Essential Oils for Wellness, Beauty and Well-Being

Disclaimer: I am not a hippie. I still believe in NyQuil. I like regular Crest toothpaste. No Tom’s up in here! I wear chemical-laden deodorant and will never give that up because it works and the alternative terrifies me.

But ever since my pregnancy I have been open to exploring alternative medicines and therapies. Two horrific colds when you can’t take anything will drive you to some drastic measures (and for me that was breaking down last year and buying a neti pot/sinus rinse). Fast forward to Rylan’s arrival and I sit somewhere in the middle of conventional and natural. I can’t seem to give up my Clorox Cleanup for “green” cleaner yet I won’t wash Rylan’s bottle parts in anything other than Seventh Generation brand dish soap, followed by a rigorous Saturday sanitizing process. I know, the Clorox is way worse but you should see my glistening bathroom floors!

What’s my point you ask? My point is that I am still me, but I am more eager to learn about other ways to keep germs at bay now that Rylan is in daycare and ideas for how to take care of my family in a manner that more closely aligns with how I eat ~ relatively clean. Kelly, Mike’s sister, started talking to me about Young Living Essential Oils this summer. I watched as she turned to different blends and combinations for her daughters’ colds, cleaning the air around her house, helping her entire family sleep better…the list goes on.

I was super skeptical. I thought she had bought into something without any real merit. However, over the course of my maternity leave I saw her skin start to glow from her new nighttime routine of coconut oil and frankincense — which is so much cheaper than my high-end nighttime oil. My nieces’ summer colds, while still running the course, were shorter. And I let her diffuse a few drops of Peace & Calming in her guest room before Rylan slept over. He had his longest stretch of sleep ever that night and continued to extend his sleep in the days that followed when I diffused Peace & Calming in his room an hour before bedtime.

I was curious and decided to dive into the Young Living world. And so far? I am pretty impressed.

Right now my routine includes:

  • Joy diffused in the morning to uplift my mood and make the house smell great
  • Thieves diffused in various rooms after we get home from work and daycare pickup to cleanse the air and kill germs
  • Peace & Calming – just two or three drops – in the diffuser in Rylan’s room for about an hour before his bedtime. Then I add a few more drops and diffuse it in our room next to my side of the bed
  • Peace & Calming behind my ears before bed, unless I dilute and put on Thieves if I feel any sort of sickness coming on
  • Peppermint Lavender Lemon (and olive oil as a carrier oil) ingested in a vegetable capsule if I feel “the crud” lurking. Taking the oils this way was approved by Rylan’s pediatrician since I am breastfeeding
  • Thieves diluted and rubbed on the soles of my feet at the first sign of a cold or throat tickle
  • Thieves wipes on Rylan’s carseat after daycare and on other nasty places in public (e.g., changing tables – GROSS)
  • Frankincense and coconut oil as a natural moisturizer at night
  • Stress away on my wrists and temples at work if the day is particularly challenging or stressful

Do I think essential oils cure everything? Of course not. Do I believe there are merits in the natural healing capabilities of these plants and that it doesn’t hurt to try the natural route for your family before always resorting to antibiotics and other traditional avenues? Absolutely. In fact, my mom credits a daily routine of liquid Cod Liver Oil for turning around my entire immune system as a young kid. Rylan’s pediatrician said, “oh yeah, we use Thieves essential oils around our house too,” when I asked him about the safety of diffusing a few drops around Rylan or ingesting two drops in a capsule at the first sign of the dreaded daycare plague. Yes, our pediatrician uses these oils too.

Check out just two of these helpful guides for the many different ways to explore essential oils.

Later this week I am going to post a Q&A with Kelly about her use of these oils. She has taught me a lot and though I still have a lot to learn, and some personal bias about oils to overcome, her personal experiences are really great to read about for anyone who is curious about alternatives for their family, be it oils or something else entirely!

Please note that I am in no way being compensated for this post. I bought my starter kit entirely on my own and am just a curious oil user at this point. If you do have questions please leave a comment and if I cannot answer them, I will get you in touch with someone much more qualified.

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