Have Oils, Will Travel

We recently returned from Costa Rica, and of course I took a whole bunch of my oils with me!  I wanted to share what I took, and what I used.

I got a fair bit of flack for the oils.  It is what it is, and all I can do is shrug it off because I know they aren't for everyone.  (Well they are for everyone, but there are some people that I know aren't looking for the change.)

Another interesting story, is that while on our night hike, our guide was talking about a type of plant that he said is good for cancer.  He didn't say it cured cancer, and he didn't go into detail about what the benefits were, but all I could think about is how similar this is to the use of oils. Other cultures are using all types of natural remedies against common ailments.  And then our culture is up here rolling their eyes.  

So here is what I brought and why:

Terrashield spray - 20-30 drops Terrashield in a 4oz glass bottle, topped with distilled water.  This was what I used as bug spray.  We used it when we were in the jungle and I didn't find that I needed it when we were at the resort.  I don't think I got any bites, so it must of worked ok!  (You can buy this premade as well.)

Headache Roller - because it's always with me!

Deep Blue Roller - for the headaches that just won't quit!

Lavender Roller - bug bites & sun burns (took a burn on my hairline away within a day!)

ZenGest Roller - because you always need help with your tummy in a different country!

Immunity Roller - because your immune system takes a beating

Small vials in my doTerra key chain case:

Frankincense - behind the ears during take off and landing on the plane.  It's anti-inflammatory so I found it helped a lot.  

On Guard

Lemon

Copaiba - for anxiety and also anti-inflammatory

Terrashield - in case I ran out of our bottle

Balance - because I love it, a bit on the wrist, feet, or behind the ears

ZenGest - for if the roller wasn't doing the trick, my friend also used some for congestion

Deep Blue Rub - we were hiking, rapelling and ziplining for 3 days straight, loved putting some of this on at night

I used every single roller blend that I brought and a few of the small vials.  We also brought Pepto, Gravol and Advil.  Oils are great, but sometimes you need more.  And that's ok!  Modern medicine is amazing, but I always like to turn to my oils first now and see if they can fix the problem.  (By the way, I do find that ZenGest fixes most stomach problems.  However when you are down south, I find your whole system is off.  I took a Pepto pill every day for the last 4 days just to try to get myself back on track.)

As for taking the oils on the plane, it was easy peasy.  They are all under 100mL so they can go in your carry on if they fit in the liquid bag.  Once we were through security, I made sure the lids of my rollers were on tightly and put them in individual ziplock bags as I had heard sometimes they leak due to plane pressure.  None of mine ended up leaking, but it was nice to know that they wouldn't leak all over themselves if they did.

Is Cold Season Over Yet?

Today I wanted to share the oils that I used to support my body and my immune system during my recent cold.  I know a lot of people don't necessarily know how to use their oils and so they aren't as beneficial to them as they could be when they are actually needed.  I used to be that person.  I find that colds have gotten so much worse as I get older, is that just me?  They used to not bother me, but now that I'm older, I'm not sure if it's the age or the fact that I still have to function, but I find them so draining.  I utilized oils when I started to feel myself getting sick and during my actual illness.  By no means am I saying that oils can cure a cold.  However, I was amazed by how I felt they supported my body and immune system during the cold.  

One thing I've noticed since using oils is that I'm so much more aware of what's going on with my body.  I have felt more energized and just felt better physically lately, and so when I start to feel tired and run down, and get a little scratch in my throat, I know that I'm getting sick.  So that's when the cold protocol starts!

Ideally I would use an immunity blend on a daily basis, and maybe I would fight off sickness better.  But I'm terrible at actually doing this.  So when my throat starts to hurt, I roll on my immunity roller a few times a day.  With a sore throat I put it directly on my neck, but you could put it on your chest, the bottoms of your feet or down your spine.  My immunity roller is in a 10mL roller bottle and contains 7 drops each of Frankincense, On Guard, Tea Tree and Lemon oil.  If you are missing any of those though, you can do it without.  And really, just on guard would be fine too!

I started making sure I was drinking a lot of water with a drop of lemon in it to soothe my throat.

I diffuse On Guard in the house as well to kill germs.  The best oil to diffuse when you have a cold though is Easy Air or Breathe.  It's a respiratory blend and so it clears you up.  It was amazing, I put about 4 drops of Easy Air and 2 drops of Lavender in my diffuser before bed and it cleared me right up.  I had no trouble sleeping.  A drop of Easy Air in the shower so that it steams up is also amazing.

You can make a congestion roller as well with Easy Air, but what I did was put a drop of ZenGest (or DigestZen) on the tip of my nose.  Guys.  Seriously.  It was amazing.  It cleared up so much congestion! 

The key with oils is frequent use.  You can't run a diffuser once with Easy Air or use ZenGest once and expect your cold to disappear.  But every few hours I would reapply/diffuse and it would help.  Your body metabolizes oils quickly, so you can use less oils more frequently. 

To be honest, my cold never got that bad, I think because I was doing all of these things and because I started fighting it off from the beginning.  So next time you get a cold, give a few of these things a try.  (These oils are all in the starter kit, so if you have that you are seriously prepared!)

Why Doterra?

I guess I promised a post on why I choose to use Doterra oils, so here we go!

Oils are confusing.  I get it.  They are everywhere now.  They are in the mall, at Walmart, at random stores.  So how do you know which ones to use?  And why would I choose to go with an MLM company to purchase my oils when I can just go to the mall to grab them?

First of all, for me Quality is a huge issue.  When I am putting oils on my skin, or on my children or even taking internally, I want to know that I can trust the oil.  I know that Doterra has quality oils.  Do they cost more?  Maybe.  But oils are kind of serious business, they are fairly strong and so I really want to trust what I'm using.

Support is another huge consideration for me.  Because Google is confusing, I like to have as much info available as possible.  When you go to a store and buy an oil, there are so many things that you don't know.  Some oils are hot oils and shouldn't be put right on your skin or ingested.  Some are phototoxic, so if you put it on your skin and go into the sun, you will burn.  I like to know that I'm using my oils as safely as possible.  And I also like to know all the ways you can use an oil! 

When you sign up with Doterra, you get support from the team that you sign up as a part of.  So I have access to a members only website and facebook group, plus a connection with my upline leader, so I can talk to her if I need to.  And she knows everything there is to know about oil usage! 

Like anything, you need to look at what is important to you and decide which brand is best.  Anyone who knows me knows that I don't really spend money frivolously.  But I will spend a bit more on quality oils that I can trust.  (However, I don't think that Doterra is overpriced comparatively to other oils, besides maybe the oils that you would find at Walmart, that I really wouldn't recommend buying...) But overall, I think oils are also saving me money.  I've been cleaning with oils for a few years and a bottle of lemon oil costs like $12 and still lasts a long time.  If you look at all of the products you can replace with oils, you can really save a ton of money.  I also love to make my own roller blends because it's so much more economical then buying them premixed!  Roller blends make your oils easy to use because they are prediluted, safe for kids and make your bottle of oil go even further.

Whatever you choose to use, I feel like oils are the way of the future.  They are a way to make our family healthier, save costs and grab for a more natural remedy as a first choice. 

My Oily Usage

Today I wanted to share the ways that I have used essential oils in the past couple weeks. Using oils is a bit of a lifestyle change.  It's easy to get your oils and then leave them sitting on a shelf.  You really have to find ways to implement them into your life that's easy.  Once they become a habit, they become the first thing you reach for when you need to solve a problem!

So here are some of the really simple ways that I have used my oils lately:

• Lemon oil to clean my tub
• Lemon and On Guard spray to clean off pukey car seat straps (the joys of having children)
• Congestion roller on my sick kiddos
• On Guard Immunity roller to try to keep me healthy when I started to feel run down and sick
• Oregano on plantar's warts (gross I know, but nothing else has worked, although I do have to be cautious with Oregano so I'm taking a bit of a break from this)
• Lavender roller to help Parker sleep
• Lavender spray in the boys rooms
• Diffused Tea Tree and On Guard to kill germs from our household flu bug
• Lavender oil on dryer balls to freshen our laundry
• Easy Air (Breathe) in the tub - this would be great if you were congested, I wasn't, but it still smelled amazing!
• Lavender and Easy Air diffused at bed time to help us sleep (and help Ryan's cold)
• Tea Tree in my shampoo for eczema 
• Deep Blue on my thighs after a tough leg workout (not actually a tough workout, but apparently I'm out of shape!)
• Diffuse lavender and copaiba when feeling slightly stressed and overwhelmed
• Digestion roller on my tummy for instant relief of tummy trouble
• Homemade headache roller that had peppermint, frankincense and lavender in it to combat a headache

Let me know if you want any more info on oils and I will help you if I can!  I know that a lot of people are at a point where they are looking at some more natural options to use in their lives and in their homes.  If you are interested in Doterra oils and their benefits, I would love to point you in the right direction.  I'm also going to do a post on why I've chosen Doterra, so stay tuned!

My Essential Journey

You may recall (but probably not), that I started trying out essential oils a couple years ago.  For the past few years, I have dabbled in oils and used them here and there.  However my biggest hesitation for myself was that I was basically either pregnant or breastfeeding.  Oils are fairly potent and so it's super important that you don't use oils that aren't recommended while pregnant or breastfeeding, or that you don't use oils on kiddos that aren't safe for them.  (Being pregnant or breastfeeding actually isn't a reason not to use oils, you just have to know what oils you can and can't use!) 

I used some oils here and there, but it wasn't until I was having stomach issues a few months ago and had a wedding to go to.  I tried out a digestion roller on my tummy and the relief I felt was instantaneous.  After hours of stomach pain and discomfort, it literally disappeared seconds within applying the roller.  And that was my ah-ha moment!

So now that I have no children, born or unborn, who are affected by my body, I am able to really use oils for whatever purposes needed!  I've recently joined on with an amazing group through Doterra oils and I'm really excited about it!  

I'm going to have a few posts on my latest oily uses and I hope that if nothing else they can help you out a bit or open your eyes to all that oils have to offer!

I first started using oils because after having Parker I just didn't feel comfortable with the chemicals that were in our house.  I started using oils to clean the house with and have loved that!  I now combine my oils with Norwex products and feel really good about the lack of chemical cleaning products in our house.  I don't have to worry about the yucky stuff that the kids are sitting on in the tub, or the floor cleaner that's on my floors that they are crawling around on.

But there are so many more benefits to oils than just cleaning products!  They can provide physical support and emotional support.  They can make your house smell great and kill germs.  

I hope you will follow along my next few posts to learn a bit more!

Ways I've Used Oils in the Past Week

So I'm one week into my essential oil journey and we've already used them a ton!

• Grapefruit oil in my water:  I was doing this before I got my big box of oils.  A drop of grapefruit in my (glass) water bottle.  It's supposed to curb cravings plus it's vitamin C.
• Cleaning spray:  Water, vinegar and lemon oil makes me a happy cleaner.  If you know me, you know I hate cleaner, but I whipped up this concoction and have actually been using it!  Because the bottles aren't an eye sore, I can leave them in plain site, and so I actually grab them and spray down counter tops when the mood strikes!
• Diffusing lavender: My headache and cramps went away.  Coincidence?  Maybe.  But I choose to think it was the lavender.
• Cleaned my veggies with a fruit and veggie spray
• Made lavender rollers to help me sleep
• Made lavender spray to freshen the air and spray in Parker's room to help him sleep
• Used germ spray on my toilet after rinsing a stinky diaper
• Used antibacterial spray after changing above stinky diaper
• Rubbed fennel and coconut oil onto my belly for digestion/acid reflux - and it actually seemed to help! I was sceptical too!
• I've also made made congestion roller bottles and immune boost roller bottles as well as tub and toilet scrub.  And I'm excited to get using all of them!  There are way more roller bottle recipes that I was interested in, but I'm supposed to avoid peppermint as I'm still nursing and a lot of them included peppermint.

Plus how pretty are those bottles...