Essential Oils, Update

I have a feeling this is going to be long. My fingers are vibrating.

First things first, I got my essential oils! I ordered three: peppermint, lavender, and citronella. I shall explain!

Peppermint: I have a tendency to get migraines, between my wisdom teeth issues and an old neck injury. They suck, and I really don't want to ever take medicine. I want to DEAL WITH IT and get beyond the pain, not mask it. Peppermint oil is a cooling oil, so it feels awesome on your skin. When I feel a migraine coming on, I rub it on my temples, the back of my neck, and along my jawline; then, I inhale the scent of my hands deeply. You can refresh every fifteen minutes as needed, though I've only needed to refresh once. After applying the oil, I rest and enjoy the cool tingle on my skin. My headaches have always subsided and I am able to carry on with my day. This is a tremendous improvement over being bedridden for 24-48 hours, dependent on pills and muscle relaxers. Peppermint also makes you perky and alert. My daughter loves it hardcore because she thinks she smells like bubble gum.

Lavender: OH MY GOD THIS IS THE BEST STUFF. Seriously. I apply it before hypnosis and my sessions are so much deeper. My neighbor takes care of a fussy baby - I swear this child mellows out and collapses against me as soon as I enter into her house. My husband has given me full body massages with my CFO and a few drops of lavender oil - bliss. Pure bliss. Jeebus. People say it helps with stretch marks and burns, too. WIN!

Citronella - I am making my own buggie spray! No more crappy toxins on my children. :-D

I purchased my oils from Rocky Mountain Oils. They are really reasonable and I got my oils quickly. I highly recommend them if you are considering purchasing essential oils.

Now - on to the kind of negativish thing. :( I had intended to purchase Young Living products, but I did a bit of research on the company and its founder and I was less than impressed. Well - that's actually an understatement. I was pretty much horrified. This was really disappointing because I know a few people who participate in their distributorship program and really enjoy the YL company; also, I wanted to get the Thieves Blend available only through YL. However, I cannot support this company in good conscience. To each their own, but it never sat right with me. Ah well.

Back to the good stuff! I am not sure what I am going to get next, but I am thinking of making a vanity purchase and getting vanilla. I love the warm smell of vanilla, and apart from its obvious benefits, it would make a great perfume to stinkify myself with!

Edit: make sure you get 100% pure, therapeutic grade oil! A lot of what is available at stores is not 100% - far from it. This seriously impedes its effectiveness. Happy smellies!

Essential Oils, Part Deux

With permission, I completely stole this post from Kristi at Raw Food Cold Climate- she is wild about essential oils. In truth, it is her passionate belief in their benefits and her willingness to share knowledge that inspired me to research oils further in the first place.

So, without further adieu, here is her post on lavendar oil:

Let's start with a recap of why essential oils rock for healing.

1. Essential oils are small enough in molecular size that they can quickly penetrate the tissues of the skin.

2. Essential oils are lipid-soluable and are capable of penetrating cell membranes, even if the membranes have hardened because of an oxygen deficiency. According to Jean Valnet, MD, essential oils can affect every cell of the body within 20 minutes and are then metabolized like other nutrients.

3. Essential oils, according to researchers at the university of Vienna, stimulate blood flow, which increases oxygen and nutrient delivery.

4. Essential oils are some of the most powerful known antioxidants as determined by the ORAC test developed by Tufts University.

5. Essential oils are antibacterial, antifungal, antinfectious, antimicrobal, antiparasitic, antiviral, and antiseptic. Some essentials oils have been shown to destroy all tested bacteria and viruses.

6. Essential oils may detoxify the cells and blood in the body.

7. Essential oils containing sesquiterpenes (ex. Frankinscence and Sandalwood) have the ability to pass through the blood brain barrier.

8. Essential Oils smell fantastic.

9. Essential Oils promote emotional, physical, and spiritual wellbeing.

Got that?

Lavender is one of the Holy Trinity of Essential Oils for at home healing, in my fair opinion. The other 2 being Peppermint and the Theives Blend.

The Story of Lavender Essential oil goes like this......

French scientist Rene Gattefosse discovered lavenders ability to promote tissue regeneration and speed wound healing when he severely burned his arm in a labratory accident. His arm on fire he meant to stick it in a bucket of water and instead stuck it in one full of lavendar essential oil. He tirelessly promoted it's healing benefits the rest of his days.

It is used on Respiratory infections, high blood pressure, arteriosclerosis, menstral issues, skin conditions (post birth perenium, acne, eczema, psoriasis, scarring, and stretch marks), burns, hair loss, insomnia, nervous tension.

I have put it on a cotton ball and inserted the cotton ball into the ear.....VERY GENTLY...for ear infections. Also, I like to draw a line with it from the behind the ear and under the jaw line for colds. It is unparalled for burns and cuts, and yes just pour it on.

Calming, relaxing, and balancing, both physically and emotionally, I have been diffusing it during my yoga class lately.

A drop massaged into your palms and inhaled a bed time will encourage easy, peaceful sleep.

The Sun

While I research and get into the nitty gritties of essential oils, I want to take a brief break to give props to that big ball o' gas up in our sky: the sun.



One thing that I have fully embraced from Dr. Graham's 811 program is to get at least 20-30 minutes of sunlight a day. This is information that has been spread by several different media, however - I somehow missed it. I also somehow failed to understand that just being outside was not enough. I um, thought it was being 'out in the sun' to walk from my house to my car to the store to the car to the house. I considered it an achievement. Eesh.

Every single day, I try to have my breakfast outside. It's so RELAXING and it fills me with energy for the day. I love it. I usually take refuge during the more intense hours (10 AM-4 PM), and then go back outside with Ester for the evening hours. I love gardening in the cooler evening hours and seeing all the bugs come out. That has literally bitten me in the ass a few times (ha!), but for some reason, the buggie world is just AMAZING to me.

So, let's get to a few known benefits given by the sun's rays:

1) It can prevent several types of cancer, from breast to prostate. Yes, please.

2) Vitamin D. Osteoporosis, what? Vitamin D plays a vital role in calcium absorption in our bones, strengthens our muscles, and boosts our immune system. It also helps break down cholestrol, and we all know that stuff is nasty.

3) It can prevent depression. SAD is sad. Avoid it, plz thx.

4) Lower blood pressure.

5) It gets you PUMPED. Your heart, that is. Sunlight increases the cardiac output of your heart, which means your heart is able to pump more blood. That's a good thing, for deffo.

Need more? Google it. It's AMAZING. (Has 'google' officially become a verb? Hmm.)

Yes, there is a risk of skin cancer, however: be smart about it. Don't excessively tan or burn your skin. It's vain, it's not necessary, and you will look like a sack of leather in ten years. Every time you burn your skin on purpose, you are courting skin cancer. I don't know if you're aware, but that is not such a good idea. If you know you are going to be out in the sun for an extended period of time, protect yourself. I have heard from the raw community to use coconut oil, but that's yet another thing I have yet to delve into!

Until then, get outside and smile at the sky. It smiles back and gives you a big old warm hug, and we can use all the extra hugs we can get these days.

Peace!

<3,
Sarah

Raw and Essential Oils

For quite some time, I have not wanted to take medication. I do take an extremely low (10 milligram) dose of Lexapro, which I would like to eventually wean myself off. Otherwise, I have not taken any other medication - no aspirin, no Tums, no excedrin migraine, no nothing. I used to get migraine headaches that would knock me out for 2-3 days. I was a little nervous to not take medication the first time I felt my migraine coming, but I quickly got a bag of ice and put it on the back of my neck and rested. I cannot express to you how amazing it felt that I was in CHARGE of my body. I did not need some weird medication that usually knocks me out and renders me useless for my family; I just needed a little ice and good old fashion rest.

One of the benefits of essential oils is relieving the aches, pains, groans, and complaints of your body. I have started my research, and been very surprised at what I've seen. I am constantly amazed, always muttering, "Why didn't I know this SOONER?"

Life can be simple. Did you know that? We don't have to hustle and bustle and overmedicate with pharmaceuticals and food and drugs and alchohol. We can simply BE. Essential oils are the beginning of my path - my journey to simplicity.

So far, I've been enjoying reading all I can on lavendar. Maybe tonight or tomorrow I will post some of my findings. I am also going to poke the brains of a few individuals that already use oils, and hope they have wisdom to share.

I'm about 50-75% raw at this point, and I am fine with that. I will up it soon.

Random

I could use a notepad, but my blog is just so handy-dandy. I am going to be reviewing a few different topics of interest to me, and sharing the results with you. So far, here are the things that are drawing me:

1) Essential Oils
2) Herbal Remedies
3) The link between autism and vaccinations
4) Liver flushes

I'm sure I'll think of more later, I just didn't want to forget THESE.

<3,
Sarah

UM!?

I have no clue what day it is, lol. I am definitely still raw, but I'm trying to find my 'niche' in the raw world. I have eaten cooked a few times, and subsequently felt like crap. During the week of my monthly flow, I ate a little bit of cooked food and charted my reactions:

Dairy - ew, mucus. My skin felt really oily, too. Bad bad bad.
Soy - HOLY CRAP THIS WAS THE WORST. I felt like I was going to die. Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, bad, never again, bad.
Grain - not that bad, but I felt very bloated and like I had glue in my stomach. Pass, please.

I'm almost glad I did these 'trials', because now I know how POSITIVE I feel when I am 100% raw. I've been doing a lot of reading, from liver flushes to essential oils. I am going to keep blogging my daily intake, but focus more on lifestyle than calories. I am also going to keep eating an avocado a day because I really, really, really like them. Bwahahoo.