One Step...or Oil At a Time.

I often here that using essential oils is overwhelming.  I personally giggle a little inside when people say this because I find it to be quite the opposite.  Yes, it took me a couple months to learn what oil works best but the basics are pretty easy to understand.  By using my Modern Essential book, I have taught myself the basics and more.  It really just boils down to taking a little time to read. 

Do you ever look at the side effects of the over the counter drugs you "pop" daily?  Do you read the paperwork given to you by your pharmacist on the side effects of the medicines your doctor prescribes?  You should!

"The most serious side effect is liver damage due to large doses, chronic use or concomitant use with alcohol or other drugs that also damage the liver. Chronic alcohol use may also increase the risk of stomach bleeding."

Can you guess what drug this is?  

Tylenol.  Simple and "safe" right?  As long as you don't take it with alcohol, take too much, on and on.  Do you know how many OTC cold medicines contain Tylenol or acetaminophen?  Even on the official Tylenol website it has a warning about liver damage.  

So you are not sure how to get started?  Well, my suggestion is to take baby steps.  Take a look at the issues you are facing and pick one thing you want to replace your medicines with essential oils.  Start small.  

In my house, we started with two things.  Heartburn for me while pregnant and helping my daughters get to sleep easier.  That amounted to 3 oils.  Lavender, Lemon and DigestZen.   

For the girls, we started with a nightly regiment.  Bath then a bit of a foot massage with the Lemon then Lavender.  They were getting lotion so the addition of the oils was very simple.  It was amazing to see the results.  By the second night, they would ask to go to bed instead of the fight we had experienced prior to the oils. 

DigestZen is safe to take while pregnant and it was the ONLY thing that kept me from feeling like a fire breathing dragon.   

Since the success of the first week, I have done more research and more experimentation.  This blog is a bit of a written record on that little adventure.  

It is true that I am officially addicted to using the oils first then proceeding to prescribed and OTC medications.  I just feel my oils work better, faster and are cheaper.  I am not the only convert in my family.

Both my mother and my mother-in-law started treating one issue with the oils and found success.  They both suffered from high blood pressure.  Hypertension is a huge problem in this country.  In the case with my mother-in- law, she started on one med and the side effects of that med led to another and another and another.  She was up to 4 different meds to take care of one problem.  She felt it was crazy and expensive even with insurance.

I told her about a blend my mother was trying since her medications were not working and giving her unbearable leg cramps.  

The Hypertension Blend consists:

6 dropsYlang Ylang

6 drops Helichrysum

4 drops Frankincense

4 drops Marjoram

4 drops Cassia

25 drops coconut oil

Recommended applications include several drops applied with massage to the bottom of the feet, on the wrists, along the breast bone, massage over the heart, on the carotidal arteries, and to the back of the neck. Also diffusion might be effective, and adding the oil or blend to a bath (agitating the water often).

Results? You bet they had results. My mother who was close to stroke level is now in the normal range. My mother-in-law is off 2 medications and weaning off the third.   The oils work.


My mother was instrumental in my introduction and I am happy to say, I introduced my mother-in-law. She is now selling the oils as well and helping others in the Pacific Northwest find ways to take care of their health naturally.


Now, as a disclaimer, I am not a doctor and I am not telling you to stop your prescribed medications to switch to the oils.  Some of you reading this, truly need what your doctor has prescribed.  If you want to slowly switch over to the oils, go slow and listen to your body.  Everyone's chemistry is different.  Even your doctor will agree which is why there are multiple drugs to treat the same condition.  

You have to make the choice on what you want to try.  Great choices to start with would be stress management, sleep issues, digestion concerns, headaches, and allergies.  Bigger health issues require a little research.  A great website to do that research is Aromaticscience.com.

If you find yourself taking acetaminophen to combat the headache from too much coffee that you needed to wake yourself up from the sleeping pill you took last night because the appetite suppressant interrupts your sleep, you might want to give natural medicine a try.  

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The Taste of Fall...naturally!

I love Fall!  The leaves changing, the smells and mostly the pumpkin flavored things.  Pumpkin pie...Yum!  Pumpkin beer...Yes please!  So when a big national food chain advertised Pumpkin Spice Lattes I thought...Oh yeah! I really want one!  

Today, I didn't have time for a healthier breakfast option so I ended up there and decided today was the day.  Pumpkin Spice Latte, please and thank you!  I anticipated the first drink would just scream "I LOVE FALL!" but instead all I really tasted was fake pumpkin with an aftertaste of chemicals.  Bummer.  I was seriously disappointed.

About an hour later, I felt awful.  Headache, stomach ache and generally yuck.  Some of it could have been that my breakfast choice in general but the chemical aftertaste would not leave my taste buds.  It got me thinking...

For the past few months, my family has tried to really eat clean.  Natural flavors, whole fruits and veggies, real food.  My husband started the Candida Cleanse and we have just stuck with the diet.  It has been a great, filling choice for us.

Part of the doTERRA Wellness model is to reduce toxic load.  We have not been perfect by any stretch of the imagination but we have been well behaved.  I knew we were feeling better but I didn't think it had really transformed us.  Today, I knew differently. My taste buds definitely knew the difference!

Artificial flavorings are in so many things it is hard to avoid if you are eating anything processed.  For us, the switch to produce section and the spice rack has really helped to keep us away from the artificial flavorings, dyes and sweeteners.

Many people have issues with artificial flavorings, sweeteners and dyes.  This article from SavannahNow.com talks about the science of sweeteners in particular.  

"Aspartame is a combination of aspartic acid, which excites brain cells, methanol, a wood alcohol, and phenylalanine which concentrates in the brain, is dangerous for certain persons and the cumulative effect becomes toxic to the point of being lethal.

Aspartame acts as a neurotransmitter, which causes damage to the neurological system. Evidence shows that damage to more than three quarters of an area’s brain cells can occur before any signs of clinical illness can be detected. "

That last line is pretty scary if you ask me!  

So you want the taste of fall but you want it natural.  What to do?

There are many oils offered by doTERRA that will be great flavor enhancers.  Cinnamon, Cassia, Wild Orange, just to name a few.

Holiday Wassail is delicious!

Need pumpkin?!  doTERRA Pumpkin Smoothie

As for my morning coffee...I am going to stick with 1 drop of Cassia with a honey in my coffee!  The Cassia helps with stomach issues, has a great cinnamon taste without being overpowering.  Honey is just a great natural sweetener.

I didn't know how much my body liked natural until I went back to artificial.  Reduce your toxic load!  Your body will thank you.  

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Stay Hydrated My Friends!

You have heard it before "stop drinking soda and start drinking water."  You will lose weight and feel amazing.  If you are like me, your first thought was, "NO WAY JOSE!  I cannot live without my Diet Coke!"  But let me tell you something, you can live without it.  

Soda or Pop or Coke or whatever you call it is full of junk.  Junk that is really not good for you.  Diet soda is worse.    Just by switching to water you save yourself hundreds of calories if you are drinking regular soda.  That adds up to a loss of pounds.  

Now, I will admit in the past I was a hard core Diet Coke drinker.  When I was travelling across the planet, I could down 6+ Diet Cokes a day without blinking an eye.  On my days off, I would never drink that many and I would feel lousy.  

After reading numerous articles about how switching from soda to water could give you loads of benefits, I finally gave it a shot.  It was a rough week of going cold turkey.  ROUGH!  Now it wasn't that I just dropped caffeine because I switched to drinking iced tea.  It was my body's response to the lack of the junk that is in the soda. 

That was a few years ago.  Today, I drink water all day.  When I feel fancy, I would add a lemon.  Now there are articles saying how nasty those lemons can be.  YUCK! 

So what do I do now?  doTERRA CPTG Lemon Oil!  Don't like lemon....try Wild Orange, Grapefruit or Lime.  Get crazy and mix them...Lemon Lime!  

Citrus oils come with a few precautions.

If you apply them to your skin, be very careful in the sun.  Citrus oils can cause your skin to burn more easily.

If you are adding them to your water, you want to use them only in glass or metal containers.  They will dissolve styro foam and pull petrochemicals out of plastics.

I recently went to a doTERRA class where the hostess had this genius idea...she called them Hillbilly Jars.   They are glass and metal and after a few modifications become a perfect container for Lemon water.  

Here is how you make them....

Get your favorite size mason jar, 9/16 sized rubber grommets, and metal straws.  We used quart size Ball jars.  You will need a drill with a 3/8 inch bit.

Drill a whole in the center of the lid and insert the rubber grommet.  This will take some pressure to get it inserted.  Smooth out any edges on the lid prior to inserting the grommet.  No need for cuts.

Your final product will look like this....

Don't want to make your own, you can always just order one from me!  

Lemon water has so many benefits and the straw really helps you to drink the water fast!

Stay hydrated and flavor that water with a doTERRA citrus oil!

There are great deals when joining doTERRA.

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A little thing called.....STRESS

Stress, we all have it.  Sometimes it is helpful, sometimes it is not.

Good stress can enhance your performance on tests, help you enjoy the amusement part roller coaster or keep you on the edge of your seat while watching your favorite sport.  Stress helps you change.

But today, I am not talking about the good stress.  I am talking about the bad stress.  The kind where you end up with a horrible headache, fatigue, frustration and generally a horrible mood.

Why?  Well, I had a week of bad stress.  The culprit.......the common one.....work.  Not my work with doTERRA but my other full time job.  Now, don't get me wrong, I love my job but sometimes you just have a day or a week where you ask, "really? are you kidding me?"  This was one of those weeks for me.  Odd schedule, tough tasks, lack of time to eat well led me to feel lousy.

From the Mayo Clinic....

Common effects of stress ...
... On your body	... On your mood	... On your behavior
Headache Muscle tension or pain Chest pain Fatigue Change in sex drive Stomach upset Sleep problems	Anxiety Restlessness Lack of motivation or focus Irritability or anger Sadness or depression	Overeating or undereating Angry outbursts Drug or alcohol abuse Tobacco use Social withdrawal

I had the headache, muscle tension, fatigue, lack of focus by the end of the week and craving sweets in a big way.  

Exercise is a great stress reducer but what happens when you schedule doesn't let you exercise?  This was my dilemma.  But trust me when I say, working out hard is a great way to get the stress and frustration out of your system.

I had my oils to use and I am so happy I did.

For the headache....Past Tense.

Past Tense has a great minty scent from both Peppermint and Wintergreen and cooling effect on your temples.  It took away my headache in minutes.  

Just apply it where it hurts keeping it out of your eyes.  That burns.  Trust me on this one.  

I applied it to my temples and to the back of my head.  The oils don't make your hair oily so don't worry about that.  

Headaches can be triggered by many things.  Past Tense can help.  Other great remedies would be a combo of Lavender and Peppermint.  Add Frank for migraine type headaches.   For sinus issues, use Lavender, Lemon and Peppermint.

But stress can make it hard to sleep.  I know I would lay day last week and my mind was running a million miles a minute.  That only increases the fatigue you feel.  Trust me....I am tired.  

 To get some quality rest, I turned to the every reliable Lavender.  Beautiful Lavender.

Lavender applied to my wrists and my jaw line helped keep me from clenching my teeth and relax my mind.  Just 4 drops provided success.

Now sometimes stomach issue can come with high stress levels.  I was lucky and didn't suffer this but if you do DigestZen will be your new BFF!  

If your stress causes anxiety, meditation can help or grab your bottle of Serenity or Citrus Bliss.  Both have great calming and mood properties.  The oils that make up the Mood Matrix are wonderful.  Balance and Elevation are oils I use daily.   Last week, I felt like I was bathing in Balance!  

Now Chronic Stress can truly lead to major health issues.  Heart disease, depression, high blood pressure, compromised immune systems, etc.  Keep your stress in check naturally with doTERRA essential oils!

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