It’s Spring and Allergy Season Again
Originally Posted Winter 2015
1. It’s Spring and Allergy Season Again
~^~by Gloria Miller
For some of us, it’s “that time of year” again. Meteorologists are now alerting us to the presence of pollen in the air, which can cause a lot of misery for those who are sensitive to it.
But taking pharmaceuticals isn’t the answer. Why? For several reasons!
First, pharmaceuticals are created to SUPPRESS SYMPTOMS. They don’t address the root cause of a problem. Symptoms are warning signals of something deeper. It’s never a good idea to turn off a warning system!
Second, pharmaceuticals ALWAYS come with side effects. Just read the package inserts. Some of those side effects are pretty scary!
Fortunately, we “oilers” have other options — safer, gentler, and more natural options. If you are willing to work WITH your body, there are ways to reduce the effects that allergens can have on you.
Try a drop or two of YL Lavender on the back of the neck. Lavender, one of the most versatile essential oils, is called “Mother Nature’s Antihistamine.” Lavender positively affects both the sympathetic and the parasympathetic nervous system.
When symptoms are really aggravating, you might wish to put 4 drops of Lavender and 2-3 drops of Peppermint together in a capsule; take with a tall glass of water. You can take this same dose several times through the day. Usually, that finishes your allergies for the season. (Clear vegetable capsules, Code 3193) (Remember, however, that ONLY YOUNG LIVING BRAND ESSENTIAL OILS ARE SAFE TO BE TAKEN INTERNALLY!)
But what could be the ROOT cause of allergies?
Actually, people who have sluggish colons are more susceptible to seasonal allergies!
Oh, I know — it’s considered “icky” to talk about colon health. Well, I say GET OVER IT! Your colon is so important to your body that it was the first organ to develop when you were a fetus. That’s right! Not the heart — the colon. And when you think about it, if the sewage disposal system in your house isn’t working efficiently, it won’t be a very pleasant place to live. Believe me, you won’t be able to ignore a problem like that for very long.
Because of advertising, your first thought may be “fiber.” My first thought is “water,” as in “are you drinking enough?” (Without enough water, your household sewage system won’t work efficiently either.)
Try drinking a tall glass of warm water with the juice of half a fresh lemon in it (not bottled or frozen lemon juice), and do it the first thing upon arising. This gets your system started, and also helps set a healthier alkaline balance. Do this every day!
To be sure you are drinking enough water, divide your body weight in pounds by 2, and drink that number of fluid ounces every day. That is the amount of pure water (preferably not chlorinated) you should be drinking daily for optimum benefits. If you aren’t accustomed to drinking water, that seems like a lot at first. Give yourself 2 weeks to work up to that amount. (Nothing substitutes for water — not milk, or soda pop, or tea, or coffee, or any other beverage.) At the end of that time, notice how much better you feel, how your complexion has improved, and that your eyes aren’t puffy in the morning (one of the sure signs you didn’t drink enough water the day before!)
Next, make a real commitment to eating plenty of fresh, raw fruits and veggies. That’s really the best kind of fiber to be consuming. The juiciness of plant foods, plus the nutrients in them, plus chewing every bite thoroughly makes for better health.
If you want more help improving your digestive system, check out Young Living’s products for intestinal health. Read the information provided so you’ll know which one meets your needs: the Cleansing Trio (Code 3115); the NEW Five-day Nutritive Cleanse (Code 4890); Life 5 Probiotic (Code 3099); and a wide array of digestive enzymes and other products listed under “Wellness” on the website. Furthermore, all YL’s nutritional supplements are enhanced with the power of our essential oils, which are the best in the world.
We know we can depend upon Young Living’s quality. NO OTHER COMPANY has its own organic farms, its own distilleries, its own labs, or the history of commitment to excellence that Young Living has displayed for over 25 years now.
And regardless of what another company’s distributors may tell you, NO company is a sanctioned “offshoot” of Young Living or has comparable oils. To learn more, visit www.RaindropTraining.com, click on the Archives of The Raindrop Messenger, go to Vol 11, No 3, Spring 2013, and Scroll down to the third article entitled, “Chinese Foods & Oils: Red Flags from a Red Country” by Greg Hitter, PhD.
This year, start your “Spring House Cleaning” with your own precious body.
Gloria is a Young Living Distributor
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2. Clarification of Young Living’s Recent Raindrop Claims
by David Stewart, PhD, & Lee Stewart, SCCI
It has been reported that at recent meetings, sponsored by Young Living, that Gary Young, has stated that “Raindrop technique is being brought back under the Young Living corporate umbrella, is intended for use only on family and friends, and that people are not to charge and apply it as a professional practice.” It has also been reported that Young Living is claiming that they “own” Raindrop Technique. Similar statements are also found on the new “Young Living Raindrop Technique®” website, officially launched on April 10th, 2015.
This has caused some confusion, concern, and consternation among many Young Living Distributors. It has particularly concerned those who have been engaged in the practice of Raindrop for some time, including many who have a professional practice in the Technique and among those who teach Raindrop Training Classes.
THE TRUE MEANING OF YOUNG LIVING’S RECENT CLAIMS
When referring to the Technique, Young Living has been using the proprietary designation, “Young Living Raindrop Technique®,” for several years, which displays the little “R” in a circle to indicate that the phrase is duly registered as a trademark and, therefore, “proprietary property” owned by Young Living. This has been misunderstood to mean that Young Living and Gary Young own the technique, itself, and/or the “Raindrop” name.
What this acrually means is that Gary Young and Young Living legally own a registered trademark on the phrase “Young Living Raindrop Technique®”– but only on that phrase. Nobody can use that phrase without their permission. But the shorter phrase, “Raindrop Technique,” and the word, “Raindrop,” are not legally registered trademarks. Anybody can legally use either of them — including you, and including Young Living.
Neither do Young Living’s recent claims mean that the Raindrop Technique, itself, is a proprietary entity belonging to them, or to anyone else. Raindrop Technique, has long been practiced in many versions world-wide, and cannot be “proprietary property” of anyone, not even by Gary Young or Young Living, Inc. In actuality, in their recent statements they are not claiming that they are the only ones who can teach it or practice it.
Anyone can teach Raindrop, and anyone can practice it however they wish, professionally or for private purposes, and call it “Raindrop.” Young Living’s claim only means that they, alone, can call it and name it with the four-word phrase, “Young Living Raindrop Technique®,” and that they have the proprietary right to protect that claim with the Registered Trademark notice. Their statements are not meant to restrict anyone else from doing or teaching Raindrop Technique, or from using the term, “Raindrop.”
HOW PROPRIETARY LAW WORKS
D. Gary Young is the originator and developer of Raindrop Technique, and he will always be recognized as such. However, beginning with Gary’s many public classes and trainings in Raindrop over the last 20 years, Raindrop Technique became public knowledge the world over. It has been practiced and taught by many people, in some form, for nearly two decades. If Young Living had wanted to claim proprietary rights over the name and the procedure, it would have had to have done so from the start.
Once something has been released to the public, and becomes widely known and available, it enters the “Public Domain.” That means it becomes “public property,” so to speak, and no one can claim exclusive rights to it. That is why the law requires that in order for a copyright, a patent, or a trademark, to be legal and valid, it must be applied for and established from the very beginning, before it is released publically. Trying to claim something already established in the public as being privately owned by an individual or a company would be like trying to put the fizz back in a bottle of soda pop after it has been opened and the carbonation has already escaped.
MANY VERSIONS OF RAINDROP
Back in the Fall of 2000, before we launched The Center for Aromatherapy Research & Education (CARE), which was in February of 2001, we sent all of our proposed literature, videos, handbooks, and policies to Young Living for their review. We wanted to make sure we were accurate, complete, and correct in how we taught Raindrop, faithful to what Gary Young was then teaching it. We wanted to be certain that we had accuratly replicated Gary’s technique and had Young Living’s Approval. The authorized Young Living personel at that time, including Gary Young, assurred us that the way we had documented Raindrop Technique was exactly how Gary had taught it in the large Dallas seminar in January of 2000.
At that large gathering, Gary announced that what he was teaching and demonstrating then was his “best version of Raindrop,” and that he would “not be changing it any more,” as he had often done while refining it in past years. That session with Gary in Dallas was filmed by Young Living and it was announced to the gathering that a VHS video would be made available for purchase to preserve and document what Gary was doing. There were about 1000 students there.
However, after that Raindrop Training in Dallas, in 2000 AD, Gary and Young Living changed their minds and decided not to produce that video and make it available to anyone. That is when we decided to make our own videos and notes to teach Raindrop. Subsequently, when Gary Young taught additional Raindrop Trainings, where I was present, he changed the technique repeatedly. Ultimately, he “shortened it and simplified it” (in his own words), not to “improve” it, but to make it “easier” to teach Raindrop to large classes in a one-day seminar.
Gary, himself, had observed that the longer, more complete version he had taught in Dallas was not being absorbed by the students, and that many, if not most, were unable to adequately learn the technique during a single training seminar. As a consequence, thousands trained by Gary Young and Young Living returned to their homes and began to practice Raindrop as best they remembered, which gave rise to untold variations in the technique throughout the globe.
We have attended many of Gary’s Raindrop Trainings since the one in Dallas in 2000. With Gary’s large classes, which often have 1000 students or more, we observed repeatedly, it seemed, that as many as half the students would go home confused and unable to do a Raindrop.
Some time later, I mentioned to Gary, privately, while attending one of his trainings, that the problem in teaching Raindrop Technique in a manner that students could completely learn in a single seminar was not that the Technique was too complicated or too difficult. The problem was that his classes were too large and unmanageable without an adequate number of well trained assistants. In the past, many of the assistants in Young Living Raindrop Trainings did not even know how to properly do a Raindrop, themselves, and were there to assist simply because they volunteered, because of their rank as a YL Distributor, or because they were simply available.
Young Living Raindrop Trainings are not meant to prepare one for professional practice, and the simplified version they teach is not meant to provide the benefits a professional session of Raindrop Technique should deliver. Neither do Young Living Raindrop Trainings provide the auxilliary skills, background, and instruction one needs to be knowledgeable and fully equipped to offer Raindrop as a Practice. Young Living does not certify or test anyone as to their competence and knowledge of Raindrop Technique, but issues only “Certificates of Participation” to those who attend their classes.
By contrast, the Center for Aromatherapy Research & Education does Certify those who complete the CARE Program in Raindrop Technique, and provides the means for them to be Licensed and practice Raindrop Technique legally.
SMALL CLASSES & WELL-TRAINED TEACHERS
CARE Raindrop Trainings are relatively small classes led by well-trained teachers with the intent that everyone gets individualized hands-on instruction in the complete Raindrop Technique, as Gary taught it in Dallas, Texas, in 2000. In order to remain actively certified by the Center for Aromatherapy Resarch & Education, CARE Instructors are regularly evaluated for their skill in technique and for their effectiveness in teaching. They must also adhere to a Professional Code of Ethics.
CARE’s program not only equips individuals to preform Raindrop on friends and family, but also to engage in a professional practice, if they choose to do so. The CARE Program begins with a 3-4 day Intensive Seminar offering 25 hours (2.5 ceu’s) of continuing education credit. It includes not only Raindrop Technique, but Applied Vitaflex, and associated skills and instructions. These include the Chemistry and Science of Essential Oils, Emotional Releasing with Essential Oils, and the History of Anointing, Laying on of Hands, and the Scriptural Basis of Healing with Essential Oils.
CARE Instructors are thoroughly trained through a strict 23-step program that normally takes 1-2 years and which includes several pass/fail tests and exams along the way. Also, in CARE we keep our classes small (no more than 10 students per teacher), so we haven’t found it necessary to “simplify” the Technique to effectively teach it within the alloted time. This way, everyone who takes a CARE Raindrop Class can go home knowing how to perform the complete procedure, just the way Gary taught it in Dallas in 2000, when he demonstrated “his best version.”
In the Fall of 2000, when we drew up the plans for the CARE Program, we sent everything to Young Living to see if we had accurately preserved Gary’s “Best version” of the technique. We were assured that we had done that. CARE has always been a strong supporter and promoter of Young Living, and Young Living has been supportive of CARE and its training programs, as well.
Since 2009, Gary and Mary, and the Young Living Executive Board, have approved for CARE to post its Raindrop Seminars on the YL Website using the term, “Raindrop.” They are also aware that most of our CARE Instructors, and many of our students, practice Raindrop Technique and charge for it legally, as professionals. Even our website, www.RaindropTraining.com and our official email address, careclasses@raindroptraining.com, which we have had for more than 10 years, incorporate the term “Raindrop,” and Young Living has never objected.
CAN ONE PRACTICE RAINDROP & CHARGE AS A PROFESSIONAL?
Lately, the Young Living Company, and Gary, himself, have implied that in their trainings, they intend for Raindrop to be applied only on family and friends, and not professionally as a business. But these restrictions only apply to Raindrop classes sponsored directly by Young Living. They do have exclusive rights to use the “Young Living” name in their trainings and in their labeling of the technique, namely, the four-word insignia with the trademark notice, “Young Living Raindrop Technique®.”
There are also legal reasons, for their own protection, that Gary Young and Young Living, Inc., does not want to encourage individuals, whose training in Raindrop has been exclusively from a Young Living Class, to engage in a professional Raindrop Practice. However, these precautions taken by the Young Living company are not necessary for CARE and its graduates, because we have taken the necessary steps to make what we do legal and compliant with professional regulations and legislation throughout the states, provinces, and countries where we offer classes.
Also, Young Living is, first and foremost, an Essential Oil Marketing Company, which is their primary reason for existence. There is always a product marketing aspect to Young Living Raindrop Trainings. CARE, on the other hand, is first and foremost, an Educational Institution, whose primary reason for existence is to teach and provide Education, skills, and Information on Essential Oils, not to market them. CARE Seminars are for teaching only, not for promotion of product sales.
It is also important to realize that what Young Living teaches today is a “simplified version of Raindrop,” and not the complete and more effective version Gary used to teach. A Raindrop Professional may not want to offer a simplified version to their clients, when they could be offering “Gary’s Best,” and realize better results for their clients.
CARE Instructors, those trained by CARE, and those who earn the legalizing credentials obtained through CARE, can and do make a professional practice out of Raindrop Technique. Many hundreds of CARE students have done just that. We actually encourage this. But CARE provides the procedures, protections, and mechanisms for people to engage in a raindrop practice legally. Young Living only offers “Certificates of Participation” for their seminars, but does not certify anyone’s level of competence, as CARE does. CARE offers a program that leads to actual “Certification in Raindroop Technique,” and provides a legal avenue to practice. Young Living does not offer this, and, apparently, does not want to do so.
RAINDROP IS A GIFT FROM GOD
Gary Young is the originator of Raindrop Technique, and we, as CARE Instructors, acknowledge him gratefully in every class we teach, as well as in our literature and books. However, in our view, the technique is an Inspired Gift from God. While Gary Young has been the Divinely Chosen Instrument to bring this Blessing to the human race, neither he, nor Young Living, Inc., can own it, nor can he or Young Living, Inc. control its dissemination. It has been well established within the public domain for almost two decades. It is “public property,” and a gift for everyone and anyone to learn, practice, and receive.
Besides CARE students and CARE Instructors, there are hundreds of people all over the world teaching and/or practicing a version of the Technique, and calling it “Raindrop.” There are hundreds of professionals in the world who have incorporated Raindrop into their practices, and have been doing so for years. There are also hundreds of people teaching Raindrop besides those who teach for CARE. CARE has been a guardian of the Technique, preserving “Gary’s Best” for generations to come. Otherwise, “Gary’s Best” could have been lost.
CONCLUSION
I hope this gives a more complete story behind what various Young Living representatives have recently said. Raindrop Practice can be, and is, a professional practice already in many places. When properly done and presented, it is can be practiced quite legally anywhere. You don’t need Young Living’s approval to do so, unless you claim to be offering services sponsored by Young Living. Young Living speaks only for how they present Raindrop training and for what purposes they make it available. What they promote, or not promote, has no bearing on what CARE, or anyone else, does regarding Raindrop Technique.
CARE has been totally faithful to what Gary Young taught in the year 2000 and has not changed one detail of what he taught then, or subsequently corrected, and we always give him the credit. CARE also uses only Young Living oils and teaches that Raindrop Technique can be done, safely and effectively, only with Young Living Essential Oils.
THE CARE MISSION STATEMENT
“It is the Mission of the Center for Aromatherapy Research & Education (CARE International, Inc.)to offer training and education in Raindrop Technique and other Therapeutic Applications of Essential Oils to the end that Practical Aromatherapy becomes a household skill and a professional practice known and available everywhere.” This Mission is completely compatible with, and supportive of, Young Living’s mission, which is to make Essential Oils available, with knowledge of their uses, in every home in the world. CARE’s mission is stated in the front of all of the CARE Manuals and Handbooks.
Young Living should be glad and proud that CARE has faithfully and accurately promoted Gary’s “Best Version” of his Divinely Inspired Technique to so many thousands throughout the world, always naming him as the originator. The Young Living Corporation should also be glad that CARE’s mission is promoting the use of “therapeutic grade essential oils,” as defined by Young Living, on a world wide basis. CARE’s efforts are a significant reason Young Living has grown so rapidly in the past few years, establishing numerous lifetime users of Young Living Essential Oils. CARE will continue to do so, through our Raindrop Trainings, indefinitely into the future.
David & Lee Stewart, Founders & Executive Officers
Center for Aromatherapy Research & Education
(CARE International, Inc.)
