Happy "Oily Days"

Ok ok, bad puns and all... The holidays are upon us!

And with the holidays come sniffles, sneezes, and generally vulnerable immune systems...

I’m going to give you a couple of quick tips to keep your home and workplaces feeling festive, and at the same time to safeguard your health during the busy, sometimes stressful days ahead.

Ready?

Number One: Bring Thieves Wherever You Go!

I always get a chuckle out of telling people this, but seriously- the combination of oils is a power-packed protector against a wide range of bacteria, molds, and viruses. Plus, the superantioxidant Clove has a smell that many folks associate with winter holidays anyway, so you get an “air-freshener” that is not only non-toxic, it is actually Good For You! I diffuse it, spritz it, and take it internally if I’m starting to feel depleted (a few drops in a capsule with v-6 oil, or the pre-made Inner Defense softgels).

When traveling I always rub Thieves oil on the bottoms of my feet, carry the hand sanitizer and lozenges with me, and spray my hotel room with the spritzer. I usually offer a bottle of the foaming handsoap as a gift to my hosts- they really love it, and it’s a great introduction to more natural things than most folks have in their guest bathrooms (and I have something I trust to use while I’m there).

Number Two: Diffuse, diffuse, diffuse!

Whether you are using the elegant Aria or the Efficient TheraPro, getting Young Living Oils in the air will benefit everyone. Unlike toxic air “fresheners”, our oils carry physical and emotional benefits along with fresh and lively scents. Balsam fir is reminiscent of cut trees, without the mess and with all the health benefits- for respiratory soothing and general uplifting of spirits, it’s a great winter companion. Frankincense is also a nice choice, as are any of the citrus oils. Experiment and discover your own holiday signature.

Number Three: Get it on you!

Consider Valor or Stress Away as your cologne of choice, or offer everyone a little dab of Joy... get creative and keep your favorites close at hand. One member in my group started offering bedtime foot rubs to the kids in her family. She made sure to apply Peace and Calming each time- not only did the kids quiet down and rest peacefully, they began looking forward to bedtime!

Number Four: Get it in you!

Keep a bottle of NingXia Red right alongside the other imbibements. An anti-oxidant boost with added essential oils will go a long way to making sure any indulgence is tempered with great self-care. Consider recipes that include Young Living oils. Maple-glazed nuts with cinnamon oil added at the end, a drop of tangerine while the cranberries cool, a drop of nutmeg in the eggnog... remember start small and add only add to heated foods once the cooling has begun.

Number Five: Give it Away!

For frugal gift giving, here’s one sure bet: you, a box of ziplock baggies, a few pounds of epsom salts and a bottle of your favorite oil. Combine salt and oil, shake well, give it a clever name and label it. Done!

Another trick~ Young Living’s unscented shower gel, empty bottles, your favorite oil. Combine, Shake, and Give. Don’t forget the clever name. My favorite? “A Wash With Gratitude”.

I also love to give mini bottles full of my favorite oils, and bunches of little things like lip balms, hand sanitizers, and for that one joker in my family with the huge stocking- NingXia Red!

You can always take the easy road and let Young Living ship it for you- their Holiday Gift Catalog even features a number of item already packaged up in holiday finery.

A great compliment to a gift of Young Living oils is a bit of support in using them, and understanding how vastly different they are from what many people think of when they hear “aromatherapy”. Consider inviting your gift recipients to a little get-together to explore the oils more in-depth, once the holiday bustle is over. They will welcome the chance to reconnect with you, and develop a deeper understanding of what a profound gift they have received. What better way to welcome the New Year than helping people discover natural ways to wellness?

Most important,

HAVE FUN! Love your people, be good to yourself, and stay in touch with your Young Living Family. We love you.

How to Use Essential Oils

There are three main ways to use essential oils: by topical application, by inhalation, and by ingestion (don’t do this with just any oils though! Read on for more). Please keep in mind we are talking about Young Living oils. The information might not be applicable to other brands.

Topical~

Putting the oils directly onto the skin of the affected body part. It’s kind of a no-brainer... we put the oil where the problem is. We choose this method for scrapes, burns, wounds, bug bites and other skin irritations. For this kind of application we might choose Lavender, Thieves, Purification, Melrose, Melaleuca Alternifolia (“tea tree”), or Frankincense. Some of these oils exhibit soothing properties, others are naturally high in anti-infectious compounds.

Muscle and joint pain is another strong indicator for topical application. We use oils such as PanAway, Wintergreen, Peppermint, Aroma Seize and Valor for muscle aches, Helichrysum for nerve pain, and Lemongrass for ligaments.

When people are starting out using oils topically, we suggest they start with small amounts at a time and dilute as necessary. The Essential Oils Desk Reference has a number of charts with recommended dilution ratios, which make a great starting point. The User’s Guide brochure has a starter chart as well.
We are a little bit fearless in our topical applications; we’ve been using the oils for a while and have a good sense of how much we need in a situation.

When diluting, use a fatty oil such as Young Living’s V-6 blend (our fave) or whatever pure oil you might have in the kitchen (coconut, olive and almond work well). Don’t dilute with water for topical use; it actually drives the oils in further instead of dispersing them evenly.


Inhalation and Diffusing~

Yum! This is the method of choice when you want to influence the mood, atmosphere, and/or emotions. We are hardwired in such a way that scent affects our emotional experience in real, tangible ways. This is the application method where we can get really creative. I have a friend who starts each day with her “Never Have A Bad Day” ritual of Valor, Harmony, Joy and White Angelica (she added Stress Away when it came out at Convention last year). She has challenged many of us to try having a bad day when we start off slathered in mood supportive oils.

I love this method of “personal inhalation” for a quick fix: I put a drop or two of my chosen oil in the palm of my left hand. With the fingertips of my right hand, I make three clockwise circles then rub the palms together. Then I cup both hands over my nose and inhale deeply several times. I re-remembered the three circles when I was at a conference with Gary Young recently. We always did it that way in the early days, and I’d fallen out of the practice. I was reminded that with this simple gesture we imbue the process with our intention and activate the healing centers of our mind.

We use the oils this way for so many reasons. Whether we are doing a complete emotional release protocol with the Feelings kit, rubbing Clarity on our temples while we study, or putting Peace & Calming on the kids before bedtime, we are using inhalation to our benefit. Some kids who are labeled as being on the autistic spectrum do really well carrying an oil or two that they can smell throughout the day.

While inhalation does not require a diffuser, for filling a room nothing else compares. Young Living has several styles which we love for different reasons.

There are strong indicators for diffusing when you want to disperse the anti-infectious properties of an oil throughout an entire house or room. The Theives blend in particular has been studied for its effectiveness in eradicating toxic black mold in environments where other, harsher methods failed (we would use the TheraPro diffuser for this). When someone in our house is fighting off a cold or flu, we alternate diffusing between Thieves, Immupower, Raven and RC.


Internal~

We should start by saying that we do not recommend this with oils other than Young Living. If you are using Young Living oils, consult the bottle before consuming. Look for the “supplement serving size” section on the label. If it’s not there, it means the oil contains plants that the FDA has not signed off on as edible. As a general rule, if you can eat the plant (peppermint, lavender, rosemary, etc - and yes, all the oils in the Thieves blend are edible) you can ingest the oil.

For the most part it is recommended (we refer to the Essential Oils Desk Reference here) to dilute oils prior to ingestion. They work best in a fatty base, so a carrier oil like Young Living’s V6 (or olive, coconut, etc. oil from the kitchen). The recommended oil can be added to an empty capsule (starting with a drop or two) and the capsule then filled with oil before swallowing.

To make matters simple, Young Living has gone ahead and encapsulated a couple of targeted-result blends for easy ingestion: SleepEssence, Digest and Cleanse, Longevity, and Inner Defense (Thieves plus Oregano, Thyme, and Citronella- hello, immune system!) are a few examples.

There are some oils we take orally “straight up”. They are surprisingly strong to the uninitiated, so again- start small. We like peppermint to freshen breath, Thieves if we’re feeling depleted, lavender or frankincense if we burn our tongue.

Other oils we add to water for a cool beverage or hot tea. We always bring lemon to restaurants (our oil is a lot cleaner than that lemon wedge, I’d wager) and people traveling overseas have used it to kill bacteria in water that might compromise their health otherwise. We make tea from Peppermint, Lavender, Frankincense, Orange... you name it.

Cooking with the oils is another great option. We suggest (you guessed it) starting small (these are potent!) and add your oils after the main cooking has taken place.

There’s so much more to share! Thank goodness we’re a-blogging now.

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