oils on the go
As I mentioned so many times, essential oils play a huge part in our lifestyle every single day. I wear my aromatherapy necklaces every day and now even my kids enjoy wearing their oils on too.
Yesterday my son (a fresh teenager) came to me and asked if I can make him a bracelet using wooden beads we had at home. Of course I said yes, I love crafting and it makes me happy that my children love to wear handmade stuff, it makes it even more special. When I was in the middle of making his bracelet, he asked if it’s possible to add lava beads as well so he can smell his favourite oils during the day. I was almost done with the bracelet but I was so happy that he asked that I didn’t mind to take half of it apart and start over.
This just shows me that we are doing things right at home. It makes me proud and happy that our children know how to live a healthy life. Knowing that if they feel under the weather, they can use uplifting oils during the day and just smell them to boost up their energy and mood. Both of our children have their own diffuser and use their oils for bedtime every night, it has become a part of their evening routine.
~ Gabi
two in one
One of my favourite ways how to use essential oils every day is to wear them on on my jewelry. It is a great way of combining two things – the benefits of using essential oils and a fashion. Last year I wrote a post about Sara’s jewelry line from At Heart Essentials. To this date it is still my favourite shop for shopping locally. The feather necklace below was a Christmas gift from my son which was also made by Sara. I absolutely love the minimalist style and get compliments every time I wear it.
If you have been wondering why I love lava jewelry so much, it is because lava can be used for aromatherapy and has also healing properties. It’s believed to provide strength (physical and mental) when facing difficult situations. I’ve found a great post which explains lava’s qualities (I’ve copied it for you below as well) here.
- Emotional – Since lava is known for its grounding qualities, it’s wonderful for calming the emotions. In fact, the quality of fire springs from the ground, so in terms of healing gems, this lends itself to a calming- but intense- energy. Because it comes from raw energy, it’s considered to be a stone of rebirth and shedding unneeded layers of emotional attachment.
- Spiritual – Lava stones are fantastic for stabilizing and grounding the root chakra. This is because of the strong connection to the earth and its creation within the center of Earth. In folk remedies, it was also given to soldiers to help them remain calm during battle.
Another favourite shop of mine for lava jewelry is Lava Essentials from where I got this beautiful Triangle necklace my little girl is wearing on the photo above.
I also wear lava bracelet which was made by my yoga teacher. I own several bracelets and love to stack them and mix different textures like lava, Rudraksha seeds and wood. Being a yoga teacher myself, I do believe in the special properties these bracelets bring and enjoy the aroma during my practice.
So how I combine essential oils and the jewelry? I just simply rub the oil onto the lava, let it sit for a few minutes and then put the necklace on. During the day I smell the lava stone and get the benefits of aromatherapy right away. When I need to energize, I love to wear bergamot or something citrus-y. For a yoga practice I usually wear frankincense, peace & calming or cedarwood. Because the lava stone is touching my skin directly, I use only therapeutic oils from Young Living.
If you have any question about this topic or just in general about essential oils, please don’t hesitate to contact me through comments or contact button.
~ Gabi
depression & essential Oils
Depression (noun) – persistent feeling of sadness and loss of interest
Depression is a topic that most of us do not want to talk about, although statistics indicate that it affects one in every eight Canadians 15 years and older. There are many types of depression including clinical depression, major depression, bipolar disorder, post-partum/perinatal depression, anxiety, and seasonal affective disorder. Any type of depression can be mild to severe and can manifest in many different symptoms, including feelings of sadness, tearfulness, hopelessness, anger, irritability, loss of interest in normal activities, sleep disturbance, change in appetite, anxiety, and the list goes on. It can also manifest in physical symptoms such as fatigue, headaches, muscle aches, joint pain, chest pain, and digestive problems. If you feel as though you may be suffering from depression, you should visit your family doctor or another health professional immediately. This article is not intended to replace conventional treatment.
There are a number of essential oils that have a positive impact on your mood and help to relieve symptoms of depression:
- Lavender
- Roman Chamomile
- Melissa
- Jasmine
- Sacred Frankincense
- Frankincense
- Peppermint
- Ylang Ylang
- Rosemary
- Lemon
- Cedarwood
You may find some other oils that positively impact your mood – everyone is different. I personally like Bergamot.
Why do essential oils have an impact on your mood?
Inhaled essential oils (whether diffused or inhaled directly) stimulate the olfactory membranes in the lining of the nose which trigger electrical impulses to the olfactory center in the brain which are then transmitted to the limbic system.
Olfaction (smell) is the only sense that can have direct effects on the limbic region of the brain. Studies at the University of Vienna have shown that some essential oils…can stimulate blood flow and activity in the emotional regions of the brain.
Clinical studies at the Department of Psychiatry at the Mie University of Medicine showed that Lemon not only reduced depression, but it also reduced stress when inhaled.
~Essential Oil Desk Reference, 6th Edition
How do you use essential oils to improve your mood?
Any of these oils, alone or in a combination can be diffused. You can also put 2-3 drops in your hands and rub them together, then cup your hands over your nose and inhale. You could also put 8-10 drops of oil on a cottonball or tissue and put it in an air vent in your house or vehicle. If you are on the go and want to take the oils with you, you could also put 1-2 drops on your temples and at the back of your neck. I have made an essential oil roller that I use frequently for a mood lift, especially during the long, dark, rainy months. I am including the recipe below.
Happy rolling!
~Sue
“Uplift” Roller
- 10 drops Lavender
- 10 drops Bergamot
- 5 drops Ylang Ylang
Place essential oils in a 10 ml roller bottle and fill to the top with a carrier oil (I use fractionated coconut oil, but any other carrier oil will do).
choose your actions
With 2016 coming slowly to its end, every year I like to reflect and think about what the year has brought to us. Thinking about all the accomplishments of the year, the ups and downs of the past couple of months and take all of this in and start planning for the upcoming year.
Our family has started using Young Living essential oils in November 2015, so it’s been over an year now and all I can say is that I’m so happy I’ve chosen this path for our family. We’ve ditched all the regular chemical products in our household (soaps, shampoos, toothpastes, laundry detergent and cleaning products which were full of harmful chemicals) and started using natural products.
We have also stopped using painkillers for headaches, PMS symptoms, muscle pains and many more and started using essential oils instead.
I’ve treated burned skin and cuts with oils instead of grabbing creams from pharmacy.
Our kids never slept better before. Lavender, Cedarwood and lately Gentle baby oils are a part of their daily bedtime routine. They fall asleep much easier and don’t wake up at night, stopped tossing in bed and even their teeth grinding is gone.
We haven’t been sick during the year at all. Our kids got runny nose maybe twice this year and it was gone within two days. Once again, we just diffused essential oils at night and rubbed oils on their feet during the day. No more cough syrups and other over the counter stuff. Just plain natural treatment.
As I’ve mentioned so many times, we are a very active family and compete in road cycling, mountain biking, cyclocross, running and triathlon races. We’ve started using essential oils for improving our workouts and for speeding up our recoveries with a huge success! Even my husband is now a believer and is asking for a massage or what oil he should use after his exercise.
This year we have made own organic lip balms and hand/body lotions, bug sprays and air refresheners, candles and many more DIY projects.
Living healthy is a huge part of our family lifestyle, so it’s only natural that the main goal for my family is to invest into our wellness not just by spending time exercising and eating healthy food, but also by making the right choices about what we are putting into and onto ourselves and living non-toxic life as much as possible. I encourage you to go to your bathroom or look under your kitchen sink and read all the labels on products you are using every single day. You will be surprised how many chemicals you will find and at the same time horrified because that’s what we are using for our dear ones, our children, on ourselves. I went through this on my own as well, so I know what I’m talking about. Even though I always tried to make smart choices and go for the “natural” products, it wasn’t until I’ve started doing my own research and found out how many products in stores are just marketed totally wrong.
Every year I choose one little word which I try to live through the whole year. For 2016 it was wholehearted and I can honestly say that in the wellness area, I put all my heart in and focused on making the change in my family. For upcoming year 2017 my one little word is awaken (from dictionary: to become conscious or aware of something <awoke to the possibilities>, to make active).
And here is one of many things which I would like to be aware of more, to be more active. My goal for the next year is to help as many people as possible to find their path to wellness and healthier lives. I would like to help YOU, yes You, who is reading this post at this very moment and show you how to live more naturally. And as a gift to you from me, if you decide to join me on this journey, I would like to help you started.
From now till December 31st, 2016 (10pm PST) , if you decide to join me and sign up for Young Living with me, I am offering you $15 off of your Premium Starter kit (which includes 11 essential oils, Diffuser, hand sanitizer and many more) or your choice of one of these two oils – Cedarwood or Orange. You won’t get “just the oils”, but you will become a part of an amazing group of caring people who will support you on your journey and will provide you with tons of materials and recipes to get you started.
Just leave me a comment here or send me an email and I will show you how to start.
Let’s make the upcoming year better together and full of Energy, send all your Stresses away, live in Peace and calming state and having a Tranquil year full of Deep relief.
peaceful nights
Wishing you all a peaceful and relaxing Labour Day spent with your dear ones!
Let’s talk about peaceful nights today, shall we?
With school starting tomorrow, it can be sometimes quite challenging to get kids back on a regular schedule and make sure they are getting enough sleep. In my family, we diffuse essential oils for an easy bedtime and good sleep. Our kids have each their own diffuser in their rooms and are able to get it ready by themselves for a smooth bedtime.
Peace & Calming is one of our favourite blends. This blend promotes relaxation and deep sense of peace and emotional well-being, helping to dampen tensions and uplifts spirits. When massaged on the bottoms of feet, it can be a wonderful prelude to a peaceful night’s rest. It may calm overactive and hard-to-manage children. It might also reduce depression, anxiety, , stress and insomnia.
This blend is made of:
- Tangerine – which contains esters and aldehydes that are sedating and calming, helping to combat anxiety and nervousness.
- Orange – is elevating to the mind and body and brings joy and peace. A Brazilian university evaluated the potential anxiolytic effect of Citrus sinensis essential oil and found in a placebo-controlled study that aroma of sweet orange oil was acutely anxiolytic, giving support to its calming use as a tranquilizer
- Ylang Ylang – increases relaxation and balances male and female energies, restoring confidence and equilibrium
- Patchouli – is very high in sesquiterpenes that stimulate the limbic center of the brain. It re-establishes mental and emotional equilibrium and energizes the mind. It promotes grounding, and helps center the emotions to clarify thoughts, allowing the mind to relax and let go of jealousies, obsessions and insecurities.
- Blue Tansy – helps cleanse the liver and lymphatic system and combats anger and negative emotions.
Thieves got it | part 2: supporting the immune system
As I mentioned yesterday in my Thieves got it | part 1 post, we use Thieves essential oil everywhere around the house. This blend is highly effective in supporting the immune system and good health so naturally now, with back-to-school time of the year and cold and rainy weather coming up, it’s the best time to jump on the thieves wagon and start using it even more.
How do we use this blend at home? We make homemade roll-ons. I buy 10ml roll-on glass bottles, put 10-15 drops of Thieves oil on the bottom and then fill up the bottle with a carrier oil (I use V-6 from Young Living but you can use almond oil, grapeseed, jojoba). That’s it! It’s super easy and so effective. We apply the mix on bottoms of feet before going to bed.
Another way how you can boost up your immunity is to diffuse thieves for 15–30 minutes in your home to help eliminate airborne bacteria. For more uses of this amazing blend check out the tips on the YL blog.
I just love how we can help to strengthen our wellness in natural ways!
Let me know if you have any question, I would be happy to answer it! And stay tuned for more thieves posts.
Thieves got it | part 1
I think I can honestly say that a product made with thieves oil, is in every single room in our house. We use Thieves oil in our hand foaming soaps, in air sprays, we brush our teeth with thieves, fighting against colds with homemade roll-ons and of course, we diffuse it.
We do laundry with thieves, use it for washing the dishes, cleaning around the house, while traveling… I can’t imagine our everyday life without thieves any more!
Especially now with back-to-school being just behind the corner, we are embracing on boosting our immunity and getting ready to fight the germs in a natural way. As I mentioned several times already, last winter was our first full winter using Young Living essential oils and we avoided being sick, didn’t have to use any over-the-counter cough/cold/fever medicine and we even skipped the cough syrup. It was our healthiest winter ever! And I really believe that’s because we went natural and started using YL oils and products.
So what is so special about this blend and why is it so awesome? Thieves is the most amazing blend of highly antiviral, antiseptic, antibacterial and anti-infectious essential oils.
It was created from research based on legends about a group of 15th-century thieves who rubbed oils on themselves to avoid contracting the plague while they robbed the bodies of the dead and dying. When apprehended, the thieves were forced to tell what their secret was and disclosed the formula of the herbs, spices, and oil they used to protect themselves in exchange for more lenient punishment.
The Thieves blend is a mix of clove, lemon, cinnamon bark, eucalyptus radiata and rosemary. It really smells amazing!
In the upcoming posts I will show you how we use this blend in our everyday life and around the house. If you have any question, please don’t hesitate to send me a message or comment on this post.
happy mail-day
Every time I open our mailbox and there is a brown box with Young Living’s Logo on it, I feel like a kid on a Christmas Day.
This is what I got in my monthly order today: R.C., Eucalyptus Globulus, Citronella, Progessence Phyto Plus, Clove and Satin Mint Scrub. And what I’m going to use it for?
R.C. – that’s our lifesaver while fighting colds & coughs. Definitely a must in our oil stash
Citronella – I’ve started making my own bug spray (mosquito repellent) and citronella is the main ingredient in the mix. Not just that it’s safe to use on children, but it is DEET free and smells amazing!
Eucalyptus – this is a new oil for me and I plan on using it after exercise to soothe sore muscles and also for respiratory/ sinus infections.
Clove – another new one for me. I got this oil to make a mouth wash and to try to solve problems with my gums issues. Clove has among many antimicrobial, antifungal, antiviral and anti-inflamatory properties and I can’t wait to test it out.
Progessence Phyto Plus – I’ve heard so many amazing things about this oil and I’m very excited to finally try it out.
Progessence Plus™ features some of our most-loved essential oils, including Sacred Frankincense and Peppermint oil, to create a serum that perfectly pampers you. Formulated specifically for women, and ideal for women over 30, Young Living’s Progessence Plus is a great addition to your day or nighttime routine.
Satin Mint Facial Scrub– it’s my staple in my skin care. Now my son uses it as well and loves it.
As you can see, essential oils have so many uses. I love that we can have a choice to go natural and avoid using chemicals.
If you want to learn more about their benefits, don’t hesitate to contact me.
sweet dreams with peace & calming
This oil lives up to its name. Every time we diffuse Peace & Calming, it feels like we have been transported to a different world or a dimension. The aroma is so amazing! It brings you into such a peaceful state and calms everyone down right away. I love to wear it on my lava necklace during the day and I also apply it before my yoga practices. And the best? Bedtime! Everyone sleeps like a baby when we diffuse this blend.
Here is what my smart book says about this oil: This blend promotes relaxation and deep sense of peace and emotional well-being, helping to dampen tension and uplift spirits. When massaged on the bottoms of feet, it can be a wonderful prelude to a peaceful night’s rest. It may calm overactive and hard-to-manage children. It also reduces depression, anxiety, stress and insomnia.
Ingredients: Tangerine, Orange, Ylang Ylang, Patchouli, Blue Tansy.
Applications:
- diffuse, directly inhale, or add 2-4 drops to bath water
- apply to wrists, edge of ears, or foot Vita Flex points
- dilute 1:15 with vegetable oil for body massage
- put 4-8 drops on cotton balls or tissues and put in or on vents
- combine with Lavender for insomnia and German chamomile for calming.
Caution: possible sun/skin sensitivity.
If you are interested in trying out essential oils or just want to learn more about their benefits, don’t hesitate to contact me.
natural health products
Young Living Essential Oils is the ONLY direct-selling company producing Therapeutic-Grade essential oils in Canada with the ability to make legal claims about essential oils from a symptom relief standpoint.
Young Living Canada has registered 19 of their essential oils so far, there are more to come, which can be used for a variety of symptoms from colds/coughs to skin irritation/cuts/burns to joint/muscle pain to digestive discomfort, eczema/dermatitis and more! These oils are registered as NHPs or Natural Health Products.
Check out this video for more information, and if you aren’t a Young Living member yet, ask yourself why! Because I seriously don’t have a clue what people do without essential oils.
I LOVE my oils.
We use them every single day.