How do you stay well in the wintertime? We dove into essential oils 2 ½ years ago. Why? Evan had terrible headaches, turned migraines. Halen had incessant ear infections. I was over the OTC drugs that created a band aid, but not a solution. I was determined to find something better for our family. I did my research, just like anyone should do when welcoming something new into their home. I talked to my husband about it, most know he is super critical. We both gave a smiling nod, and do
ve in.
You may ask, what are essential oils? Essential oils are the most powerful part of the plant. This may be the bark, leaves, flowers, resin, or roots. How do you use them? You can use them topically, aromatically, or internally.
What do they do? Essential oils seep into our cells and help them in various ways. Lavender helps relax and calm. Lemon helps energize. Peppermint can invigorate. Thieves can protect. When you combine essential oils, you can create an even more effective way to use them. Lavender + lemon + peppermint = allergy trio…which means when breathed in or used internally this combination can help fight against varying allergies. In Austin we have wicked allergies, Evan is usually dragging, when I diffuse this blend… he returns to his happy self.
Why do I use Young Living? I chose to use Young Living after doing a multitude of research. I wanted to make sure that these products I was going to use for myself, my husband and my baby were practically perfect in every way. I found that Young Living owns their own farms, they are in 100% control of the planting of the seeds, and in control with the plants once ready to be harvested. They don’t use pesticides. They are 100% organic. They are seed to seal, which means they grow the plant, harvest the plant, and 100 feet away from the farm, they distill the plant. Then the distilled essential oil is bottled, sealed, and sent to our home. No fillers, trash water, synthetics, or chemicals added. Essential oils are 100% pure. It takes 3,000 lemon rinds to make up a bottle of lemon essential oil…which shows how powerful these oils truly are.
Thieves has been an amazing tool in our arsenal, it helps keep our immune systems strong, the air we breathe in our home clean, and kill any crud that might be lurking. Within a month of me applying thieves to Halen’s feet every night, her ear infections stopped. This was after our pediatrician said we were going to have to get tubes in her ears, we were being referred to an ENT. This was after five ear infections in each ear. This was after antibiotic after antibiotic being pumped into my baby’s system. I was elated and shocked. When starting any new regime, I knew we had to be consistent in order for it to continue working. Just like a new diet would, we would have to be persistent. The combination of clove, lemon, cinnamon bark, eucalyptus and rosemary have (in my mom opinion) a magical way of working together to build an immune system and help ward off virus after virus. So many viruses have bypassed our home, and I attribute that to our love of Thieves. We apply diluted with coconut oil on our feet in the morning and at night.
Bone broth has been another wintertime essential, as it helps heal a leaky gut, clear up skin irritations, along with many other benefits (do your research). Probiotics are vital in our home, we take them every day to help rebuild anything that bad bacteria may have tried to break down. Recently, we have incorporated pre-biotics into our supplement use as well, this helps prep our systems for the probiotics we take before bed. Some foods obtaining prebiotics that you can incorporate into your day are dandelion greens, raw garlic, onions, leeks, jicama. Probiotics you can find around your house would be: yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, kimchi, miso, kombucha, pickles (fermented foods basically), all help heal your leaky gut which can be a terrible gateway into autoimmune diseases. Our kids use the KidScents multivitamin every morning (which are not candy, as many on the market are…) these are full of vitamin A, D, E, C, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Folate, Vitamin B12, Biotin, Magnesium, Zinc, Selenium along with guava, basil, beet, strawberry, wolfberry, barley grass and broccoli. We haven’t been to the doctor for a sick visit in years and I think this is another reason why that has happened.
Ningxia Red became another favorite, we drink 1-2 ounces every morning to start our day. This juice jam packs in superfruits from wolfberries in China, to blueberries, pomegranate, cherries, etc to create a powerful juice that can help with various issues from the inside out. This juice comes from the Ningxia part of China where the Wolfberry grows, because of the isolation of this superfruit it was hidden from the Western hemisphere. Gary Young discovered the wolfberry when traveling through China and speaking to Chinese biochemists. The wolfberry is prized for its remarkable health benefits, people who consumed this berry lived incredibly long and healthy lives.
Sleep is imperative for restoration and healing, no matter where you are in your health. It has been hard for me to shut my brain off at night, I am a night owl by nature and my thoughts come alive once my babies are snoozing away in their beds. Restructuring your day can be important, so you aren’t up all hours of the night only to get up early the next day (aka me.) I apply some Tranquil to my wrists before bed to all of us, diffuse lavender and we are well on our way to a restful sleep.
Stress has become such a terrible reality in our country, and we wonder why new diagnosis are being given every day. I have to really focus on not becoming stressed out (which is not easy as a mom to tiny humans), I apply my Stress Away or White Angelica and take some deep breaths to help conquer the wintry day... whatever helps relieve your stress be it a bath, pedicure, massage, long walk outside, a mindless run, or yoga should be made a priority as self-care is necessary.
Exercise (which is a stress reliever) and releases endorphins, should be important too, even when it is cold. Go on a walk, do some yoga, take a cycling class, I love Camp Gladiator, or Pure Barre is pretty awesome. Keep the blood pumping, heart rate up, and give those muscles a wake-up call. Peppermint or En-R-Gee helps me get my energy up to conquer a cold, morning workout.
All of these things can help strengthen our systems to face winter. It has snowed twice in Austin already and possibly another chance tomorrow. The flu is reaching an epidemic level this year. Wellness is not to be gawked at. Don’t wait until you are sick to attain optimum wellness, start now. These are all of my opinions of course, of different courses of action that have helped my family and I stay well. Wishing you and yours a safe, healthy winter.