio. You can get us on Twitter @allcharityradio. You can get us on Facebook, and you can try to write in-
Howard Hughes: [00:19:00] You can get us, Twitter and Facebook, they’re the main two. You can also text in, 085-242-3173. In the hot spot tonight, we have Johann Callaghan from Therapeutic Healing. You can get Johann at …
Johann Callaghan: Therapeutic-healing.ie.
Howard Hughes: Thank you very much. As she was saying previously, she has an online course coming up in the next couple of weeks. If you go onto [00:19:30] the website, you will be able to keep posted. A couple of things, the therapeutic healing, the healing power, that I presume, is in reference to your own particular healing from that…
Johann Callaghan: Well, we all have our own power to heal ourselves. It’s just a matter of connecting with yourself, really. Where that started to become [00:20:00] obvious to me was when I started to ask the question, who am I? Why did all this happen to me when I lost Megan? That was my turning point and that’s when you start connecting with yourself, almost like connecting with your soul when you’re asking stuff, why you do certain things and why you behave a certain way, and what makes you do certain things. An awful lot of stuff comes down to your mindset as well. Your mindset is very, very powerful. Success, people say, is 90% of achieving success is your mindset. That’s how [00:20:30] powerful your thoughts are because your thoughts develop into feelings, and then you take action from that, and then you get your results. That’s primarily how it works, simple.
Howard Hughes: Simple. Yeah. You found then that through the aromatherapy and the oils, along with your own inner capability to heal, you found this was aiding.
Johann Callaghan: The essential oils in particular, they [00:21:00] work in different levels. They work on the physical level. If you have a sore knee or whatever, they have properties around that for pain and inflammation, energies and properties, all of that is on a physical level, but then on an emotional level, the inhalation of essential oils is so profoundly powerful, really, really powerful. When you’re inhaling the oils, you’re inhaling through the nose, and it goes through the olfactory bulb and up into the amygdala and the limbic system. The limbic system is centered in the [00:21:30] center of the brain. The limbic system is connected to all of our emotions and our memories. An awful lot of us are stuck, kind of, in life. Do you know what I mean? We’re always living in the past. We repeat patterns from the past. We’re programmed that way. We grew up as children and we were programmed, conditioned, from our parents and our social surroundings and all the rest. [00:22:00] We just grew to automatically do these things. When there’s traumas in life or events, we can get stuck.
Our brain actually is a protective organ. It protects us from traumas and it does this from our memories, but with the essential oils, the essential oils help to release those memories in a safe environment. The essential oils, they … How would you explain? The [00:22:30] essential oils do help to bring all these emotions out and release them. You need to release these emotions in order to move forward. What we do is we suppress all of these emotions and the emotions get suppressed in our body and in different areas in the body, and that actually manifests into different illnesses in the body. It’s quite powerful stuff, it really is.
The essential oils really work, and they helped me. That’s my experience. There’s a lot of modalities out there, but for me personally, aromatherapy, [00:23:00] I just love the aromatherapy. It worked for me so I’m sticking to it. I do use other therapies as well, but just for me, the aromatherapy, that huge change of my life, helped me get through. I was gonna jump off that bridge, I tell you. I was. I had a lot of other help as well, but the essential oils, they’re a high frequency as well. They help to change the state of your mind and your mood as well. They do have vibration frequencies [00:23:30] so they work on that level as well, very powerful.
Howard Hughes: Brilliant. Of course, they’re used, I’ve done it myself, with the lavender on the pillow is great for sleep.
Johann Callaghan: Yeah. Lavender essential oil is a great one. It’s one that we all know as well. Importantly, as well, you have to like the smell of the oil. Lavender oil could remind you of your grandmother who used to beat you with a stick around the garden and if you smell lavender oil, you’re not gonna like it ’cause it reminds you of your horrible grandmother. You have to like [00:24:00] the smell of the oil as well, but lavender is a typical one or is a calming oil. Chamomile is another oil as well. That helps to relax you as well at night-time. There’s a few good oils. Marjoram is another one.
Leah, my little daughter, she loves lavender and marjoram. Bless her, she knows marjoram and the marjoram works directly on the nervous system, so it helps to calm down the nervous system. Typically, when we’re going to bed at night, there could be various reasons why people have difficulty sleeping so you could have a busy mind, [00:24:30] a very, very busy mind. A lot of us go to sleep with thoughts about the following day, if we have an interview, or an exam, or if we have to face somebody that we don’t want to talk to, or whatever. You could be re-going through whatever happened that day. We do have a very busy mind, an awful lot of us, so the essential oils help to clear the mind and they help to relax the nervous system and help to relax and clear the brain.
I’m actually writing a book on sleep so it’s all holistic approach to sleep. That’s kind of the topic. [00:25:00] I’m very much researching all about sleep and I’m listening to all the sleep summit and getting all the information from the experts out there. I’m in the middle of writing a book. I’m halfway through. I’m hoping to have it released early next year, and I’m writing that with Donna Kennedy as well. She’s helped me with that process, very good mentors.
Howard Hughes: Excellent. What have your findings been about sleep or lack of?
Johann Callaghan: There’s a lot of misunderstandings about sleep. An awful [00:25:30] lot of people have the perception that life is busy and everybody is trying to maximize their areas in the day that we have for work, but a lot of people underestimate sleep. You need sleep. You need to have your sleep. People take sleep for granted, but it is something that you need to be conscious of, especially if you’re having difficulty around it. Good quality sleep is very, very important. You could sleep for 10 hours but not have a good quality sleep. Our [00:26:00] sleep works in cycles. We’d have maybe five or six cycles a night, but it also works with the circadian rhythm and the cortisol levels in the body can affect your sleep as well. There’s a lot to consider around sleep.
People have this idea as well, you can sleep when you’re dead. We need to get rid of that out of our heads because lack of sleep, it impairs your cognitive function and you can be in a bad mood the following day. It [00:26:30] increases your stress and increases your blood pressure and insulin resistance, which can lead to diabetes as well. So there are huge important factors to consider. It can weaken your immune system and you’re also more susceptible to infections and colds as well, where you’re not getting enough sleep.
Sleep, you’re in two states at all time, either in a restful state or a growth state. When you’re in the restful state, that’s when the body repairs itself and it detoxifies. Typically, between 11:00 and 2:00 in the morning, [00:27:00] that’s when our body is detoxifying. The liver is detoxifying. A lot of people you find would wake up strangely at the exact same time every single night, and you could look at the timing, it’s body clock in relation to that, but in between 1:00 and 3:00 is the liver and our sleep could have some kind of liver problems around that area. It could be about digesting your thoughts and emotions or it could be something on a physical level, but it’s huge. It’s just amazing, some of the information that I’m finding out. So wait for the book. [00:27:30] You can hear it all.
Howard Hughes: It’s a big world full of information.
Johann Callaghan: Yeah.
Howard Hughes: What do they say? There are more things that fill heaven and earth than can occupy the amount of mind.
Johann Callaghan: Absolutely. There you go.
Howard Hughes: Welcome back to the Dublin Business Show here on Charity Radio. You can get us on Twitter @allcharityradio. You can text us in, 085-242-3173, or you can get us on Facebook, Charity Radio on Facebook, facebook.com/charityradio. [00:28:00] In the hot seat tonight, we have our guest, Johann Callaghan and Johann is from Therapeutic Healing. You can get her on therapeutic-healing.ie. Johann, we were talking about the various treatments that are on offer here, reiki, reflexology, foot reflex, which you said is different because-
Johann Callaghan: I use the creams and essential oils for it, yeah.
Howard Hughes: Application on that. What I also see here is that, obviously, you’ve got to go and meet people and you’ve got to [00:28:30] be on site to do these things. Do you do workshops or anything like that?
Johann Callaghan: What I do is I’m working down in the Healthy Living Centre. Kevin Connolly runs the shop down there, and he has a clinic there, so that’s where I operate from. In addition to that, I also do pamper parties. I will go onsite as well. The last one I’ve done now, I actually went down to Waterford and I’d done a couple of days of work down [00:29:00] there, it was a big huge wedding party. So I’ve done all the massages down there and all the various different treatments.
I’ll go out on site, so I can go to your home if you just want to have a girls’ night in, and you can do half hour treatments. If you had a good few people, you can do 15 minutes, 20 minutes treatment. All the packages are there on my website, so you can go and check that out, or you can do a full one hour treatment, but you’d have to for maybe three or four people [00:29:30] or whatever. I can come to your home or if you wanted to hire out a room in a hotel, I can do it that way as well. If you were renting a holiday home, I can do it that way as well. It’s just an alternative, and it’s a really nice way to have a great start to the weekend or whatever.
Howard Hughes: And just a bit of chat between the ladies and the girls.
Johann Callaghan: All the girls, yeah. Of course, the men can come as well, but typically it’s the ladies who like to pamper themselves, but men are welcome.
Howard Hughes: Is this something that you do by yourself or do you get [00:30:00] somebody else in for this?
Johann Callaghan: No, I do that by myself, yeah. I don’t do an awful lot of them. I wouldn’t be out the door with that type of thing, but I do get a good few inquiries now, but when I’m doing them, oh my God, it’s a lot of work. I could do with a break in between.
Howard Hughes: Yeah, I was just thinking that. Even the reflexology, or the massage, or anything like that, you’re working your-
Johann Callaghan: It’s very physical, especially the massage work. On the energy side as well, if I’m doing energy treatments, I need to mind myself [00:30:30] there as well. It depends on what the person has, but funny enough, when I’m doing a treatment, I actually feel like I’m getting a treatment myself. I just get into the zone and I connect with myself and with the client. It really is, it’s wonderful. I really enjoy it. Something that I’ve identified over the last two years maybe is that I wouldn’t be keen on doing seven or eight treatments a day, five days a week. I’d be a wreck and my health would not be the better for it either. I’m quite [00:31:00] happy just doing a few treatments down at the Healthy Living Centre, or pamper parties, or whatever.
I’m spending an awful lot of my time right now on my courses. That’s where I want to branch out into, is the online training. I would do live workshops as well, so I’d have people coming to me for a workshop and making up the creams. I do different themes. The last one that I did was on colds and flus so I make up two products. They get to bring these products home with you as well, so I provide all the ingredients. You [00:31:30] get a little manual as well, with all the recipes in it, so it’s really good. It’s a half day workshop and it’s really, really good. Another one that I do is green cleaning. I give you some products for green cleaning, alternatives to using bleach and all them nasty products with chemicals in them, and then I do a workshop where I make creams. So there’s a lot of people interested in making the actual creams and lotions. I do another workshop on balms and ointments. There’s very different themes. Whatever you’re into, whatever you’re drawn to, [00:32:00] I do various … I could do endless amounts of workshops.
Howard Hughes: So as a business then, you’re sourcing materials. These aren’t things that you pick off the shelf in Tesco’s.
Johann Callaghan: Yeah, I had to do an awful lot of research because all my ingredients, they had to be above board [00:32:15] and organic. I’m very passionate about organic and the great thing about all this is I know exactly what’s going into all my products. That’s the beauty about all this because there is high brand of products out there and they have chemicals in them, toxic chemicals like your parabens, and SLS, and [00:32:30] look on the back of your shampoo bottle and you’ll see them in there.
It’s a cumulative effect of all these things. The average lady or woman would use maybe 15 beauty products a day. When you count up all the unique ingredients, it could be 120 unique ingredients. It’s a cumulative effect. When you take on top of that the pollutants in our environment and our indoor home, and what we’re breathing in, and then your EMF as well, the electrical field around you as well. We’re all using digital [00:33:00] devices and we’re not unplugging from them. We’re just going around general static. All that together is just not good for the body. I’m really all about less. We’re never gonna get away from toxic chemicals completely. There will always be some there, so I’m all about reducing it as much as we can and being aware of what you’re using as well.
Howard Hughes: Is there something that people can do or place in the home that will make the atmosphere a bit more …
Johann Callaghan: [00:33:30] Funny enough the indoor environment has more pollutants in your home than it does outside. A lot of people are horrified by that, but that’s a true fact. What you can do is when you’re doing your green cleaning, in my green cleaning workshop, for example, I use the oils making up products to kill dust mites. Dust mites is a huge one, especially for allergies. It’s for the winter time, allergies and that. I make up products for that. I show you how to make ’em, what oils to use for [00:34:00] that. Then you can also burn the oils in the air. It does reduce the EMFs as well. Also, you know these Glade and indoor fresheners and what have you, they’re called aromatic and aromatherapy now, but aromatherapy is known for smell, but it’s not with essential oils. People think, when they hear aromatherapy on a product, it’s not the oils necessarily.
With the essential oils, what the essential oils does is when it goes up into the atmosphere, into the air, [00:34:30] it grabs onto all the molecules and it brings it down to the ground and it kills all the molecules, all those horrible smells if you have a bad odor or whatever. Whereas if you have a spray, you know those room sprays that you buy at the supermarket, whatever, it masks the smell, but smells still come back. It’s only masking the smell temporarily. That’s effectually what’s happening. The essential oils can actually kill all them airborne. Lemongrass is a great one. It’s a great air purifier. It’ll kill any bugs going around in the air. If you’ve got [00:35:00] any colds and flus going on, especially going into wintertime, lemongrass is a good one to burn. Then of course, eucalyptus is great for the decongestion and help you breathing as well. Lemongrass is a great one for killing air impurities.
Howard Hughes: So is there anything then as we come into the winter season, the cold season, is there anything that will strengthen the immune system? Is there anything in particular that we should be using?
Johann Callaghan: Strengthening the immune system, it comes down to using lots of things in addition [00:35:30] to aromatherapy. Sleep is major, if you get good sleep because when the body is in the state of sleep, it’s repairing itself and it’s detoxifying itself. So primarily, we have to detoxify our bodies. We always have to detoxify our bodies. We’re eating so much processed foods now and lots of sugary things. Sugar, we’re only supposed to have 25 teaspoons of sugar a day for our body to cope with [00:35:54]. I was looking at an article today and in [ 00:35:57], there’s six teaspoons of sugar [00:36:00] in Caprison 00:35:59] and all these fizzy drinks. We’re having an odd biscuit here and there and in the processed foods. That doesn’t help us for the sleeping either. What were we talking about that time? Sorry, I’m lost in my train of thought.
Howard Hughes: We were talking about building the immune system.
Johann Callaghan: Building the immune system, yeah. The sugar element of it does not help the immune system to work properly. You need all your nervous system and endocrine system working optimally as well for your immune system to [00:36:30] work. So essential oils to help boost the immune system, lavender is a good one. Clary sage is a good one. There’s lots of good oils to help to boost. You can burn them in the air, you can have baths as well. Your salts are very important as well. The salts are very important for the exchange of the cells on the cellular level is what I’m trying to say.
Magnesium and your potassium, foods with all that in it as [00:37:00] well, it’s very good to help detoxify the body as well, to allow the elimination process to work. Magnesium salt bath is very good. You can get your magnesium flakes and put some essential oils to have them both in the aromatic bath, the salt magnesium bath as well. That will help to reduce some, relax the muscles as well at nighttime. When you’re relaxed, you’re getting an effective night’s sleep and you’re increasing the immune system, but foods as well is a big deal for the immune system. Just cut out [00:37:30] the sugar really. Do you know what I mean? There’s lots that you can do to help boost … Exercise. Exercise helps to increase the endorphins. So yeah.
Howard Hughes: Excellent. Look, we’re going to take a quick musical break and we’ll be right back after this. You know the sound of Peter Cetera and Chicago there and If You Leave Me Now. Welcome back to the Dublin Business Show here on Charity Radio. You can get us on Twitter @allcharityradio, you can get us on Facebook on Charity Radio. You can also listen to the vast array and myriad [00:38:00] of shows we have on Mixcloud. In the hot seat tonight, we have Johann Callaghan from therapeutic-healing.ie. Hello, Johann.
Johann Callaghan: Hi, Howard.
Howard Hughes: Thank you very much. You’ve had an interesting breakfast recently.
Johann Callaghan: I certainly did. I was at the Transform Your Life and Business seminar two weekends ago. It’s a seminar that Pat Slattery and Donna Kennedy arranged. Pat Slattery is my mentor as well, [00:38:30] just to throw that in. I was at a VIP breakfast there for two mornings, and I had breakfast with Brian Tracy and Packie Bonner. Yeah, and I got my photographs, and I had a little chat with them. Oh my God, it was absolutely amazing.
Howard Hughes: Excellent. Did you meet anyone there?
Johann Callaghan: I met Rosetta Broy there. I just see her tweet coming in there. Hi, Rosetta. It was great. I met lots of people, great networking as well, lots of great networking [00:39:00] there. You always meet people at these events. It’s all about going to these events as well, and meeting people, and following up when you meet with them to keep the connection, very powerful for your business.
Howard Hughes: How long are you in Therapeutic Healing now?
Johann Callaghan: I actually started the business in 2013. That was when all the recession started happening. When I went back to work after I lost Megan, I was working there for three years, but every couple of months, [00:39:30] I was put down to three days, and then it was back to five days. I knew sooner or later, every month the whole company has been reassessed, but I was eventually let go, and I got a small redundancy [00:39:39] package. I was there for three years at that point. I had to go on the dole. It was the first time I had ever been on the dole so it was a horrible feeling, to tell you the truth, but I had to go on the dole. I was on that for a while and I just didn’t like the whole idea of collecting the money. I just didn’t like the whole feeling [00:40:00] of it. Some people feel that they’re better off on the dole the way things are, but I wanted to do something with my life.
I went to the Kildare LEADER Partnership at Frances Farrell, and I started doing a course there, a start-your-own-business course. It started from there. I had an idea. I had all my therapies that I was actually doing. I was really just doing them as a hobby to start off with. Because of my journey and where I came to be, I decided [00:40:30] I wanted to help people as well. I was building on it as well. There was lots more that I wanted to do, but it was starting off with the aromatherapy, and the skincare creams, and the massages, and the treatments, and that as well.
I started the business there and Frances Farrell very kindly helped me out. She was very supportive and I went to a lot of networking meetings as well. There was a lot of free training as well following up from that. Then I went onto LEO, Kildare LEO, and they did a lot of courses as well. I was doing courses left, right, center, every course that was [00:41:00] going to how to support the business. I learned a lot from that. It was one step of the journey. I took my business so far and there was a lot of mistakes that I made in the first year. I was waiting for Christmas to come to me, and that just does not happen. I was on the back-to-work allowance for the first two years as well. I was in my comfort zone, but you have to get out of your comfort zone when you are in business yourself because you have to be responsible for yourself and your own actions, and you have to be accountable. You have to recognize that and step [00:41:30] up.
I continued doing courses and I’m doing a course now with Paul O’Mahoney at the moment, and I’m really investing heavily in courses. I always will be doing courses because there’s always new opportunities out there. This online course that I’ve written myself, it’s live. It’s only live since May and I have students on it already from America, and England, and in Ireland. I was looking back on it there the last couple of weeks, and it’s absolutely amazing, but I’m going to be doing more courses as well. I will be doing a course around positive mindset as well, and more course in [00:42:00] aromatherapy.
It’s just endless, the amount of course you can do, and it’s very convenient for people ’cause they can do it at home. The one I have up there at the moment, it’s the five-week course and there’s lots of bonuses. There’s a free ebook that you can download as well with loads of recipes. There’s a Facebook group that you can connect to as well just for the students. The private group’s what you get for the support as well. I’ve lots of different channels for support. I just want to reach out to people. It’s a passive income as well. I’m looking at the bigger picture now and bringing the business [00:42:30] a step further.
Howard Hughes: Going forward, where would you like to see Therapeutic Healing?
Johann Callaghan: I’m going to be going online. There’s going to be heavy online presence. I’m going to really build on this online course. I’m going to have a heavy online business presence. I’m also going to be doing the workshops as well ’cause it’s very important to meet people. I’ll always continue doing the treatments as well, but it’s not my primary focus. My primary focus now is on online training and reaching out to people that way. I’m really reaching out to mothers [00:43:00] because mothers are nurturing in nature and they look after the family. Daddies are as well, don’t get me wrong. My husband is very good at it, but primarily, it’s the mommies who are the nurturing people. It’s the feminine aspect of it. I’m reaching out to those people. I just want to bring the business further doing the online training. I’ll be building on all those courses. So that’s where I want to go with it.
Howard Hughes: Brilliant. Well Johann, thank you very much for [00:43:30] calling into us tonight.
Johann Callaghan: Delighted.
Howard Hughes: Coming in all the way from Athy, delighted to hear how well you’re doing, how on point, on focus you are. Thank you very much for sharing your story at the start.
Johann Callaghan: Yeah, no problem. If anyone was affected by that, they can call me and I’d love to talk to you because it’s not easy.
Howard Hughes: No, and I say no as a bloke. We’ll never know.
Johann Callaghan: You have your role to play in it.
Howard Hughes: With that, [00:44:00] we’re going to say goodnight to you.
Johann Callaghan: Goodnight, Howard. Goodnight, Alan. Thanks a million for having me. I’m delighted to be here. Thanks a million.
If you liked this article and would like to find out more, visit Johann’s online courses.
People have asked me many times what is the difference between an oil diffuser and an oil burner and which one is better. I use both interchangeable and I enjoy both but have preferences for when I use them.
Oil Burner
The oil burner consists of a bowl on top that is filled with water and essential oils. The tea light candle is placed underneath it and heats up the water. The steam carries the essential oils into the air. The therapeutic properties of the essential oil are somewhat degraded through the heating process. It changes the molecular structure and this is what reduces the therapeutic benefits. This method is suited for aromatic purposes as a nice natural air freshener. I personally love the flame aswell.
Oil Diffuser
There are two types of oil diffusers: A nebuliser and an Ultrasonic humidifier.
Ultrasonic Humidifier
The ultrasonic humidifier uses a mixture of water and essential oils. The water carries the essential oils into the air. This cool mist is not heated and safe to use in childrens’ bedrooms. You can also use a portable diffuser for your car.
Nebuliser
The nebuliser uses pure essential oils only, requires no heat and does not use any water. It uses pressurised air to atomise the essential oils into micro particles. The aroma is quite potent and remains in the air for a number of hours.
Inhalation is one of the most effective ways of using essential oils. It is a great way to kill airbourne germs and helping to lift moods. The aromatic molecules reaches the limbic brain via the olfactory system and so has an impact on our physical, emotional and spiritual well-being.
Here are some oils that you can use:
Lavender: Calming, relaxing, de-stressing. Great before bed. Lemon: Cleansing, air purifier. Helps fight colds and flus. Peppermint: Focus, Stimulating. Great if you are studying.
If you liked this article and would like to find out more, visit Johann’s online courses.
Which do you prefer, oil burner or oil diffuser? Comment below.
This homemade body wash is a simple, non toxic easy to make recipe you can make yourself with natural ingredients and essential oils.
Why should you make your own personal care products? Well, you can avoid harmful chemicals by using natural ingredients, reuse containers and it saves you money!
Organic castor oil is known for its anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties. It helps to soften and hydrate the skin leaving it smooth and supple.
Organic castile soap contains only vegetable-based ingredients such as coconut oil, olive oil, hemp oil and jojoba oil.
If you like citrusy fragrance, use a blend of lime and grapefruit. You can use orange or lemon instead aswell.
Add organic castor oil to the castile soap and essential oils. Stir slowly with a spoon. Pour the mixture into a container/bottle of your choice using a funnel if required. You can use this homemade body wash for a complete body and skin care treatment while in the shower or bathing.
Instructions
Carefully mix all ingredients by hand with a spoon in a glass liquid measuring cup. Do not use a blender, whisk or had mixer as this will create bubbles and make it impossible to get into a container.
Pour into a bottle and use in the shower as a body wash.
Note: This recipe will last for several months at room temperature.
If you liked this recipe and would like to find out more, visit Johann’s online courses.
What is your favourite aroma blend to use in the shower? Comment below.
Green cleaning refers to using cleaning methods and products with environmentally friendly ingredients and procedures which are designed to preserve human health and environmental quality.
Why Choose Green Cleaning to Conventional Methods
When we buy commercial cleaning products, we expect them to clean. There are cleaners for everything including the bathroom, kitchen, shower, mirrors and oven cleaners and many more. Many conventional home cleaning products are toxic, non-biodegradable, and and come with warnings such as do “not take internally”, “Flammable”, “Warning. Keep away from children”. Too many companies are using products with specific ingredients to enhance their product performance and this comes with a toxic price. These ingredients can affect neurological functions, cause skin irritations and chemical burns, while other chemicals can act as respiratory irritants, carcinogens or hormone disruptors.
Watch the labels
We are all becoming more conscious of ingredients in our cleaning and cosmetic products with regard to our health and environment. Manufacturing companies are using tactics to make us believe their products are safe and better to use. The term “Natural” is widely used on commercial cleaning products and cosmetics. There’s no standard definition for this claim. The word “natural” can be applied to just about anything including plastic, which comes from naturally occurring petroleum. A study published in the Science Advancesfound 91% of plastic in the world doesn’t get recycled, and around 79% is kept on landfills or other places of the environment. The Guardian reported that 1000000 plastic bottles are bought around the world in a minute and the number will increase by 20% more by 2021. Refusing to buy items packaged in single-use plastic, you help address our environment plastics problem and eliminate toxins and microplastic from your life.
Natural All Purpose Cleaning Spray
Ingredients
100ml Distilled Water
1 tablespoon white vinegar
6 drops Pine Essential Oil
12 drops Lemon Essential Oil
Instructions
Make your cleaning spray in a 100ml glass spray bottle. Mix all the ingredients together and shake well. You can use it on surfaces in your kitchen, bathroom, and anywhere in your home. I recommend making this blend fresh every few weeks.
Essential oils are one of the most naturally anti-bacterial and anti-fungal options for homemade cleaning recipes. Essential Oils are effective alternatives for home cleaning and are easy to make and use. Other essential oils can used such as tea tree, lavender, rosemary, peppermint and orange.
White vinegar is very effective at removing mildew, grease, odours, some stains and wax build-up.
What do you use to clean your house naturally? How did it work out? Please comment below.
If you like this article, and would like to learn more please visit JohannCallaghan.com
Resources and References
15 Ways to Live Zero Waste Lifestyle and Tips to Adopt Trash-Free Living
Research shows that carcinogenic and hormone disrupting chemicals have been linked to a number of health problems including infertility, lower sperm counts, obesity, diabetes, thyroid imbalance, and certain types of cancers. The knowledge and information you’ll learn here will inform you and therefore help to empower you to make healthier choices for you and your family.
We are exposed to toxins on a regular basis. TOXINS are anything that can interfere with our body’s ability to function OPTIMALLY. They have a major impact on your SKIN! Your skin is the largest organ and it has many functions often not appreciated. The skin can tell you how your body is performing inside from a cellular level. So the skin is a doorway to how your body is working.
Outdoor Environment:pesticides, electric power plants, factory emissions, cooling systems, and diesel fumes
Indoor Environment: Most indoor air pollution comes from sources that release gases or particles into the air. Carbon monoxide (Blocks the movement of oxygen around the body), Nitrogen dioxide (combustion pollutants- a by-product of gas fires or cookers), Flame retardants in furniture and mattresses, Radon (Radon is a radioactive gas that seeps from the soil and rocks beneath your home). Other sources are Harsh solvents in cleaning products, Mould, Mildew, dust mites and Personal care products.
All of these sources of indoor air pollution can combine to create a toxic mess in the air we breathe. The common denominator is CHEMICALS.
Additives are pretty much what you get in processed foods. It can throw things of metabolically and hormonally. And that’s pretty much what a toxin does.
Personal Care Products contain toxic chemicals like Parabens, SLS and Phthalates which we are going to go into more detail about.
We will Never Rid the body of all toxins BUT we can decrease our exposure and their impact.
Personal Care Products
The health and beauty industry is a business and many companies will do whatever it takes make money. Even if this includes using additives and preservatives that are not safe to put on the human body!
Many people ignore this because they are only putting these products on their skin and not ingesting them. However, this is not the case.
Did you know that your skin is the largest organ in your body and up to 60% you put ON your skin goes INTO your body!
The average woman uses about 12 products daily which contain up to 168 different chemical ingredients. This ranges from body wash, shampoo, shaving gel, body lotion, face moisturiser, deodorant, make up, hair spray and more. The average man uses 6 products daily with 85 unique ingredients. Kids are exposed to more chemicals than adults in the environment around them including the air, water, food and personal care products. Their immune system is less capable of dealing with chemical toxins. Baby wipes containing bronopol, DMDM hydantoin and fragrance are a very big offender. Teenagers are using more personal care products now from hair gels and strengtheners to make up and tanning lotions. EWG detected 16 potentially toxic chemicals including phthalates, triclosan, parabens, and musks in the blood and urine samples from 20 teenage girls. These are hormone disruptors and are carcinogenic. Teenagers are now experiencing earlier onset of puberty as a result.
By using essential oils and plant based oils you can reduce your overall exposure to toxins. Use essential oils instead of synthetic air fresheners and spray deodourants. Essential oils help to bring the body back into balance. They are anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-fungal and help to boost your immune system. They smell amazing and boost your overall well-being and immunity also. Vegetable oils or carrier oils contain phytonutrients that nourish and protect your skin and fight free radicals, the precursor to pre-mature ageing and other skin diseases.
Build your immune system to help reduce the effects of toxic exposure and open up your detoxification pathways.
Using and making your own skin and beauty products and personal care products are the only way to guarantee that you won’t be exposed to these dangerous toxins. There are friendly to the environment, your skin will love you for it and you’ll not regret it!
Top 8 Toxic Cosmetic Ingredients to Avoid
Parabens
This is also known as Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Isoparaben, Ethylparaben, Butylparaben. These are synthetic preservatives found in many cosmetics and personal care products to inhibit microbial growth and extend the shelf life of the product. They act as oestrogen mimics and thus disrupt the hormonal system. They are known to cause rashes and allergic reactions, so not good if you have sensitive skin.
Linked to breast cancer, decreased sperm counts and precocious puberty (early onset of puberty).
Sodium Lauryl/Laureth Sulfate (SLS)
It is an inexpensive and very effective foaming agent. It is used in concrete floor cleaners, engine degreasers, car wash detergents, and just about every soap and shampoo on the market. In the same way as it dissolves the grease on car engines, sodium lauryl sulfate also dissolves the oils on your skin, which can cause a drying effect. They act as oestrogen mimics and thus disrupt the hormonal system.
Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS), Sodium Laureth Sulfate (SLES), and Ammonium Laurel Sulfate (ALS) are in most body care products. According to the EWG review, research has shown that they put you at risk for cancer, skin irritation, and organ toxicity.
Mineral oil/ Petrolatum (Petroleum Jelly)
This is a by-product of crude oil and it is used as a very cheap emollient base ingredient. It has no nutrient value and can interfere with the body’s natural moisturising ability. It can not be absorbed by the skin and creates a film on the surface, blocking the pores and preventing the skin from its normal functioning. This petroleum by-product can causes allergies.
Synthetic Fragrance/Parfum
This is a blanket term for hidden chemicals that should be avoided. Phthalates (plasticising agent) are included in this.
Phthalates
Used to retain scent in a product. A plasticizer, used to soften plastic and makes pvc flexible. Used in skin moisturisers and skin penetration enhancers in cosmetics. Linked to cancer.
A study published in the journal Environmental Research analysed urine samples of 1040 men for 8 types of phthalates. The average age of the men was 32 – 36 years old. They each gave two samples for the study. The researchers found that the presence of phthalates in the urine was linked to poor semen quality.
Phthalates are chemical plasticisers that can sneak in almost anywhere from milk (the plastic used on the cows’ udders) to shower curtains and toiletries but you must do what you can to reduce your exposure to them. Make a habit of reading the product labels of everything you use around your home and on your body. Phthalates contain hormone disrupting effects in the body.
Talc (Magnesium Silicate)
A natural mineral found to be a lung irritant. It is widely used in makeup and body powders as well as baby powder. cornstarch powder is a safe and reliable alternative.
Made from the purified mineral bearing the same name. Is poisonous when inhaled or swallowed.
Oxybenzone
An active ingredient in chemical sunscreens that accumulates in fatty tissues and is linked to allergies, hormone disruption and cellular damage
Formaldehyde
A known neurotoxin and carcinogen and irritant found in personal care products. DMDM hydantoin-(formaldehyde releaser) It increases the shelf-life of cosmetics (e.g. shampoos, skincare products, hair gels, baby wipes etc) by “releasing” formaldehyde and thus killing bacteria.
Conclusion
Don’t be fooled by companies claiming that their products are “all natural” or even “organic.” Empower yourself by not assuming that something is 100% safe. Be a voracious label reader and make sure that you’re not putting dangerous chemicals onto your skin!
As I am so passionate about this, I am looking for your much needed support for something I am so passionate about. If you know me, you will understand this. I have just entered a competition to win an Organic Skincare Entrepreneur Scholarship. I have until 25th Sept 2016 to get as many votes in. Go to this link: http://wshe.es/T2YgYcoS and click the ‘like’ button beside my picture. Scroll down to see my entry. Thanks for all your support. <3
Back To School: How To Make a Natural Hand Cleaner [Recipe]
It’s that time of year again and the kids are heading back to school. It’s a perfect time to make an effective hand cleaner with essential oils to help ward off those pesky germs.
This hand cleaner is quite different to the alcohol based cleansers which can contribute to breaking down the skin surface layer and drying out the skin. It is also free of triclosan, a known anti-bacterial chemical ingredient found in hand soaps and body washes which is linked to hormone disruption. This hand cleanser is much gentler and is made with skin nourishing ingredients aloe vera gel and essential oils of Tea Tree and Lavender, full of anti-bacterial properties. Aloe Vera gel is probably best known for treating sunburns and for healing minor wounds. It contains anti-bacterial properties and vitamins and minerals so it is a great one to have for cuts and scrapes. Just what every kid needs!
Use as needed to naturally remove germs from hands.
Use a small funnel to transfer into your bottle. If you wanted to make a spray version of this hand sanitiser, all you have to do is use half distilled water and half aloe vera gel and mix together with the essential oils.
The blend is safe to use on children five years and older. This is a fun and very simple recipe that you can even make with your children. You can use this for cuts and scraps and even as an after sun gel or spray.
Have you ever made a hand cleaner? How did it turn out? Please comment below.
If you like this article, and would like to learn more please visit my online courses page.
uses a mixture of water and essential oils. The water carries the essential oils into the air. This cool mist is not heated and safe to use in childrens’ bedrooms. You can also use a portable 
for your car.
uses pure essential oils only, requires no heat and does not use any water. It uses pressurised air to atomise the essential oils into micro particles. The aroma is quite potent and remains in the air for a number of hours.
)
The blend is safe to use on children five years and older. This is a fun and very simple recipe that you can even make with your children. You can use this for cuts and scraps and even as an after sun gel or spray.