Relax! There’s No Wrong Way To Use An Essential Oil

September 4, 2015 by jennifer mcgahan Leave a Comment

Good News For Beginners!

As an enthusiastic new Young Living Member, I keep getting my socks knocked off by some of the cool things essential oils can do. I know, I know, I’m late to the party, but my jaw drops when I see and feel them in action in my own life.

Keep in mind, I’m talking about 100% pure, therapeutic grade essential oils. You have to know where they’re coming from to know they’re okay, but when your mind is at ease that they are 100% pure and safe, then the sky’s the limit.*

Less Reliance On The Drugstore

I used to rotate all sorts of products from the drugstore to stay healthy. Whatever I needed to make my head feel better or my hands look pretty, I’d have it close at hand.

Ever since being introduced to Young Living, I’ve started using essential oils for almost everything. I haven’t had a need to reach into the medicine cabinet for any of that stuff. I’ve become comfortable with experimentation, because I know I’m using God’s medicine.

For example, my hands take a beating. Not sure why I’m so hard on them, because I spend a lot of time at my keyboard. For some reason, though, when I’m not writing, I’m using my hands for cooking, cleaning, planting, etc. and they get nicked up pretty good. So for a long time I was had a tube of that popular drugstore ointment in my kitchen AND van.

Now my hands look as pretty as ever. Not only do I use Lavender and Melaleuca (common essential oils for skin) for general skin use, but I rub whatever extra oil I’m using on the backs of my hands when I’m done. The random assortment of oils my hands get as an afterthought have really improved their appearance. Do you notice that yourself?

Another way I’ve substituted essential oils: I use Deep Relief™ for comfort from tension when I have too much on my mind (and shoulders). Sometimes I try Peppermint or Aroma Seize™ if I’m mildly uncomfortable, but Deep Relief really works to make me feel better when I don’t want to mess around at all. Relief — NOW, please!

It’s OK to experiment with essential oils…

Recently, during this period of experimentation, I had the opportunity to share an essential oil I like with a friend I love. When she was home from New York a couple of months ago, we met at a restaurant to celebrate her 50^th birthday.

Within the first 10 minutes of seeing each other (after months apart) she pointed to a strange textured, dry patch about the size of a dime on the back of her left hand. “Look at this,” she said. “I don’t know what it is…”

All I had on me was Stress Away™ so I gave it to her to use until her skin was back to normal.

Silly newbie, moi…

Note: this is where it’s obvious I did not know what I was doing! I told her to just rub it on that strange dry patch on her hand, and on her neck and anywhere she felt stressed. “But in any case,” I said, “just keep putting this stuff on that hand.” I wanted her to have something that would keep her skin cells healthy, and I figured any oil was better than no oil. In fact, many essential oils are even gentle enough for a baby’s skin, so may as well try it.

See the funny thing is now, I would probably be toting a few more oils for different uses, so I would NOT have chosen Stress Away – especially not the whole darn bottle! — and I might even have some tester bottles with me — hopefully! At the time, though, that was all I had to give, so I gave it. “Sharing is caring!”

We texted each other the other day and I asked if she was using her oil and how her hand was. “Yes, she used the oil and her skin was soft and good as ever.” she texted. “All good.” And that’s pretty much the end of the story.

And this is what’s so important to remember. You can’t go wrong with oils — just about any oil will have some beneficial effect.

Use what you have.

What I’m learning about oils – the coolest thing, to me – is that they are truly intelligent. Plant oils just show up. They attend to whatever it is, and do the best they can with what they have. In many cases (so many, I’m dumbfounded) they help. They just help.

Some people look at building a business in Young Living as a great way to replace their income, or to make it possible to replace a lot of other products and toxins inside the home and on and around their bodies. That’s important, and those are great reasons! But just think; there’s also that opportunity to help. To do what you can with what you have, and to share what you can with people on your email list, in your neighborhood, at your gym — wherever you go!

I love the service aspect to this world of essential oils.

While I’m still a newbie, these experiments, and the opportunity to help others with oils are fun and exciting. Although I’m sure I’ll get smarter about using and sharing particular oils for particular issues – and not giving away entire bottles of my favorites at the mention of any small thing (I’ve don’t that, too) – I imagine I’ll look back someday and see this as part of my education in learning to use oils and in building a business around it.

So go ahead experiment, have fun trying new things. You really can’t go wrong.

The only disclaimer I would add to this is to be careful on sensitive skin or babies’ skin. You don’t want to use a hot oil like peppermint or cinnamon on sensitive skin. Any question in your mind? Dilute it or call the person who introduced you to Young Living Essential Oils. They’ll help you out.

Would you like to try some of these essential oils for yourself? I’d be happy to send you some samples! Just contact me, and we’ll connect. Or, if you’re just curious, check out this website and have a look around.

*The FDA has not analyzed this statement for accuracy. This statement is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or heal any known or suspected disease. Consult your doctor.

Peppermint Essential Oil Cools Hot Austin Woman

July 27, 2015 by jennifer mcgahan Leave a Comment

Peppermint is cool. And when you live in Texas, and late July rolls around, you look for anything cool you can get your hands on.

This morning I need to wash lettuce so I turned the tap to the cold setting to put a few inches of water into the sink for swishing. When I tested it, the water was not even close to cold; in fact, it was warm enough for a bath!

[Aside: if you’ve ever been to Austin, you’ve surely seen Barton Springs or some other natural spring water bubbling up around here. That water is cold; 68 – 71 degrees year round! But the well here on our property west of town reaches 650 ft. and that groundwater is warm, y’all! The earth’s rocks and the deep aquifers’ waters are tepid at best!]

Even swimming pools are warm these days. So how do you ever get cool besides jumping into a spring? You swig some iced peppermint water, for starts.

Peppermint Essential Oil In Your Water Bottle*

I love that first bracing cold swig. It literally feels cold in your mouth, and immediately wakes you up. The phytochemical make-up of peppermint essential oil causes the skin to feel cool then warm, just like when a health practitioner alternates using cold packs then heat packs to sooth discomfort of muscles.

That physical sensation of coolness is for real when you’re using plant oil that comes from a living peppermint plant. There’s no mistaking it.

Now, I don’t know exactly why Peppermint feels so good when you have a tension headache or are feeling cloudy, funky or stressed. But it’s true; when you rub some peppermint oil on your forehead or the back of your neck, that tingly feeling feels amazing. Not only is the ever-present sensation comforting, it even distracts you from any discomfort you felt before.

Peppermint Essential Oil Exhilarates Your Body, Mind and Spirit

And grogginess? It’s gone! Pliny liked peppermint oil. (Say that five times fast.)

[Tweet “Peppermint oil’s mental benefits have been proven and praised for centuries.”]

The purifying and stimulating fragrance opens the airways and enhances circulation to the brain. If your attention is lagging, your focus is off, and your motor skills aren’t at their peak; you can rub some peppermint oil onto your temples and behind the ears to enhance alertness. My late afternoon running-around is perkier with peppermint oil in the car.

I mentioned the physical sensation of peppermint oils in your drinking water and applied topically, but here’s a fact I never knew before: Peppermint oil boosts your workouts, too! According to this study…

The results were actually pretty surprising. You might expect a boost, but the extent that peppermint consumption improved performance was considerable. The oil improved exercise performance, respiratory function, blood pressure, heart rate, and respiratory gas exchange. It also reduced resting blood pressure and heart rate. The amount of total work performed by the test subjects was increased by a whopping 51%, including an increase in the time to exhaustion of about 25%. So not only did the subjects go for a quarter longer than they did without the peppermint oil, their work rate per unit time was higher too. In other words, they went faster for longer.

Those are the main ways I use peppermint oil in our household, but do your research. There are dozens of other applications and benefits:

Relieves sore muscles
Aids healthy digestion
Suppresses your appetite, giving you the sensation of fullness
Helps memory and concentration
Lowers acidity in the body
Maintains healthy respiratory function

Hot summer months are a great time to sample some uber-cooling and awakening peppermint oil by Young Living.

*By the way, I’m only talking about water made from Young Living Peppermint Oil. The Seed To Seal™ Guarantee assures 100% purity, so I feel good about ingesting it. I wouldn’t swig water with any other brand’s oil. I just wouldn’t take the chance. And be sure to drink out of a glass container. Plastic’s no good with ingested oils.

*The FDA has not analyzed this statement for accuracy. This statement is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or heal any known or suspected disease. Consult your doctor.

The Triple Threat Essential Oils Sunburn Therapy

July 13, 2015 by jennifer mcgahan Leave a Comment

Everyone knows how it feels to get a little too much exposure to the sun. This past weekend, we discovered a wonderful repertoire for dealing with after-sun “Ouch.”

See, my daughter Katie loves the outdoors. She’s been pining for the heat of Texas for months, and this weekend she got her fill… resulting in a sunburn.

Our friend Dave took us out on his boat on Saturday to enjoy Lake Travis. After several long years of draught the lake is back up to normal levels. It was a perfect day full of sun, music, fishing and swimming in a quiet cove. The perfect anecdote to months of too much indoors… except for the sunburn.

We didn’t know it was all that bad until later that day when Katie bared her red skin inside later that afternoon. It didn’t look that bad while we were on the Lake! (Isn’t that always the case?)

Now that we have plenty of oils in the house for whatever may come, we consulted some trusty resources and Googled some recipes for soothing sunburn by natural means. Thanks to the Everyday Oils Kit and the accumulation of other necessary singles and blends, we had everything oily we needed. The usual recommendation is to use lavender and peppermint to cool the redness and heat, which we did.

1. Black Tea, Lavender, and Peppermint Essential Oils Spritzer

A little more digging unearthed the remedy of applying black tea to the sunburn, so Katie made some strong black tea and added both peppermint and lavender. She set to spritzing every few minutes, and continued to look for more solutions.

2. Aloe Vera

I know real aloe straight from the plant is best, however the aloe plant on my back porch was nearly destroyed in last spring’s storm. I doubted we had enough of the natural gooey substance to treat her whole body. Yesterday morning after church we stopped at Whole foods and picked up a gel containing Aloe Vera. I checked the labels and determined the one that contains the most pure and natural aloe. We bought the best quality bottled Aloe Vera and Katie alternated it with the black tea mixture.

3. Finally, Coconut Oil

Last night, exactly 24 hours after realizing the extent of her sunburn, she added some coconut oil (spiked with Lavender) to the rotation, and finally felt like she was winning the sunburn battle.

Try this three-part rotation yourself if you ever have too much fun in the sun. Not only will you cool and calm the soreness and redness of your skin; you may protect your skin from peeling, too.

Of course the best way to deal with the sun is to limit your exposure (Dave’s puppy Maxine knew better, and took a siesta under the captain’s chair!) and to wear a natural sunscreen… Next time.

It’s a good idea to have some of these most elemental essential oils on hand for every day emergencies like sunburn and a whole host of other things. The Everyday Oils kit is a wonderful way to stock up and make sure you have what you need handy. Please contact me for a quick chat about all they can do, and how to get a kit of your own.