The initial reaction to this question is of course no, but for most people born in the west the answer gets a bit complicated. Western medicine is wonderful! We have things like vaccines, antibiotics, x-rays, CT scans and MRI's. Most people in the west have grown so accustomed to these that we forget that nature also supplies health aids.
I have to admit I was a bit skeptical of doTERRA and essential oils in general. However, I have used natural remedies in the past without a second glance. Epsom salt in a bath for achy muscles or in a bowl for dealing with ingrown toenails. When I was pregnant with both of my children I lived on peppermint and ginger to help manage my raging morning sickness. When my oldest, Scientist, was born and he had coughing fits, later diagnosed as asthma, we would sit with him in the bathroom and run a hot shower for the steam. We have used a warm glass of milk or chamomile herbal tea to help us fall asleep. Lemon herbal tea and warm salt water for sore throats. Baking soda and oatmeal pastes were used for insect stings and rashes.
I'm sure that most of these remedies have been used by most people at one time or another in many different forms. So today I'm issuing a challenge. Think of all the natural remedies that you use now or used growing up and share them with your friends and with me!
If you have a natural remedy that isn't listed above please share in the comments section!
Friday, November 30, 2012
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Pictures!
This is the picture that I didn't get to add last night.
These are my finished disks! In the background you can see my 5lb bag of baking soda. I found mine in the pool maintenance section of the local Walmart but I think I've also seen them in the laundry care aisle. Happy DIY!
Jenn
Jenn
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Peppermint and Frankincense or Christmas Time!
I LOVE PEPPERMINT!!!! Okay now that I have that off of my chest I can explain. December is one in my top times of the year because of Christmas, I still love the holidays, and peppermint. Peppermint candy canes, peppermint hot cocoa, peppermint chap-stick peppermint Andes mints, need I go on? Imagine my surprise when I found out that peppermint essential oil helps with headaches!
I already knew that peppermint could help with opening the airways, but finding more uses for peppermint is a life changing experience. Can you tell I love peppermint? I was suffering from a headache last weekend and had a sore back from cooking all day Thursday, did anyone else hurt after cooking all day? To deal with that and the fact that I am nearly always cold I ran myself a bath. We have a large jetted tub, can you say heaven? I filled the tub all the way with hot water added about 1c epsom salt and 3 drop peppermint essential oil. My headache disappeared the aches eased up and as a bonus my sinus' cleared themselves. We have used peppermint with the kids when their asthma acts up and love that we don't have to have them puff on the inhaler. As a side note I am not a doctor so consult yours before you drop medications especially those that are meant to be used in an emergency like a rescue inhaler!!!!!
Today I made some vapor disks that I found the recipe for on pinterest. This link should take you right to her recipe. I did make a few modifications though, I only used peppermint, I'm a purest that way :), and like her, I didn't measure a thing. I have a really bad habit of not measuring unless; I am using a recipe for the first time, or I am baking.
I poured a bunch of baking soda into my normal mixing bowl until it was about as much as comes in a muffin mix box and added water until it was the pasty mixture she describes. I then added 15 drops Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade (CPTG) peppermint Essential Oil (EO). I then scooped the mixture into a muffin pan with the cupcake liners in it. I ended up with enough to make 12-1 inch thick disks of the regular muffin size. I wanted to use one tonight when my kids got in the shower and I am not really what you would call patient. I baked them in my oven at the lowest temperature of 170 for about an hour. I baked it at such a low temp because most of the CPTG EO's have really low smoke points. The smoke point is where you start to loose a lot of the benefits from it being a CPTG EO, among other things. My house smelt amazing while they were baking.
After I pulled them out I allowed them to cool and unwrapped one and stuck in in the kids shower. I will post the picture when I'm done because I took the picture with my phone. They have been barking all afternoon and it stopped. That could be the warm steam from the shower but knowing that peppermint works like it does I'm inclined to believe that they worked together to get the result experienced! I'm looking forward to all the ways I can use peppermint to help my family.
The other oil I wanted to try and work with is Frankincense. Does this oil name sound familiar? It is one of the three gifts brought by the wise men to the Christ-child. It is one of the oldest therapeutic oils known to man. This oil has a ton of uses, most of them are for brain health, anti-aging or it antiseptic properties and as a bonus it's a sedative.
Last night I once again found myself with a headache. I really should go to bed around 9:30 to be ahead of them and be a productive mommy the next day and not zombie mommy. The biggest problem last night? NBC's new show Revoltion, Eric Kripke writes some of the most compelling stories and I fear for us all should he team up with Joss Whedon and Steven Moffat, but that is a post for another day.
I diluted 2 drop of Frankincense EO in about 1/4 cup coconut oil (again, I don't measure just eyeball it). I rubbed some on the soles of my feet. I did it a bit stupidly though, I did it in the kitchen on my tile floor! Then I had to walk to my bedroom and not fall. The only way I made it was through a minor miracle. It really didn't take long for my skin to absorb it and by the time I was done brushing my teeth I was able to get into bed and not leave oil on my sheets. Yay!
My younger child who we should call Monster has had a hard time adjusting to being in school this year. He's had a few discipline issues and in talking to the teacher its more than normal behavior for that age group. This morning I rubbed my coconut oil and frankincense EO concoction on the bottom of his feet and will continue to do so. I'm hoping it will help calm him in that environment as one of the indications in the book I referenced in my last posts states that frankincense can help the user have a better attitude! I sure hope so!
May you each find a way to use the "Christmas oils" in your house!
Do you love peppermint? Have a new way to use it? I would love to hear from you! Leave me a comment and I will respond.
Today I made some vapor disks that I found the recipe for on pinterest. This link should take you right to her recipe. I did make a few modifications though, I only used peppermint, I'm a purest that way :), and like her, I didn't measure a thing. I have a really bad habit of not measuring unless; I am using a recipe for the first time, or I am baking.
I poured a bunch of baking soda into my normal mixing bowl until it was about as much as comes in a muffin mix box and added water until it was the pasty mixture she describes. I then added 15 drops Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade (CPTG) peppermint Essential Oil (EO). I then scooped the mixture into a muffin pan with the cupcake liners in it. I ended up with enough to make 12-1 inch thick disks of the regular muffin size. I wanted to use one tonight when my kids got in the shower and I am not really what you would call patient. I baked them in my oven at the lowest temperature of 170 for about an hour. I baked it at such a low temp because most of the CPTG EO's have really low smoke points. The smoke point is where you start to loose a lot of the benefits from it being a CPTG EO, among other things. My house smelt amazing while they were baking.
After I pulled them out I allowed them to cool and unwrapped one and stuck in in the kids shower. I will post the picture when I'm done because I took the picture with my phone. They have been barking all afternoon and it stopped. That could be the warm steam from the shower but knowing that peppermint works like it does I'm inclined to believe that they worked together to get the result experienced! I'm looking forward to all the ways I can use peppermint to help my family.
The other oil I wanted to try and work with is Frankincense. Does this oil name sound familiar? It is one of the three gifts brought by the wise men to the Christ-child. It is one of the oldest therapeutic oils known to man. This oil has a ton of uses, most of them are for brain health, anti-aging or it antiseptic properties and as a bonus it's a sedative.
Last night I once again found myself with a headache. I really should go to bed around 9:30 to be ahead of them and be a productive mommy the next day and not zombie mommy. The biggest problem last night? NBC's new show Revoltion, Eric Kripke writes some of the most compelling stories and I fear for us all should he team up with Joss Whedon and Steven Moffat, but that is a post for another day.
I diluted 2 drop of Frankincense EO in about 1/4 cup coconut oil (again, I don't measure just eyeball it). I rubbed some on the soles of my feet. I did it a bit stupidly though, I did it in the kitchen on my tile floor! Then I had to walk to my bedroom and not fall. The only way I made it was through a minor miracle. It really didn't take long for my skin to absorb it and by the time I was done brushing my teeth I was able to get into bed and not leave oil on my sheets. Yay!
My younger child who we should call Monster has had a hard time adjusting to being in school this year. He's had a few discipline issues and in talking to the teacher its more than normal behavior for that age group. This morning I rubbed my coconut oil and frankincense EO concoction on the bottom of his feet and will continue to do so. I'm hoping it will help calm him in that environment as one of the indications in the book I referenced in my last posts states that frankincense can help the user have a better attitude! I sure hope so!
May you each find a way to use the "Christmas oils" in your house!
Do you love peppermint? Have a new way to use it? I would love to hear from you! Leave me a comment and I will respond.
Saturday, November 24, 2012
The beginning of a new life....
Every story needs a beginning and this is mine. My name is Jennifer and like many others I have a few health problems. I suffer from debilitating migraines most days, I have been diagnosed with poly-cystic ovarian syndrome, which includes a bunch of other issues, I have joint pain and muscles that can't quite seem to work together and my family and I all suffer from nasty allergies and asthma. I am also currently working on the education I need to be certified to teach High School Biology. Now, I am not typing all of this to complain or to whine about how my body seems to be against me. I am typing this so that those who read this will understand how essential oils have helped our family. My aunt has gotten into doTerra Essential oils and shared her enthusiasm with the rest of the family. I will try to review most of the oils that doTerra offers, however there are a couple that I just cannot try, lavender and melaleuca. Unfortunately for me they are some of the oils that set me up for the migraines I mentioned earlier. If you have tried one of these oils and would like to write a guest entry let me know I would love to hear from you!
The first oils I received were lemon and Breathe. Lemon is supposed to help with anxiety, cleansing, depression, disinfection, grease, heartburn and stress. (2012, AromaTools). Last weekend I took what is, at this time, the most important test of my academic career, the equivalent in my state to the Praxis I. This is the general education test for future educators and must be passed before a student can take the Praxis II. In the past with test like the ACT or the SAT I have had severe anxiety about the test and have never felt confident about them. This time I added a drop of the lemon essential oil to my water that I was drinking as I drove to the testing site. I felt more clear headed than I normally am at that time in the morning and for once I was headache free. I love the scent of the lemon oil, and plan to keep using it in various ways. The one caveat about lemon essential oil is that it can cause a sensitivity to the sun so wear sunscreen! As I find more ways that it helps me and my family I will share them.
Breathe is a proprietary blend that is meant to help with keeping the airways open. As I mentioned my family all has asthma and allergies so this blend was something I was looking forward to trying. It is blended of laurel leaf, peppermint, eucalyptus, melaleuca, lemon, and ravensara oils. My children were having a particularly rough night with their asthma so I rubbed a small bit on the bottoms of their feet. It helped them quite a bit however, the melaleuca in it cause this mom to be dealing with a migraine. It did work as expected and my children were able to get a good nights sleep without having to puff on their inhalers or take the liquid albuterol that we have been so dependent upon. I will be trying the different components of this blend to see if I can get the same results with the kids without the migraine for me. Would I recommend this oil to friends? The answer is an emphatic yes!
In the next entry I will discuss peppermint and as it is the holiday season, frankincense!
AromaTools. (2012). Modern Essentials: A Comtemporary Guide to the Therapeutic Use of Essential Oils (4th Edition) Orem, Ut : Aroma Tools
Breathe is a proprietary blend that is meant to help with keeping the airways open. As I mentioned my family all has asthma and allergies so this blend was something I was looking forward to trying. It is blended of laurel leaf, peppermint, eucalyptus, melaleuca, lemon, and ravensara oils. My children were having a particularly rough night with their asthma so I rubbed a small bit on the bottoms of their feet. It helped them quite a bit however, the melaleuca in it cause this mom to be dealing with a migraine. It did work as expected and my children were able to get a good nights sleep without having to puff on their inhalers or take the liquid albuterol that we have been so dependent upon. I will be trying the different components of this blend to see if I can get the same results with the kids without the migraine for me. Would I recommend this oil to friends? The answer is an emphatic yes!In the next entry I will discuss peppermint and as it is the holiday season, frankincense!
AromaTools. (2012). Modern Essentials: A Comtemporary Guide to the Therapeutic Use of Essential Oils (4th Edition) Orem, Ut : Aroma Tools
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