When Life Gives you Lemons.....

Hope that is doTERRA Lemon Oil!  

Lemon oil is so versatile it is part of the 101 Uses of the Intro Kit.  Some of the great uses for Lemon oil listed at that link:

1. A Cure for Laundry Neglect. Lemon essential oil takes out ALL odor when you forget and leave your load of laundry in the washer way too long! 
2. Tame Oozy, Sappy Trees. Whether the sap is on your carpet, clothes or seeped into your skin, lemon oil is excellent for removing pine gum and tree sap. 
3. Stop Grease in its Tracks. You just fixed your bike. Your hands are black and greasy. Soap alone won’t remove the grease, but lemon oil mixed with your soap will.  Lemon oil is a great de-greaser! 


Grease, you say?  Hmm.....let's put this little tip to the test shall we?  Well, that is what I said to myself today.  Why?  What was so greasy?  My garage floor.  Yes, guys....and I mean that as men....pay attention to this little blog.  The oils aren't just girly stuff.

I will admit that I have been a bit busy and I let my car go a bit long for an oil change.  It is very unlike me as I appreciate an well oiled engine and take care of my car.  My Dad taught me well in this area.  But it was overdue and started leaking on my garage floor.  

Not good at all. 

I also appreciate the fact that we don't want to walk out in the garage and step in this junk.

I decided to try just 10 drops of Lemon oil to see what exactly it would do.  Just 10 drops.  It was a spread out spot that has been baked by the south Georgia heat for about a month so I wasn't too hopeful anything would really make a difference.

But 10 drops of Lemon, a tsp of liquid soap, a bucket of water and a little bit of scrubbing....and I emphasize a little bit of scrubbing....I was really hot from our bike ride....we ended up with this:

It lightened up the spots and I think with some actual elbow grease and another application, it will be gone.  I was impressed.  

So why did it work?  As I teach my classes, I always brag that lemon and all citrus oils break down petrochemicals.  Motor oil is just that so I don't really know why I didn't think it would do much.  By taking Lemon oil internally, you help your body rid itself of petrochemicals as well.

I also warn anyone attending my classes to always use their citrus oils in glass or metal containers.  They will dissolve your stryofoam cup.  There are numerous YouTube videos you can google to see it all happen.  

I use my "jars" to drink my citrus water!

The number one question I get is "I don't drink motor oil or eat plastic, so how am I ingesting petrochemicals?"  Breathing and living in our society today.  It is just a fact of life that we are exposed to so many toxins, many which are petroleum based.

Everyday exposure happens more than we know.  From pesticides during the growing process to the additives in personal care products,  we are bombarded with chemicals.  Lemon oil helps break those down and rid our body...and garage floor of them.  

Cleaning your garage...or your house can be much easier and less toxic by using Lemon oil. Try switching to more of a green cleaning option using doTERRA's lemon oil.  You will still have a clean house or garage without the toxic chemicals.

Next item to tackle with Lemon....crayons on my wall!

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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Tune up your body!

I recently read a very funny article about surviving Whole Foods.   In the article, the author references Candida.  You may have seen it and wondered, "what the heck is Candida?"  In the article the author says, "Ever notice that you don't meet poor people with special diet needs? .....A cab driver with Candida? Candida is what I call a rich, white person problem. You know you've really made it in this world when you get Candida. My personal theory is that Candida is something you get from too much hot yoga. All I'm saying is if I were a yeast, I would want to live in your yoga pants."

Funny but honestly, Candida is a problem with the average American's diet.  We, as Americans, are known worldwide for our love processed food, white bread and sugar.  Yes, all these things get the big coupons at the grocery. The more we consume the sicker this country is getting.  For an industrialized country, we are one of the sickest on the planet.  Obesity, leaky gut, acid reflux, chronic fatigue, eczema, hormonal balance, ADHD, and the list goes on and on.  

The official definition for Candida diploid fungus that grows both as yeast and filamentous cells and a causal agent of opportunistic oral and genital infections in humans.

In English.....a whole body yeast infection.  It can manifest in many ways from a skin issue to IBS.  Dr. Oz referenced it on his website back in 2009.  

Check out Amanda's story...does that sound familiar?

So how do you know if you have Candida?  Most doctors don't test you for an overgrowth of yeast.  Doctors barely have enough time to see you, treat your symptoms and not really get into the deeper issues of your health until you are REALLY REALLY sick.  Who wants to be REALLY REALLY sick to get some attention?  Not me.

A quiz to check and see if you might have an issue comes from TheYeastConnection.com

1. Have you taken repeated or prolonged courses of antibacterial drugs? 4 points for a yes

2. Have you been bothered by recurrent vaginal, prostate or urinary tract infections? 3 points for a yes

3. Do you feel "sick all over," yet the cause hasn't been found? 2 for a yes

4. Are you bothered by hormone disturbances, including PMS, menstrual irregularities, sexual dysfunction, sugar craving, low body temperature or fatigue? 2 for a yes

5. Are you unusually sensitive to tobacco smoke, perfumes, colognes and other chemical odors? 2 for a yes

6. Are you bothered by memory or concentration problems? Do you sometimes feel "spaced out"? 2 for a yes

7. Have you taken prolonged courses of prednisone or other steroids; or have you taken "the pill" for more than 3 years?
2 for a yes

8. Do some foods disagree with you or trigger your symptoms? 1 for a yes

9. Do you suffer with constipation, diarrhea, bloating or abdominal pain? 1 for a yes

10. Does your skin itch, tingle or burn; or is it unusually dry; or are you bothered by rashes? 1 for a yes

Scoring for women: If your score is 9 or more, your health problems are probably yeast-connected. If your score is 12 or more, your health problems are almost certainly yeast-connected.

Scoring for men: If your score is 7 or more, your health problems are probably yeast-connected. If your score is 10 or more, your health problems are almost certainly yeast-connected.

So you scored above 10 if you are a man or 12 if you are a woman...what now?

There are ways to kill off the yeast, regain your health and feel better.  

You will have to change your diet first and foremost.  

The processed food helped get you to this point and that means you are going to have to show it to the door.  There are many lifestyle diets that promote a way of eating that can help you do this without feeling like you are starving.  Eat Clean, Paleo, or the good old fashioned rule of thumb your MOTHER told you....eat your vegetables!  Yes, you might have a bit of time where you have intense cravings for sugar.....Candida LOVES sugar for growth.

Your journey to better health should start with your diet and not with your doctor!  

Eliminate white flour, white sugar and caffeine.  Candida thrives on this trio.  Once it overgrows, it produces toxins in your body that overtake the stuff your body needs to run optimally.  

Drink plenty of water flavored with a citrus oil, preferably Lemon oil.  Lemon oil helps to flush toxins through your body.

Exercise at least 20 minutes a day.  Walking is one of the best!

Take some supplements offered by doTERRA.  Follow this cleanse protocol by doTERRA US Founder, Laura Jacobs. 

Not enrolled in doTERRA?   The Cleanse and Restore Kit is a great way to start this process.

Now there are a few people out there that can't do this right now.  I am one at the moment. Lactacting mommas should NOT do a cleanse of any kind.  The toxins are release by all means to get out of your body and you don't want that junk going to the baby.  Wait until you are no longer nursing.   As a lactating momma, you should focus your diet to eliminate the processed food, increase fruits and veggies and get a good probiotic.  PB Assist is safe.  For a gentle daily cleanse, feel free to drink lots of Lemon water!  

You can be assured that when I wean this baby boy, I will be doing a full cleanse.  I will repeat the process for a couple months if necessary.  It really is a 15 day on the cleanse then 15 days off.  Currently, I have done small changes to decrease my sugar intake.  Cassia with a touch of honey in my coffee was one of the most recent.  It really tastes great!

I am sick of my sugar addiction, my thyroid issues, my skin issues and my weight issues.  I know that by helping my body with a tune up, will help it run better longer!  

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Let's eat!

When I first started with doTERRA, I was amazed that you can take these oils internally.   I had tried other brands of essential oils and always saw on the label...NOT FOR INTERNAL USE or ONLY FOR AROMATHERAPY.  If you have any essential oils at your house and are thinking of following the rest of this blog entry, please check the label first!

doTERRA's CPTG oils allow you to take them internally, topically or aromatically.  You can check out the many uses in a previous blog entry entitled Topically-aromatically-internally-oh my!

So today being the last day of summer vacation for my soon to be Pre-K'er, we had to come up with a few projects to keep her occupied.  I thought, lets bake up some stuff so we have easy hearty breakfast.  Baked oatmeal cups it is!

A great recipe is on this blog!  We decided to switch out the teaspoon of cinnamon for 3 drops of doTERRA Cinnamon Bark oil.  I must say, the house smells amazing right now.  I made a few using some berries but my little girl wanted some with banana.  The beauty of the cups is you can customize and they are more portable.  

The results look delish!  Tomorrow, we dine!

But baked oatmeal isn't the only thing you can do.  I have added 10 drops to sugar cookie dough for awesome and SIMPLE lemon cookies.  Of course, my Reinventing Healthcare attendees loved them.

Hot Chocolate Peppermint Cookies were also a hit!

And finally White Chocolate Peppermint covered Pretzels!

Want to try something other than desserts, check out this video to see how the oils can be incorporated through your entire meal!  Her cookbook is fabulous.  I got mine for Christmas.

The great thing about using the oils is that you don't lose the benefits they provide when you take them "neat".  OnGuard used in your banana bread will still help you boost your immune system and you aren't hungry since you ate a nice treat.  To me, that is a win-win!

Give them a try when you cook and report back!  I would love to hear the creative ways you use your oils too.