How to use Essential Oils... Let me count the ways!

How to use those oils....

The moment is here. You open your mailbox and there it is.... Your first order of essential oils! Yipee! You open the bottle and breathe in the aroma - mmmmm. Then you think, "what exactly do I do with this stuff?" Good question. There are several ways you can use essential oils, and you just did one of the most basic without even thinking!

Aromatic use:

Just smelling oils from the bottle can be very therapeutic. There are multiple studies that confirm the health benefits of inhalation of essential oils. Here is one, and another, and another. You can search on Pubmed for more.

You can diffuse (put them into the air so you can inhale/smell them) oils in several ways. You can use passive forms of diffusing such as putting a few drops of oil on a cotton ball and keeping it in a jar or other container so you can open and smell at will. You can place a few drops on a pendant such as these, or on a stuffed animal or a hankie. 

You can also actively diffuse in a cool mist diffuser such as these.
You don't need to stand over the diffuser breathing in the mist (but that is nice at times too). However, the diffuser should be located within the same room as you and as close as possible. For example, on your desk when you're working, in the kitchen when you're cooking. I keep one in the kitchen, the hub of my home. I also keep one by my bed to get the beneficial effects while I sleep. It soon becomes understandable why you might want more than one diffuser :)

I love the aromatic use of essential oils for fighting germs, congestion, cough, moods and more. Even when there is "nothing" to be treated, I like to have the diffuser running with a season smell, or mood ,or focus enhancing oils.

Topical use:

Another way is to use oils topically. This means you apply them to your skin. Your skin is your largest organ and oils that are rubbed into the skin will be absorbed by the body. You will need to use some care in which oils can be used "neat", which means as they are, out of the bottle, without diluting them. Some oils are "hot", and should be diluted with a carrier oil (such as coconut oil, almond oil, grapeseed oil, olive oil, hemp seed oil) or they can irritate the skin. *** Essential Oils should never be put into the ear or eye.

To use topically you take a drop or 2 or 3 and rub topically over the area of concern. Often times a carrier oil or salve comes in handy to help the oil cover a larger area. As I have said in other posts, EO use is very intuitive. Trust your body and what it is telling you.

If you have a headache, place the oil over the spot on your head that hurts. If you have a tummy ache, use it over the part of your tummy that hurts. Arthritis, place it on the joints. Back pain - it goes on your back (usually with a carrier oil to spread further). Wherever you put the oil, make sure to take a few minutes to massage it in. This gets the blood to the area to absorb and transport the oils - plus it feels good! Get the idea?

There are a few other good locations for general use. The bottoms of the feet have large pores and can absorb things quickly. This makes it a good spot to put oils you are taking for general systemic relief. For example, Jeddy's for ADHD/anxiety/Focus is great on the bottoms of the feet. Cold and Flu bomb is good on the bottom of your feet as your whole body is fighting the virus/bacteria. Dream sleep blend when you are trying to fall asleep works well here. My kids prefer to use this location for daily Jeddy's, cold and flu bomb, or other use. They can put their socks on and no one at school can smell they have oils on.

The base of your skull, your brain stem (where your neck meets your hairline in the back) is also a good place for getting things into your head - literally. I put my headache blend here as well as my LXR for anxiety and my Jeddy's for focus.

Finally the navel is a good place to get oils through the body, into your core. You have a high concentration of blood vessels here and they can move oils quickly. When I eat something my body doesn't like or I'm having a general allergic reaction to say, my dog. I put the LLP for allergies in my navel. Get it?

Rollers work great for this type of use.

I like topical use for just about any ailment. I find it can be very focused relief.

Dietary (internal) use:

There is controversy and caution about this one. First, let me say that you should only do what you are comfortable with and what suits you. To each his own. I will say that I do, regularly, take Spark Naturals essential oils internally. I do not recommend taking just any essential oil internally. You need to trust that any EO you take internally is pure. However, I feel the same way about topical and aromatic use. All of your oils need to be of the highest quality,  they end up internal eventually as well!.

There are a few ways to take oils internally.  You can put a few drops in a "shot" of water or juice. One of my favorites is a drop of peppermint in a shot of water or almond milk to kick heartburn. Works like a charm - immediately! You can put oils in a gel capsule. I take a capsule of 6 drops LLP daily. I also use cold and flu bomb in a capsule to fight sickness.  There are some great ways to use them in cooking. A drop of wild orange in brownies is to die for and a drop of cilantro in your salsa is mmmmm. Spark Naturals FB page regularly posts recipes for cooking with essential oils. I've also made this great recipe for cough/immunity drops, and will drink Shield tea when I'm avoiding the sickness that is going around that week.

How do you know what oils are safe in what ways?

Spark Naturals labels all of their bottles as to which type of use is appropriate for that oil. It will say "aromatic, topical, or dietary use" on the bottle so there is no confusion as to what is safe.

I hope this helps those who are just starting with oils, or still have questions. Please feel free to ask questions in the comments too! 

Here's to your health!

Wendy

Allergies of all kinds

Allergies...

I've had them all my life. At a very young age (4-5?) I can remember crying on my mom's lap because my sinuses hurt. I had chronic ear infections, puffy eyes, and headaches as a child. I have always had seasonal allergies, except I'm so lucky I get to be allergic to something in every season!. I also have food sensitivities, allergic to mold, maple trees, grass, and even my dog.

Allergies are what got me started on essential oils. My whole family has at least seasonal allergies, and a few members got my lucky 'extras'.  I have to admit, I was open to alternative medicine long before learning about essential oils. Don't get me wrong, I'm not opposed to the allopathic practice of medicine. It saved my life at age 17.   But over the years I have sought more traditional and natural methods time and again. I'm just not happy with the side effects that most medications have on me. I'm one of those people that is in the 2.5%. You know, the "less than 3% of people suffer this side effect" person.

When I ran across essential oils we were spending quite a bit on allergies medicine and other OTC drugs for the symptoms that weren't helped by the prescriptions. However, when I really looked at the big picture, I felt the prescriptions weren't helping at all. We spent $50/mo copay each on nasal sprays for 3 people. We used to pay a $60 (then $30 generic) copay for Claritin for 2 of us but then it became OTC. Our cost tripled for that. I paid $15 for prescription steroid eczema creme that 2 of us shared (shhhhh....). We bought Advil and Tylenol at Costco for the headaches/sinus pain and Sudafed at the drug store. My hubby was taking anywhere from 2-4 Sudafed and Tylenol/Advil doses a day depending on the season. I was doing at least 2. Then there was the frequent cost of antibiotics for when it all didn't work and we got sinus infections. Mine and my husband's liver function numbers were "concerning" to the doctors when we had our annual blood test. I was sure there had to be a better way.

Enter essential oils and Rebecca's blog www.campwander.com. I ran across her blog from Jill at www.onegoodthingbyjillee.com, her sister. I love these girls! They have awesome ideas. Anyway I began to read Camp Wander daily and liked what I read. I had always believed if there was a natural solution to something, it was the better route. I searched her blog for allergies and found a great post! I bought the supplies; a bottle of Lemon, bottle of Lavender, a bottle of  Peppermint (LLP), roller bottle and some fractionated coconut oil) and got started. I made my first allergy roller bottle, immediately used it, and IMMEDIATELY it started working on my congestion! I kid you not, right away my sinuses began to drain! Nothing over the years has ever worked that fast or that well on my allergies. It isn't perfect by any means, and it isn't a cure. I still have allergies. But when it comes to managing the symptoms, nothing beats LLP - hands down! The best part is it is natural, so if any allergies are really still bugging me an hour later I can reapply with no worries, no overdose risk, no negative side effects.

I keep this LLP roller with me at all times. I use it rolled on my sinuses for typical allergy congestion. I also roll it on my temples for allergy headaches, behind and in front of my ears for ear congestion, on my eyebrows when my eyes are itchy or watery (not too close, it will burn), on bug bites, in my navel if I'm having an allergic food reaction, or in my navel if my dog is making me itch all over. My husband and I also take a capsule of 6 drops LLP internally daily for allergies. We up it to 9 drops a capsule if it is a particularly bad time of the season.

It does seems to have had one side effect. It has improved both my husband and my digestion - go figure! I'm sure it is the daily peppermint and lemon.

Lucky for us -

Spark Naturals makes LLP all ready for you in a blend called, wait for it....LLP! 

To celebrate how awesome this blend is, and to get someone out there started on essential oils, I'm giving away a 5ml bottle of LLP and a 10ml  roller bottle. 

To make the roller I use:

Place 30 drops LLP in the roller then fill the remainder of the space with fractionated coconut oil. That easy!

(You can also use 10 drops each of lemon, lavender and peppermint if you use your bottle all up and don't have any super, duper, easy LLP)

You can use fractionated coconut oil, or any carrier oil that works for you, in the roller. Almond seed oil, grape seed, hemp seed oil, your choice.