Seasonal Support with Oils!

Happy Tuesday, friends! This topic of supporting our wellness during the change of seasons, is fresh on my heart and mind today….one of my children was home from school because she was complaining of symptoms related to her seasonal discomfort. You know…the kind that comes from all the blooming flowers and trees, change in temperatures and the air? Yep. That kind of discomfort! I am so happy to report she was feeling GREAT this morning and bopped off to school feeling like herself!

Today, I want to share with you a few of the methods that we used to push through what she experienced yesterday. I know we can all relate, right? Our options may seem slim when it comes to supporting our wellness for seasonal symptoms, and looking to mainstream treatments can leave us and our kiddos feeling drowsy or like we are just trading one symptom for the other.

First of all, these methods I am about to describe are what works for our family. I hope you try them and find they work for you! I am not suggesting to ditch your medications or go against your doctors. Oils are an alternative way we have found to deal with what we experience and it works for us! Let’s dive in to how we can actually work to feeling like ourselves during this time of the year with oils!

We Diffuse Oils

We use oils year-round in place of candles for our air in our home. Diffusing is so much safer than burning candles for a couple reasons:

1. No open flame! With our diffusers, there is a candle light setting so I don’t even miss the candlelight affect that I loved about candles before. It is safer in that I don’t have to worry about leaving a candle burning, or one of my children or dog knocking it over.
2. Adds good things to the air! According to the EPA(Environmental Protection Agency), our indoor pollution in our homes on average can exceed that of outdoor pollution and be 2-5 times greater. Contributing to this, are indoor airfresheners, cleaners, and candles. Fragraces found in all of these products can contain harmful chemicals. On top of that, candles and wax warmers contain things like petroleum, and other synthetic materials to make their products. Releasing these into the air in our homes can irritate our lungs and affect our air quality. Burning the wick, regarldless of how “clean” your candles claim to be can also cause soot to build up in your home.
3. Choosing a diffuser that is also a humidifier can help imporove the air quality in our homes! The first step to breathing easier is cleaning up the air we sit and sleep in. Adding pure, health benefitting oils to your diffuser and turning it on is so simple. We can get all the benefits of our oils through diffusing as we breathe….let’s look at that!

The science of how diffuing oils works and how it affects us and benefits our health is so amazing to me…but, we will keep it short for now! Diffusing oils is able to so effectively distriblute the pure oil molecules into the air for us, that our body easily benefits from using a diffuser. Think of how a certain scent can trigger memories or feelings for you…..the smell of baking cookies in the oven maybe reminds you of the holidays and makes you happy, or fresh cut grass makes you feel excited and anticipation of summer? Similarly, oils do that for us too when we breathe them in!

We Use Oils Topically

As our largest organ, our skin takes on A LOT. It takes everything we throw at it! It acts a barrier to our insides and protects, but it also helps absorb things into our bodies, and helps get the good stuff to the inside. When applying oils to our bodies for the most benefit, it is important to remember these tips:

1. Use a carrier oil. Using a carrier oil helps the absrobtion of the oil into our skin, but it also helps slow down how fast that happens. This is especially important to remember for use on children. You wouldn’t give something that is extra strength to a child…you would want to take it down a bit! Same with oils. More is not always better. Also, if you’re new to oils it is important to go slowly, so it is important to consider diluting oils when using topically on your skin. Also, oils like peppermint, for example, can have a tingly sensation when applied. Diluting can help lessens this affect.
2. Use oils on your wrists, feet, back of neck and away from eyes and inside noses, etc. In the earlier example with Peppermint oil, you can imagine how you would want to keep it away from your eyes! In the instance you get an oil you dont want it, use a carrier oils to flush it out…like some fractioned coconut oil.
3. Make up your favorite recipes (that’s coming next!) and make roller bottles out of them. This way they are ready to go when you need them and you know exactly what to do. This is a great tool to use to take to work, in your purse or car so that you always have your oils ready to use and on hand. I love doing this for my kiddos too! I make sure their roller bottles are labeled just for them. This way, when they have to use their roller for an upset stomach or a different one for focus or mood, it is ready to go and diluted for them and separate from what I woul use on myelf.

We Use Vitality Oils

Young Living has an entire line of oils called Vitality Oils that are safe for using internally…meaning we can put them in vegetable capsule to use as supplements, or add them to our water, and even use them for cooking.

The Vitality oils are easily distinguished by their white labels and it takes the guesswork out of which oils are safe to use orally.

By now we have covered how we use our oils….let’s talk specifically WHAT oils to use for seasonal support! Our favorite, the basic combination of equal parts Lemon, Peppermint, and Lavender do the trick for us!

If we need a little extra boots, we add Manuka oil or Copaiba to this combination.

Lemon Essential Oil: Lemon Essential Oil has a clean, uplifting aroma and the oil itself is known for its purifying properties. It can help boost mood and as a Vitality oil, it is great for digestion!

Lavender Essential Oil: Lavender is often called the “Swiss Army Knife of oils,” because it is good for just about anything! Lavender is soothing, calming, and is also great for skin and hair.

Peppermint Essential Oil: As a Vitality Oil, Peppermint can help soothe an upset stomach on the spot. It has a fresh, clean smell that can help with mood and focus as well. My favorite way to use this is to just open the cap and use it aromatically while on long raod trips, or just a drop or two on my scalp and massage in….that pounding head is relieved quickly!

The classic combination of Lavender, Lemon, and Peppermint essential oils has been called the “Seasonal Support Trio” for a reason. It is so effective at naturally helping us deal with seasonal discomfort. Try this!

• Add a couple drops each of Lavender, Peppermint, and Lemon to your diffuser. The properties of these oils together will help and also purify the air around you, making breathing a little easier. For a little added help, tent yourself for a few minutes at a time over you diffuser.
• Use a roller made with these oils and rub behind the ears, back of neck, and on wrists. To make the roller, put 10 drops of each oil into an empty roller bottle. Fill the rest of the roller with your favorite carrier oil (mine is grapeseed oil for this recipe). For children, use 5-8 drops of each oil at the most.
• Make a capsule. Get some empty Vegetable capsules to fill. Size 0 capsules hold about 10 drops of oil and are smaller than the size 00 capsules that hold 14 drops or so. Keep that in mind to determine how you want yours to be. Add 3 drops each of Lavender, Lemon, and Peppermint to your capsule. For my capsules, I like to add a drop of olive oil into the capsules as well. You can make the capsules ahead of time and freeze them for easy accessibility.

This month, Young Living rolled out an enrollment kit for new members that includes Lemon, Lavender, Peppermint, and Peace & Calming Essential Oils! It is called the Haven Starter Bundle. The Haven Diffuser is one of my favorite diffusers in my home. It is absolutely gorgeous! I love the candle flicker and it feels and looks so sleek on my kitchen counter. Also, I love the timing of this special bundle for all the seasonal support, Peace & Calming is an AHHHHMAZING blend! Peace & Calming lives up to its name, is a blend of Tangerine, Orange, Ylang Ylang, Pachouli, and Blue Tansy. Together these oils produce a deep seence of well-being. It can be diffused, rubbed on the bottoms of feet, and can help you get an amazing night’s sleep!

The Haven Starter Bundle is available to new members only, for $135. That is an incredible deal! Included with the oils and the Haven Diffuser, are 2 glass dropper bottles. I just recently started using dropper bottles and I love haveing them around. It makes using my oils even easier. I love filling one up with my favorite diffuser recipe and usig it to add a couple drops to my diffuser before I turn it on.

Having my diffuser blend ready to go and premixed helps keep me from using too much oils. It also just makes it easier and I don’t have to think about it…I simply label my dropper with what blend is inside and get to diffusing!

Already a Young Living Member? Grab the Haven Diffuser on your Essential Rewards or one-time order…it comes with Peppermint and Citrus Fresh. The Haven diffuser sold ou quickly before so go snag yours!

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I loved talking all about seasonal support today and how my family uses oils this time of year. I’d love to hear from you! Go to our FAQ’s page and  send us a message. If you’d like information on our Zoom class this month, let us know that as well.