Laughter is good for you, and that’s no joke. We’ve all heard the adage that laughter is the best medicine. Science and scripture back up the claim that laughing heals the body. Proverbs 17:22 says, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine.” As we enter the holiday season, many times you will probably hear (and maybe even say) the phrase, “Merry Christmas!” But for many people the holidays aren’t merry, and they may even add stress and sometimes depression. What happened to our merry hearts? Sometimes the laughter and merriment doesn’t come naturally. That’s why it’s important to set our intentions on finding the laughter in life.

You can research all the studies on laughter and how it can reduce stress and anxiety, relieve tension, increase oxygen levels in the body, lower your risk of heart attack, increase pain tolerance, lower levels of cortisol, decrease inflammation, boost the immune system, and on and on. Sufficed to say that having a good sense of humor improves your quality and quantity of life. He who laughs… lasts!

Now that we understand some of the many benefits to laughing, maybe it will help us remember to make laughter a daily habit. If you’re not one of those who is blessed with a naturally jolly disposition, you may wonder if more laughter is possible for you on a genuine level. The good news is that a sense of humor can be developed!

There was a doctor treating a young boy who had swallowed a quarter. When the boy’s mother asked the doctor how her son was doing, the doctor replied, “No change yet.” (Laughter please.) But unlike the boy in the story, we can change. We can change our circumstances. And, more importantly, we can change how we look at and feel about those circumstances. How can we learn to laugh more? How can we learn to find the joy in life each day? To put it simply, it mostly requires making an intentional effort to notice how funny life can be and deciding to laugh rather than stress. Add a little comic relief to your life regularly. A sense of humor is similar to your body’s muscles, and it needs a reasonable amount of exercise.

My Christmas wish list that year was fulfilled with a CARE Handbook, a used EODR, the required books and DVDs to teach, and a Raindrop Technique Oils Kit from friends and family. Next I prepared for Nancy Gouch’s CARE Intensive by downloading the Final Exam from the CARE Home Page and studying all the required publications. After completing our MBA theses and final course ahead of schedule that spring so we could focus on the training, Shawn and I attended her CARE Intensive in Detroit, Michigan. There, I finished finding most of the answers on the Final Exam and then completed all my practicums within three days at home. We then traveled to Nashville to complete my certification exam with Gaia Tossing, moving successfully to the next segment.

As a QCCA, while waiting for Dr. Stewart’s response to my emails regarding the exam, I learned that he had experienced a stroke right after grading my exam. This coincidence later became an ongoing humorous anecdote between us. He and I collaborated on a version of Raindrop we named ‘Color Enhanced Raindrop Technique’ in the meantime and then, with my completed CARE Internship with Nancy, I became a Certified CARE Instructor. Over the ensuing 12 years, I have shared the CARE teachings, mentored and examined many CARE Instructors, and witnessed numerous healing miracles with students, colleagues, and private clients. Shawn and I also co-founded the Natural Origins Training and Education (NOTE) Research Group in 2016, which supports and strengthens the CARE organization’s Mission.

As such, NOTE offers several certifications that extend beyond those offered by CARE, but which originate from CARE publications, including Ancient Essential Oil Research, Neuroauricular Technique, Advanced VitaFlex, Advanced Raindrop, Sacred Science (Quantum Physics) of Essential Oils, and Emotional-Spiritual Peace with Essential Oils. We also offer multiple scholarships to CARE classes taught by any CARE Instructor who is a NOTE member, each in memory of former CARE Instructors who are now with the Lord. These include the Lee Stewart scholarship for midwives and doulas, the Irene Buckley Scholarship for massage therapists, the Jacqui Close Scholarship for nurses, the Tamaine Geldenhuys Scholarship for energy workers, the Dr. David Stewart Scholarship for naturopaths, and most recently, the Carol Bechtel Scholarship for teachers.

Additionally, we organize clinical practicum support through our 2015 creation ‘Raindrop Roundups’ as well as through one of the only USA-based, French-modeled Certified Clinical Aromatherapist programs, which is offered by the Natural Therapies Certification Board. All CARE Instructors are well on their ways to satisfying all 1,000 hours of that course and can complete its required clinicals by partnering with doctors in the NOTE organization using oils in their practices. Anyone who has come through the CARE program can benefit and receive support from NOTE to expand on their CARE training skills.

Come meet our intrepid mascot, Dr. Stewie Feelgood, learn about his global botanical adventures and all our membership levels, certification courses, business support, and fellowship opportunities available to all on the CARE path. Find our website www.NoteResearchGroup.org  and various social media accounts. Plan to join us at an upcoming retreat, symposium, or the 2025 Oil Con event and purchase our newest research books on Amazon, in the CARE Bookstore, or at the NOTE Shop, and if I can ever be of help to you in any capacity, just ask!

As Thanksgiving rolls around, many Americans turn their minds toward gratitude. Of course, you don’t have to live in the US to develop an attitude of thankfulness. But Thanksgiving can be a great reminder of the importance of gratitude.

While some may think of gratitude as nothing more than a social nicety, or an expected sentiment when someone gives something to us, gratitude has some very practical benefits. Psychologists and others have done numerous studies on the mental and emotional effects of developing gratitude by specific exercises. Some of these activities included writing letters of appreciation on a weekly basis, taking a daily and written inventory of blessings, saying thank you to someone daily, etc. Some studies showed that when we give and receive gratitude, our brain releases dopamine and serotonin, two important neurotransmitters responsible for our emotions. Gratitude is a natural anti-depressant. And while these two brain chemicals are vital to our mood and “feeling good,” they also play an important role in how our body functions and overall health. Gratitude has been shown to reduce pain, improve sleep quality, release and replace toxic emotions, reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. The Mindful Awareness Research Center of UCLA claims that gratitude changes the neural structures in the brain, making us feel happier and more content.

Many authors and success gurus emphasize the significance of gratitude, even in the midst of hardship and failure, for all-around success. In his famous book “Think and Grow Rich”, which was written over 80 years ago, Napoleon Hill speaks about the vibrations of our thoughts and feelings, and how we magnetize to ourselves outer conditions that resonate with these thoughts and feelings.

Essential oils can play a valuable part in facilitating a grateful heart. Young Living’s Gratitude™ blend has oils of Balsam Canada, frankincense, coriander, myrrh, ylang ylang, bergamot, Northern Lights Black Spruce, vetiver, and geranium; all of which are intended to foster feelings of gratitude within. It can be diffused, or you can apply a few drops over your heart. In Carolyn Mein’s book Releasing Emotional Patterns with Essential Oils, it suggests using ledum essential oil (available from Young Living), applying a few drops over the spleen (or corresponding reflex points) to shift from feelings of ungratefulness to gratitude. When we smell essential oils, these aromatic molecules go directly to the limbic brain, where emotions are processed. This is why oils are such a powerful tool for helping us to shift our emotions.

In addition to using these powerful oils, it’s a good idea to do some exercises that keep the mind in gratitude mode. We can keep a journal of two or three things we are thankful for each day; spend a few minutes upon waking and before going to bed simply thinking about things and people that make us feel gratitude. Remember that we can be thankful for God’s blessings even before we see them manifest physically. Remember that even in trying circumstances there is always something for which we can thank God. It is to our mental, emotional, spiritual and physical benefit to rid the mind of resentment, anxiety, fear, and hurt, and to replace those feelings with gratitude and its close relatives of love, forgiveness, and hope.

What would happen if we were thankful for abundance and prosperity before we could see it physically manifest? What would happen if we were to take 5-10 minutes a day counting our blessings and making an effort to be thankful? Start today fostering a grateful heart and look at the instant and long-term results. May you have a blessed Thanksgiving and an abundant rest of the year.

On my journey to becoming a CARE Instructor, I met so many people who influenced my life in wonderful ways! Gary Young’s essential oil teachings and those of Dr. Stewart helped me to acknowledge my love of teaching! Another of those people is Dr. Christi Bonds-Garrett who loves and respects Dr. Stewart and Dr. Gary Young’s work so much that she expanded on it to create Vibrational Raindrop Technique (VRT) in 2011. I feel so blessed that I have worked with her since the beginning of VRT and I cannot begin to describe the joy I feel when I see students build on the teachings that CARE gives them to incorporate the additional benefits of tuning forks to the technique. I believe that CARE’s trainings are a wonderful foundation for any work utilizing essential oils! The Chemistry of Essential Oils class is very unique and you will have a hard time finding any class like it anywhere!

A fond memory I have is of Dr. Stewart teaching the Chemistry of Essential Oils class at the Intensive I attended in 2008. At one point during the class he pointed at me and said, “You are going to teach this class one day!” I was a bit shocked by that but I went on to read his Chemistry book cover to cover twice and I have been teaching the class now for 12 years! Dr. Stewart really did make Chemistry simple!!!

I live in the most beautiful place on the planet: in White Salmon, WA, in the magnificent Pacific NW!  I have a lovely office next to our home where I work with clients and teach classes. In our community, we can experience any activity that you can do outside! In the summers, people wind and kite surf, hike, paddle board, cycle, and whitewater kayak and raft. My husband loves to take me white water rafting on trips that take between 4 and 18 days. We have rafted the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon multiple times, the Rogue River in southern Oregon, and the Salmon Rivers in Idaho almost every year where Gary Young grew up. We have also rafted 3 of the major rivers in Costa Rica! In the winters we like to ski and snow shoe.

I feel so blessed to be a part of the CARE family and to have experienced it’s many transitions over the years. Through all of the changes and growth, the one thing that has remained consistent is the love and connection shared between each other! All the Instructors and the CARE Staff are amazing people. Attending a CARE Intensive is a life changing experience and I encourage everyone to find a class in your area and be ready to receive on every level: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual!!! Please check out the CARE calendar under the “Education” menu at raindroptraining.com, or the Instructor Directory, to see the class offerings.

You can also view my offerings on my website, butterflyessentials.com, under the “Trainings” menu. I teach CARE classes and Raindrop Harmonic classes throughout the US and abroad. 

I wish you all a very happy and healthy Holiday Season!

In gratitude,

Bernadette Williams, LCCI, MASI, CRHS-AP, CAC