a box of wellness – our Birthday bash
The other day Sue and I chatted about life and found out that our Birthdays are just a day apart. How crazy fun it is?! We are both Pisces and love people, so we have decided that we will celebrate our Birthdays, which are on March 1st and 2nd, by gifting others and sharing the joy, love and our knowledge about wellness.
As both of us have already mentioned so many times over the last couple of months over here, essential oils have become a huge part of our regular daily routines. I don’t go through a single day without using my oils. The same goes for my children and my husband lately as well. Oils for better sleep, energy, relaxation, headaches, tummy aches and muscle pains, skin issues, PMS discomfort, colds and coughs and many many more.
This is what Sue says about her experience with essential oils: For as long as I can remember I have used peppermint oil to soothe tummy aches and headaches. Buying the starter kit from Young Living introduced me to a number of other oils that I now rely on just as much as peppermint oil – Thieves for immunity and cleaning, lavender for skin and hair, lemon for cleaning, panaway for sore muscles, and the list goes on. I also discovered that using peppermint oil during a run or a workout improves the quality of my exercise significantly.
And because we know how amazing these oils are and how much they can help you with dealing with the ups and downs of everyday life, we would like to help you to get your hands on this little box of wellness as well. If you are new to essential oils or haven’t tried Young Living essential oils before, we want to help you on your journey to wellness by offering $20 off of your Premium starter kit!
When you receive your “box of wellness”, the best part is that you won’t get “just” these 11 amazing essential oils and a diffuser and all the little fun things as pictured below, you will also get a supporting group of people with awesome oily knowledge and endless resources and so much more.
There are no reoccuring fees, no monthly payments or anything. You can buy new oils as often as you like and if you feel like experimenting with oils more, you can explore benefits of a loyalty program as well. Or never purchase anything else. As I mentioned already, it is totally up to you.
Are you wondering how you can get our gift? Simply click this link which will get you to our sign up page, choose Get started with Premium kit here and pick myself or Sue and register on the Young Living website. Once we see that you’ve registered and purchased your kit (original price is $199.75 CAD but the value of everything exceeds over $360 and the benefits are just priceless!) , we will contact you and send you back our gift of $20.
We would be more than happy to help you with this process so if you don’t know exactly what to do or something during the registration isn’t clear and you feel overwhelmed, please don’t hesitate to contact us directly at: gabi@livingessentially.ca or sue@livingessentially.ca and we will get back to you as soon as possible. This offer is valid from March 1st 12.01am PST till March 2nd, 11.59pm PST.
Are you ready to take the first step to a healthier and happier life?! We can’t wait to hear from you.
~ Gabi & Sue
A Boost for Your Skin
I was recently asked how to make a natural exfoliating face scrub. This was not something I had done before and I was up for the challenge. Whenever I experiment with new recipes, I always test them out on myself first.
After experimenting quite a bit and trying different scrubs on my own face, I settled on a favourite that contains only three ingredients – coconut oil, sugar, and lemon essential oil. Coconut oil may sound a bit too greasy for your face, but I find that using the scrub right before a shower and then rinsing it off in the shower, leaves my skin feeling soft and supple but not greasy. The benefits of coconut oil are immeasurable. It keeps skin smooth to the touch and helps it to retain its moisture content. It also has strong disinfectant and antimicrobial properties. Additionally, it contains Vitamin E which is incredibly nourishing for the skin. The sugar, of course, is an exfoliant. I recommend using berry sugar rather than regular granulated sugar. You don’t need to scrub very hard, just lightly on your face. The heavy hitter in this little recipe is the lemon essential oil. It is calming, astringent, detoxifying, and antifungal, to name only a few of its powerful properties. The number one thing that I love about this scrub is that it reduces the redness and blotchiness in my face.
The recipe is below. Give it a try yourself!
~Sue
Lemon Coconut Oil Face Scrub
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 cup sugar
30 drops lemon essential oil
Place coconut oil in a microwavable measuring cup or bowl and microwave for about 30-45 seconds to soften. Then mix in sugar and lemon oil. The mixture should be more on the sugary side, so add a bit more sugar if it seems too oily to you. I store mine in small mason jars. This scrub does not need to be refrigerated.
Enjoy!
muscle pain relief on a snow day
We are back in the winter wonderland once again. I love snow but oh man, before I hit the end of our driveway (which isn’t long at all), I could start shoveling the snow all over again. I definitely felt my back and arms last night. And this morning the amount of snow fallen overnight was even bigger, but I came prepared. I went into my “medicine” cabinet and pulled out my old friend, Deep Relief.
This oils is very well loved in our family. It is a blend of several oils such as Peppermint, Wintergreen, Dorado Azul, and Helichrysum and it’s known for their soothing and long-lasting benefits.
Deep Relief is used in aromatherapy to help relieve joint and muscle pain associated with sprains, strains, or rheumatoid arthritis, making this blend a great companion for your active lifestyle. Oils such as Peppermint and Wintergreen play an integral role in this blend as they provide a refreshing, cooling sensation during or after a workout, with an invigorating scent that inspires an upbeat and energetic approach to whatever keeps you active.
I always go the natural way and try to avoid painkillers as much as I can. Since I’ve started using essential oils and made them a part of our daily life, it isn’t hard at all. Deep Relief is actually a Natural Health Product approved by Health Canada for treating everyday ailments. So here you go, it’s natural and it helps you relieve the pain at the same time. Definitely a win-win.
Now once the shoveling is done, we can go and make a snowman.
~ 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
treat your hair well with essential oils
If your home is anything like mine, you have a wide range of needs from your shampoo and conditioner. I have course, dry, curly hair. My oldest daughter has thick hair that tends to get greasy. My youngest has fine, straight, flyaway hair. In the work that I’ve been doing with essential oils over the last year, I’ve come to realize that most of our hair issues are caused by the many toxic chemicals and other unnatural ingredients found in hair products.
Why Avoid Commercial Shampoo and Conditioner?
There are many toxic substances used or created as byproducts in the production of commercial shampoo and conditioner. In my opinion the “top 5 ingredients to avoid” are:
- Sodium Lauryl Sulfate – This is a detergent and foaming agent that is widely used in shampoos. It is a known skin, eye and respiratory tract irritant. It also strips away the moisture and oils from your hair and skin.
- Sodium Laureth Sulfate – This is a close relative of Sodium Lauryl Sulfate. It is frequently contaminated by 1,4 dioxane which is a known carcinogen and is suspected of causing kidney damage. This will not actually be listed on a product’s ingredients because it is a byproduct of the ethylation oxide used to make harsh petroleum ingredients more gentle.
- Parabens – These are chemical preservatives used in shampoo and other personal care products. Even at low doses, parabens are linked to reproductive damage. They have similar properties to estrogen and are strongly linked to breast cancer.
- Fragrance – Artificial fragrance is created by using any number of highly toxic chemicals that can result in serious health conditions including headaches, allergies, damage to the central nervous system, asthma, and cancer, just to name a few.
- Polyethylene Glycol – Used to create a creamy texture in personal care products. It is petroleum based and may be contaminated with 1,4 dioxane. The State of California has classified polyethylene glycol as a developmental toxicant that may interfere with human development. Keep it away from your children!
There are other ingredients in personal care products and cleaning products that you should avoid. For more information, check out the David Suzuki Foundation website.
What is the Alternative to Commercial Shampoo and Conditioner?
Loaded with (and somewhat overwhelmed by) all of this information, I set out to detoxify our shampoo and conditioner collection. I have tried a few recipes and currently have a couple of favourites that I will share with you below. My experimenting led me to find my “top 5 favourite essential oils for hair care”:
- Lavender – Very calming for the scalp and helps to naturally eliminate eczema and psoriasis.
- Cedarwood – Helps with dry scalp and combats hair loss.
- Peppermint – Helps with an oily scalp.
- Rosemary – Promotes hair growth, treats dandruff and calms an itchy scalp.
- Basil – Promotes hair growth, treats dry itchy scalp and reduces hair loss.
How do you use these oils in your hair? There are a few ways. I usually rub 2-3 drops of rosemary and lavender oils in my hands and then run my hands through my wet hair after a shower. It smells great all day and my scalp loves it. You could also put a few drops of the oils that you want to use into a spray bottle, fill with water, and then spray onto your hair. I prefer to put the oils in my hair while it’s wet, but you could do this when it’s dry as well. It doesn’t really matter.
Young Living has two formulations of shampoo and conditioner that I have tried and highly recommend:
- Copaiba Vanilla Shampoo
- Copaiba Vanilla Conditioner
- Lavender Mint Daily Shampoo
- Lavender Mint Daily Conditioner
If you are more adventurous, you could try my recipes below. Remember, you can always change the type of essential oils you add to the rest of the ingredients to suit your needs. More importantly, remember to only use pure therapeutic grade essential oils. Not only are they better for you, your bottles of oils will last you longer.
Wishing you clean, shiney, detoxified hair!
~Sue
Shampoo
- 2/3 c. Dr. Bronner’s Liquid Castille Soap, unscented
- ½ c distilled water
- 4 tsp. baking soda
- 2 tsp. fractionated coconut oil
- ½ c. glycerin
- 20 drops lavender
- 20 drops peppermint
Place all ingredients in a 500 ml glass or plastic bottle with a top. Shake gently. If you shake too vigorously the castille soap will become very sudsy. Note: this shampoo is more watery than the commercial shampoos that you are used to. I drop a bit of it from the bottle onto my wet hair and massage it in. I have been very happy with the results!
Conditioner
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 5 drops basil
- 5 drops rosemary
- 5 drops lavender
- Distilled water
Place the apple cider vinegar and essential oils in a 250 ml spray bottle (if you use a larger bottle, adjust the ingredients accordingly) and fill to the top with distilled water. Spray onto clean, wet hair and comb through. Again, this is not a traditional commercial conditioner, but it is nonetheless a great hair conditioner and detangler.
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.
Cyber Monday sale
Ditch the chemicals in your home and start your holiday season naturally.
If you have been thinking about transforming your home to more toxin free and have been on the fence to try out Young Living essential oils and their natural products and learn more about the benefits of going naturally, tonight (starting 11.01pm MST) and tomorrow November, 28th is the best time to start!! Get $20 product credit on your 100 PV order.
Using essential oils has helped my family so much! From sleeping issues, treating everyday ailments naturally and boosting our immune system to speedy recoveries after workouts. I can’t imagine my life without these magical bottles anymore!
Please let me know if you have any questions and I would be happy to show you how to go more natural.
homemade body cream
I always went for, what I thought were, “safe and gentle” products at the store before I started digging more into natural care. I bought lotions for my kiddoes in the past labeled as for sensitive skin and you know what? Before I knew what to look for on the ingrediens list, I thought that those products were safe. Well, those gentle baby lotions gave rash and hives to my kids because those were full of chemicals!
Since we switched to more natural, clean lifestyle, there haven’t been any side effects from using skin care products anymore. We’ve started making our own homemade body lotion/cream. With just a few ingredients, you can make a batch of cream which is not only safe to use, but it’s prepared very quickly and the best part is that you can use it for so many different things! All you have to do is to add some pure therapeutic essential oils depending on your needs at the moment. We use Young Living Essential oils, it’s just our family’s preference, because we trust their quality thanks to their Seed to Seal Process.
For dry skin I put a few drops of Lavender into my cream, for pain relieve and massage we use PanAway, I love to use mix of Frankincense and Lavender for my skin. You can use few drops of Eucalyptus for could & cough season instead of store bought VapoRub. And the list goes on.
So if you ever run out of your lotion and have these few ingredients at home, you can create your own cream/ lotion in no time. Your body will definitely thank you for that.
Natural Base Cream:
- 3/4 cup grapeseed oil (you can use apricot or almond oil as well)
- 1/3 cup coconut oil (I like to substitute half of the coconut oil with shea butter or cocoa butter, just my personal preference)
- 1/8 organic beeswax (1 oz = 2 tbs)
In a double boiler, melt these oils together on low heat. Allow oil and wax to cool and harden. Then add these ingredients:
- 2/3 cup distilled water (or rosewater)
- 1/3 cup aloe vera gel
- 1/4 tsp vitamin E
Using a handheld immersion blender or the wire whisk attachment on your Kitchen Aid, blend the hardened oils and liquids together. If you use the wire whisk attachment, your cream will be more fluffy and light. Add few drops of Tea Tree oil, which is antimicrobial and antiseptic essential oil to the mix. Then scoop your cream into glass containers and you are done. Depending on what I will be using the cream for, I label my jars with the oils used/usage – for example: container including cream with mix of lavender, frankincense and geranium essential oils will be labeled as a skin care.
I hope you will enjoy making your own creams as much as our family does. And if you are interested about learning how Young Living essential oils can improve your wellness, don’t hesitate to contact me.
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.
