Essential Oils Party

This weekend has been nothing if not a whirlwind. I was constantly moving from one event to the next without much downtime between. So, to spend the better part of my Sunday afternoon at home is a blissfully welcomed activity. I’ve been off my writing game for a few days so I feel like it is high time to update you on some of the things going on in my life.

Among other things I spent my Saturday doing some Essential Oils mixology with good friends from my church cLife group. My friend has really been educating me on the benefits of Essential Oils and through her I’ve been able to purchase many oils at whole-sale prices. I originally posted about my journey into Essential Oils in March and if you’d like to read that post it is here.

Slowly but surely I have been building up my collection to include: Lavender, OnGuard, Balance, Lemon, Peppermint, Grapefruit, Geranium, and an OnGuard Cleaner Concentrate. At the party I made a few purchases including my new lifesaver: a compact traveling oil carrier which holds eight small sample-sized bottles. I loaded that thing up with some of my favorite oils and others that I would like to try. It’s been such a pain to store oils for traveling before I made this purchase. If I knew I would need an oil I would wrap up the bottle and stick it in my purse hoping that it would not spill all over the contents therein. Now, I can keep all of the oils with me at all times, because you never know when you are going to need a little oil. This was $6.50 well spent!

I also made my first ever bottle of homemade bug spray using essential oils and other organic ingredients. (Recipe below)

Essential Oils Bug Spray (4oz):

*As always you want to make sure that you store your essential oils in a glass container as the potency of the oil can eat away at plastic and man-made materials.

10 drops Terra Shield

10 drops Purify

10 drops Cedarwood

10 drops Peppermint

1 Tb Witch Hazel

Fill to the top with water

Now, I’m ready and armed for the upcoming graduation parties and Memorial Day Grill-outs. Bring it on Mother Nature 🙂

The last  time I posted about Essential Oils I gave a list of some ways that I’m using Essential Oils in my home and with my family. Here are some ways I’ve been using oils recently:

1. Grapefruit and Geranium: As many of you are aware due to my recent posts I’ve been struggling with gall bladder issues lately. My good friend had some extra Grapefruit and Geranium oils and brought them to me. Geranium supports the overall digestive health, but the Grapefruit oil is specifically used for breaking up gall stones. I had a few episodes while passing gall stones a few weeks ago and so I would place a little bit of oil on my skin around the locale of the gall bladder. At my ultrasound appointment last week the doctor reported that the swelling of my gall bladder had gone down and I had no more stones visible. I am so grateful!

2. Peppermint: Peppermint is one of those oils that has many uses. It can help with headaches, body aches and pains, energy, and insect repellents (especially spiders!) Most recently my husband has been asking for Peppermint when he gets headaches. At first, he thought I was crazy replacing many of our medicine cabinet staples with oils, but he has really seen results. Even just today he was beginning to feel a headache coming on so he went straight for my carrier and rubbed a little bit of the oil on his temples. I sometimes put a little bit (less than a drop) in my coffee in the morning since it is an invigorating oil. For the same reason I sometimes put a drop in the bottom of a hot shower which creates a Peppermint mist throughout the room flooding the shower with the beautiful aroma and energy. I could go on and on with uses for Peppermint.

3. Lavender and Balance: As I mentioned in a previous post I use both of these oils with my anxiety. Lately, I have been facing some major anxiety. Anxiety is something I am dealing with on multiple levels as far as how it is affecting me mentally and physically. In order to avoid medicating myself for my anxiety I have been using Lavender and Balance daily. If I miss a day of using these oils it is evident in my mood and behavior. Yes, a big part of my anxiety is triumphed by prayer, but I use these oil blends to help with the physical effects as well. A couple of times a day I rub Lavender on my chest. When we have anxiety we often feel that anxiety manifest itself in certain parts of our bodies. Lately, I have experienced anxiety so strong that it has led to chest pain and the Lavender works as a calming agent which also helps me to relax my chest muscles. I use Balance on the back of my neck and shoulders to help relax those muscles as well. I have a CAT scan this week to look into the chest pains and make sure there is nothing beyond anxiety as the cause. I am almost certain that my recent illness coupled with the end of the school year have just caused me to subconsciously stress myself out. The oils have helped my muscles to relax and prayer and wisdom from friends have helped with the mental aspect of anxiety.

A couple more things I learned at this Mixology party:

1. Not every person will react the same to each oil. One oil that helps me deal with headaches and tension may not work for someone else. You find what works best for you by trial and error.

2. Less is more. Whether you use a dime sized drop or three drops on your temple you will get the same results. The oils are potent and you should save your oils and your money and use the least amount possible.

3. Oils can be used to treat both physical and emotional symptoms. Every oil has a few physical ailments that it can treat, but it also has some emotional symptoms it can heal and help you work through.

4. Always dilute oils when putting them on children. Oils can be diluted with water, lotions, and other carrier oils like Grape seed Oil and Fractionated Coconut Oil.

So what’s next for me?

My family’s next oil investment is a diffuser for our home. So far we have been able to mask the method of diffusing through using hot showers filled with oils and putting oils on the air filter, but as the summer months approach neither of these methods are going to be quite as effective. I’m in the market for a diffuser and would love some help in deciding on the best size and brand. Please comment below with some advice.

Thanks for letting me talk your ear off about oils. I get excited as I learn more and start seeing results. If you have questions about Essential Oils I certainly don’t have all the answers, but I can help you find them. Please comment below with questions.