Before December 2014, I felt like so many mothers out there. I was doing everything I knew to keep my family healthy, especially their immune systems, through the impending and always dreaded season of yuck. And it wasn’t working as well as I would have liked. I felt like my boys were constantly either getting sick or “on the verge” of getting sick. I was exhausted from always fighting off something. I felt like when it came to keeping my family consistently healthy – I was failing. There were doctor’s office visits, medicines, antibiotics – cha-ching, cha-ching! Antibiotics and other medicines all come with side effects and impact on our ongoing health that I didn’t want. I didn’t want to be constantly going to the doctor. At one point, seriously, the nurse at our pediatrician’s office laughingly said that she should set up a cot for us! I wanted for us to be vibrantly healthy so that we did not need to go to the doctor.
This was my proverbial straw, my proverbial low point. This is when I decided to take the plunge with essential oils. What did I have to loose? I had heard the buzz and freely admit that I’m a “where there’s smoke there’s fire” kind of girl. I decided it was worth a shot – but where to go? I decided that if they could have positive effects, I had to also believe that if used improperly, they also had the potential to have negative effects. I needed a reputable company that I could rely on both for product and for a support system to help me learn about how to use the oils most effectively. Young Living provided both. In spades. Young Living essential oils are 100% pure therapeutic grade oils. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200. That’s it. Just 100% pure essential oil. Young Living’s unique Seed to Seal guarantee put me at ease that my family is receiving the very best quality attainable. Yours can too.
And the support from the Young Living and the Facebook groups from my up-line and all the free educational materials that my sponsor provided were amazing! My enroller was generous enough to give up her commission in order to provide me with an arsenal of educational materials. Just because she wanted to pass on all that she knew and was continuing to learn about using oils to reach and achieving and maintaining optimal health. Mind. Blown.
I want to give you an idea of how I use Young Living’s products in our family around the clock, so I’ll go through a typical day.
6:30 a.m. I wake up and floss with Thieves dental floss (ok, only some mornings…), brush my teeth with Thieves toothpaste , and use Thieves mouthwash and my teeth have never felt cleaner! I’m reading too much lately about toxins in regular toothpaste; right on the tube, it says “don’t swallow.” Seriously??? It’s IN. MY. MOUTH. Something is bound to slip in.
But, I digress. I also fill my water bottle and add a couple of drops of lemon essential oil. This is a far cry from adding lemon juice. This is etherial some how – just pure essence of oil without the tartness of lemon juice. There are so many great reasons to add a drop or two of citrus essential oils in your daily water.
6:45 a.m. As I write this, it’s spring in Atlanta, Georgia. I use a combination of lavender, lemon and peppermint to support optimal lung, nasal, and sinus functions. (I’ll spare you the photo of me with the Quasi-Modo swollen shut eye that I woke up with before I started using lavender, lemon and peppermint…) I make a capsule of 4 drops each of lemon, lavender, and peppermint essential oils to maximize optimal lung, nasal, and sinus functions when the need some additional support.
6:50 a.m. I select something great to diffuse in the kitchen as I get the day started. If it’s the season of yucky and sickness, I will definitely choose to diffuse Thieves or Purification to maximize the function of our immune systems and to keep us well. If not, I may choose Joy essential oil blend – I can’t really go wrong there, right?? I also like a blend of Lavender and Peppermint – they are fresh and uplifting. Frankincense is also a great choice for alertness and giving a sense of peace and calm. And if it’s one of THOSE mornings – Stress Away. Need I say more? Yes, please. Am I right?
7:00 a.m. I wake my oldest son up. We use one drop of GeneYus essential oil blend on both of his temples. It helps to wake him up and keep him focused and concentrating on the morning routine. Depending on the day, he might ask for a drop of peppermint also on his temples to help get him moving. We say he’s a slow waker-upper. Just like me 🙂
7:10 a.m. Everyone has a 1 oz “shot” of NingXia Red. This delicious little shot is a powerhouse to support our wellness. NingXia Red is a powerful antioxidant drink that contains whole Ningxia wolfberry puree—a super blend of blueberry, aronia, cherry, pomegranate, and plum juices, natural stevia extract, grape seed extract, pure vanilla extract, and orange, yuzu, lemon, and tangerine essential oils. Its health benefits include support from head to toe, via a whole body nutrient infusion. NingXia Wolfberries have been cherished for centuries for its health, energy, and longevity benefits. I’ll be starting my parents on it soon! They are 84 and can use immune and overall wellness support.
10:00 a.m. It’s time for laundry. I use soap nuts to wash our clothes, but I also add in either a couple drops of Purification or Lavender essential oils. Any of the other starter kit essential oils would work just as well – it’s completely based on preference. Although, I do find Purification my go-to for loads that are, shall we say, particularly odiferous. Instead of dryer sheets, I use wool dryer balls. I put 5-6 drops of Lavender on three of the six balls and 5-6 drops of Peppermint or Spearmint on the other three. I just love this combination – it comes out smelling so natural and fresh!
10:30 a.m. Time to get back to me! Recently, Young Living paired with the super cool guys over at Oola and came up with the Infused 7 Oils Collection. The 7 oils focus on Family, Finance, Fitness, Faith, Fun, Field, and Friends. Each of these blends can be combined with either “Grow” or “Balance” to promote that which you are seeking. Oola has developed a quick, fun “wheel” to examine these seven areas of your life and to help identify those that may be out of balance at the moment. You can take the test too! The next step in the Oola life is to develop a dream around the area of your life that you would like to focus on. If this is hard, the Oola guys have provided oodles of help to come up with your dream! Finally, Oola will help you develop a step by step path to get to your dream. So after learning all of this, I’ve started using “Fitness” in conjunction with “Balance” – because I’m particularly unbalanced in that area of my life right now. UGH! So now, I’ll put three drops of Fitness and one drop of Balance in my hands, rub them together and then inhale deeply while saying the Oola Fitness affirmation (all the affirmations are 7 words – isn’t that cute?). It takes about 1 minute, is the closest thing to a “drop in” one minute of mediation that I’ve ever known. And it makes me feel strong and motivated!
10:40 a.m. It’s time to get some exercise in! The Fitness blend really helps motivate me!
11:30 a.m. I head to the kitchen and unload the dishes – I added one drop of Purification when I started the load – it keeps the dishwasher from getting a stale smell.
11:40 a.m. I’m making meatballs for dinner tonight – but I burned my arm while putting the pan in the oven. OUCH!! A drop of lavender will help speed the healing process as well as making it feel better almost immediately.
12:00 p.m. I pick my youngest up from school and I’ve refilled my water and added a drop of lemon again.
12:20 p.m. When I get my youngest home, he’s tired and hungry – time to diffuse a little Lavender, Stress Relief, or Joy while I fix him lunch.
3:00 p.m. We’re on the way to pick up my older son from school I’m getting that 3:00 pm slump when I’m ready to fall into the nearest coffee shop and beg for a shot of anything. I take my second ounce of NingXia Red to get me through the slump. And I also bring my son’s second ounce to him at pick up. It helps pick him up, too!
6:30 p.m. As the bedtime routine begins to get started, I start a diffuser in my son’s room. He has so much fun consulting with me on what we should diffuse. Many times it’s as simple as lavender. Sometimes he wants Cedarwood, SleepyIze, or Vetiver to promote relaxation and sound sleep. If we’re taking a bath, then I will blend either lavender or cedarwood in with 1/4 to 1/2 cup of epsom bath salts and add it to his bath for relaxation. I always rub a drop of cedarwood on his spine to help him sleep soundly. Poor thing struggles with sleep sometimes. Sometimes he will also ask for SleepyIze on his toes. Also, he has bouts with itchy calves – so to help simmer everything down and to ease the occasional itchiness, I use a drop of Tea Tree oil combined with Lavender and a great carrier – like coconut oil.
7:30 p.m. If I think that anyone may be prone to getting sick or if the boys were exposed to anything in particular at school, I rub a drop of Thieves onto their feet to keep their immune systems functioning optimally. If they are already sick, I may layer Copaiba or Peppermint on top of the Thieves. Both of these help to intensify the effects of the Thieves. Again, if they are already sick, I may use a diluted drop of Oregano on their toes. All of these oils support a healthy immune system and allow their bodies to work optimally to do what they were designed to do – maintain wellness!
10:30 p.m. (That time is actually a dream of mine – but for right now I’m going with it!) I’ll set up a diffuser for me with whatever I feel like – something to help with deep, restful sleep, immune system support – whatever the day has brought that I want to help with.
That’s a great example of my essentially oily day! Notice, I didn’t clean house today – yay for me! But, when I do need to do some cleaning, essential oils have been wonderful helping me to replace the toxic commercial cleaning products from our home with safe, naturally effective and fresh smelling cleaning products that cost pennies on the dollar compared to the commercial products. No brainer.
If you want to hear more of my family’s personal story about essential oils, you’ll find it here. I’ve met so many great women and families that have also started their journey toward greater health with essential oils and Young Living products and we are part of a team called the Oil Explorers. You can join us! Many of us have all worked together this month to each tell you our story about why we started using essential oils and how we use them each day.
To learn more about essential oils, or to begin your family’s journey with essential oils, start here.
I’m paying my sponsor’s generosity forward to you and using my commission to give you a great start to learning about and using your essential oils. Here is my Current Special for anyone signing up with a Premium Starter Kit:
All laid out for you:
- your choice of a diffuser necklace or bracelet
- a set of labels to keep all of your bottles beautifully organized
- access to the helpful Oily Families FB page & Oil Nation FB page
- enrollment in the FREE Essential Oils E-course, delivered to your inbox
PLUS, I’ll give the first five sign ups this month a $20 Amazon gift card!!
Thanks for sharing about your experience with essential oil. I will admit that I only have a few of the basics, lemon lavender, tea tree, etc. but I do love how much use I get out of them. I’ve been slowly replacing many of our household and skincare products with cleaner versions and I love knowing exactly what is in our products now I am looking forward to trying out some more of the essential oil blends as well.
Visiting from the Healthy Living link party
These are great green, healthy and natural tips! I got quite a few good ideas from this post! I am delighted that you shared your informative and valuable insights on using essential oils throughout your day on the Healthy Happy Green and Natural Party Blog Hop. I’m pinning and sharing.