I try to live my life as healthy as possible. Yes, I indulge and skip workouts just like the next person, but I value the effect healthy behaviors and healthy eating have on my family and me. That’s why I was thrilled when my friends introduced me to essential oils. I’m now a big fan – we use them every day in my house to encourage a strong immune system.
There are so many impurities we’re exposed to on a daily basis. It’s nice to know that simple oils and extracts can aid my health or mood and not require me to put anything artificial in my body. A few drops here, a dab of oil on your ailing body part, and poof, relief! Essential oils are sometimes misunderstood, but the benefits are plentiful, and there are multiple ways to experience the effects of these plant compounds.
Today, I’m sharing the basics with you…
What Are Essential Oils?
Essential oils aren’t essential in the “need to have” type of way. Instead, the “essential” represents the aroma of the seed, flower, or plant being properly captured and maintained through the distilling process. Some oils have oral uses, but many are commonly used topically or through a diffuser (think aromatherapy). I typically apply mine with a dropper or use a roll-on.
The Benefits
The benefits range from alleviating back pain (which I saw many of you mention on Instagram), calming nerves and helping with digestion. They don’t stop there! Relaxation, joint pain, antiseptic…you name it, there might be a seed oil or leafy scent to help you throughout the day. It’s important though to follow directions on bottles and do your research before using any essential oil – pregnancy and select health concerns can alter the way you use them.
My Favorite Scents
Peppermint (a favorite of mine), lavender and eucalyptus are amongst the most common scents. You can burn an aromatherapy candle to help relax and get rid of a pesky migraine that is ruining your day. There are spruce scents, carrot seed oils, and Frankincense as well as others made from a blend of different oils. For example, Young Living’s PanAway is a blend of peppermint, wintergreen, clove, and helichrysum, and when diluted with oil and rubbed over a strained muscle, it can relieve tension and aches.
I believe they’ve helped me, and I’ve heard many others praise the power of essential oils.
Have you tried essential oils? What has worked for you, and do you have recommendations? I am always happy to hear how these are benefiting others and what others I should try!
97 Responses
I use essential oils for a fresh or relaxing smell in our house l. I also use them in my natural hair regimen. I make my own shea butter moisturizer and I love to use peppermint, orange, ylang-ylang, tea tree, lavender, or rosemary to help with scalp stimulation OR some to help mask the oily smell of some of the other oils I add. Love them.
I use them too. I love peppermint I use it to study and remember what I spent all my time studying. It works
Young Living Essential Oils has helped me recover my son from ADHD. He is now a healthy and very happy 10 year old.
Rebecca…which ones do you use if you don’t mind sharing? My sister uses Grounding, Vetiver and Valor with good results for her son’s ADHD but there is still room for a little improvement. :)
At night I use Vetiver, Cedarwood, Lavender on his right big toes and Valor down his spine (for the combo, I put all the Vetiver, half of Cedarwood and half of Lavender in an empty bottle with a plastic roll on and apply). In the mornings, I put the combo on his right big toe and BrainPower behind each ear. During homework, I diffuse Lemon because it seems to calm him down and plus he LOVES the smell.
Our family loves YL Oils. My favorite thing to share is the Pain Cream. 4oz coconut oil mixed for 8 minutes (for consistency) and then 5 drops each of Valor, Peppermint, and Panaway. My husband no longer uses Ibuprofen and instead uses the Pain Cream. This is a bid deal as he was popping Ibuprofen like it was candy. So thankful to Young Living. Thanks for sharing your love for them as well!!!
Young Living oils are the best thing that has happened to me. It has also given me a dream career that I can do at home to be with my 1 year old. Love. These. Oils. Epicdroppers.com #lemondropper