Why I Talk About Essential Oils

About a year ago, I was introduced to essential oils. Like any bad introduction, not much was told to me about oils or this oil in particular. It left me feeling....awkward. I was told this oil would help me feel strong and courageous. I was about 7 months pregnant, so courage wasn't high on the priority list. What I wanted was help with swollen feet, heartburn, feeling gigantic and SLEEPING. I wish a proper introduction had been made, for it might have saved me a lot of issues and time.

Fast forward several months, and a different friend posted about how that SAME OIL helped with her husband's snoring! I figured my husband would like it if I stopped snoring (and crazy-talking in my sleep, but that's for another day). So began my relationship with Young Living essential oils. I started researching what they were, what they did and how I could get my hands on some. Like a good little (ex)journalist, I wanted to get to the bottom of the story, so I researched for mooooonths.

Back in April, I finally ordered my starter kit. The day it arrived, I had what I am pretty sure was strep. Fever of 103, swollen glands, sore throat. I was miserable. When my oils arrived, I began ingesting them, putting them on my neck and throat, diffusing them into the air...and by Saturday (3 days later), I was golden. Granted, I was also a little cranky and detoxing, due to the overkill on how much I used right off the bat, but the fever, sore throat, swollen glands were all gone. Since then, I've been getting more and more familiar with the oils that came in the starter kit. We're learning how to replace medicines with oils, treat common things more naturally and I'm loving it. Call me Granola Girl ;) (But don't, because compared to other Denverites about as non-granola as they come!)

So, just as an idea of some things to do with the kit oils and an introduction to what comes in the kit, here are a few of the things I have used oils for the last month:

• Stress Away: This, combined with lavender, is like "lights out" for us. Also great in a bath when you get threatened with a lawsuit or find yourself snapping at your husband for no reason....hypothetically.
• Lemon: Good for detoxing your body and/or weight loss. I put it on my swollen glands and also drink it in some water to help detox.
• Purification: Put it on scrapes and cuts on my hands. I put some in my face cream to help clear up acne. I've also diffused it to make the air in the house fresher.
• Frankincense: LOVE THIS. It's good for skin issues, so I put it on a sun spot on my face and in my cream that I am applying to my post-baby belly stretch marks.
• Joy: Put it over your heart or in an Epsom salts bath.
• Peace & Calming: A looooot of people find this helps them sleep. For me, it jazzed me up a little. I prefer to put it in an Epsom salts bath to help relax.
• PanAway: Super pain oil! (PanAway/PainAway). This helps kill aches and pains!
• Peppermint: I use this a ton. It's great for bringing down fevers (I heavily diluted it and put a drop on Selah. It brought her fever down 3 degrees in 40 minutes). It also works wonders on headaches and migraines for me. When I start to wean Selah, I can apply it to my chest to help dry up the milk supply.
• Lavender: A MUST-HAVE for us. This was the one that hooked us for sleeping! We put a little lavender on our wrists before bedtime and sleep like rocks. It's also great for cuts, itching, bug bites.
• Valor: Lessens my snoring!! I put it on my big toe and instead of a gargling freight train, Adrian reports that it's a nice soft heavy breathing :)
• Thieves: My favorite. Hands down. This one killed my strep, attacks Adrian's colds and I put a drop on my toothpaste every morning to help freshen breath, kill illnesses and whiten teeth. The other day, Adrian asked me if I had used my Thieves. I hadn't (it was packed for a trip!). He said he could tell a difference in my breath having not used it a day.

Thus far, I have made a "night night mix" for us with lavender, carrier oil and the Stress Away. I made creams with coconut oil, frankincense and lavender for Adrian's mom and aunt. I added Purification to mine and use it on my stomach and face. I made a pain cream for A's dad with coconut oil, PanAway, peppermint and Valor. He texted me last night and said he could hardly finish a walk because of knee pain, but within 30 seconds of putting the pain cream on, he was feeling good! We diffuse lemon, lavender and peppermint for allergies. I'm going to start the "weight loss trio" which is lemon, peppermint and grapefruit. 

So, I am hooked, to say the least. I'm really excited to order more on Friday! I'll be getting some cedarwood for sleep (and hair regrowth for Adrian...shhhh), Progessence Plus to manage my migraines and hormones, more Thieves, orange and grapefruit!

Sorry if this sounded like a sales pitch. After months of researching and my husband being super skeptical, I was soooo excited to find that the oils actually worked for us for really practical things. If you have an issue you're trying to find a solution to, let me know. I'd love to research and help you find an oil that addresses that, you know, because I'm a stay-at-home-mom with a ton of time on my hands ;) But for real, just wanted to share some of the really practical ways that YL oils have helped us! I'm going to be doing a couple classes in June (in TN and CO), so if you're interested, come to one of those and let's chat!