Need a Little Clarity?

Do you ever have that day at work where you just can't focus? Or you ate a big lunch and it's 2:00 PM, and you're about to fall asleep at your laptop? Please tell me this isn't just me! I was super excited to try Clarity because I can't seem to make it past 2:00 or 3:00 almost every day with having a huge dip in energy and focus.

And let me tell you, Clarity has been SO amazing! I just put a drop or two on my big toes right after lunch, and I do not have an afternoon slump! I have noticed a huge boost in my concentration - no brain fog, no sleepiness...it's so refreshing to feel GOOD all afternoon at work. This is definitely an oil I don't want to be without.

Need to get started today to be able to have a clear mind? Click HERE and begin your oiling adventure today!

My Top 5 Oils...Right Now

My ER order ships on Thursday, and I am in desperate need of some of my favorite oils! Thinking about which oils I'm running low on makes me think of which oils are my favorites. {I think we ALL know what Jenna's favorite oil is! Jenna - am I right?} This list is a moving target, but I thought it'd be fun to share which ones are getting the most use in my household. Now as a disclaimer, I'm cheating a little bit and might name more than 5 - it's more like my top 5 categories. I just love my oils! {grin}

1. SLEEP! Oils that help my kids relax and sleep are at the TOP of my list. EVERY day, some combination of lavender, cedarwood, and peace & calming end up on my kids. But...BUT...I just discovered Tranquil. This blend combines lavender, cedarwood, and roman chamomile. I have the single of roman chamomile but hadn't used it...I think I might try it on its own and see what happens too, but I am obsessed with Tranquil right now. It smells wonderful and is so relaxing to both my kids!

2. Thyme - I think this oil smells terrible, but it keeps my husband from snoring 90% of the time we use it. I put 1-2 drops on his big toe, and hear it work its magic. We used to sleep apart quite often because of his snoring, and now I am almost never poking him and neither of us get annoyed. I swear this oil has made my marriage MUCH happier!

3. Focus - We use Brain Power and Vetiver on our son every day to help with his concentration. I have heard SO many success stories from these oils, and I am excited to see what they do in the future as he gets older. I am also in love with Clarity for me - when I feel that early afternoon slump come on, I can put some Clarity on and feel myself get more alert and wake up!!!

4. Stress Away - I probably should have put this first because it is MY favorite. Anytime I feel myself get worked up or stressed I rub my Stress Away on and can just feel the tension, anxiety, the butterflies just dissolve. It is MAGIC I tell ya!

5. Immune Support - As the mom of small kids, I want everyone healthy in my house. Thieves gets used almost every day in my house. To boost our immune systems and kill germs...this oil does it all!

So what do you think of my list??  And if you're ready to sign up and get these oils for yourself, click HERE!!!  Happy oiling!

A Marriage Ruiner: Snoring

I think one of the biggest things Jenna and I consistently hear that people need help with is SNORING! Clancy {Jenna's husband}, Brent {my husband}, and several other hubbies of friends all snore. And drive us CRAZY! The cycle in our house is the following: Brent snores, I punch him, he gets mad at me for waking him up...repeat. Honestly, there are many nights where we sleep in separate rooms.

For most people - Peace and Calming, Lavender, or Valor work PERFECTLY! One of my friends uses Peace and Calming on her husband and Lavender on herself and they have had amazing sleep.

For us? Peace and Calming worked a few times and then stopped. Remember - when it comes to oils - we all have a different body chemistry so a little experimentation is required. And after a little experimentation, we found out that Thyme works for Brent's snoring!

I was so excited when I found this 'recipe' a bunch of times when I was researching snoring. I thought there might be some readers out there with stubborn snorers in their houses too. Hopefully one of the ones above will help.

Happy oiling!

Need bug spray? No problem!

Essential Oils can be used for everything.  As the "lifeblood" of the plant, part of the job of these oils was to protect the plants from bugs.  Why can't we use oils for the same purpose? 

Dr. Mercola has said "Most insect repellants out there are loaded with toxic chemicals, including the pesticide DEET, which is so poisonous that even the Environmental Protection Agency says you should wash it off your skin when you return indoors, avoid breathing it in and not spray it directly on your face. Think about it--if this chemical can kill mosquitoes, it can likely do some harm to other life forms too."  Now if the EPA is saying that, you know it has to be terrible!  DEET is terrible, and I get the same feeling I get when I see someone spraying DEET bugspray that I do when I see spray sunscreen.  I have to fight the urge to grab it out of their hand and run far far away.

So, lets talk about bug sprays using essential oils.  Are these going to work as good as those DEET loaded alternatives?  I am going to venture to say "no", but I am willing to sacrifice a little "protection" to ensure that I am not poisioning my body and especially my kids with every spray!

There are tons of variations of "recipes" for essential oil based bug repellent.  I think the key to all of them are Purification, so I am giving you this one because it has a lot of other oils as well.  If you don't have one of these others (most of them are in your starter kit), I would just leave it out and try without it.  But make sure you have the Purification! 

Protect your family from bugs and from all of the chemicals in those commerical bug sprays.  Use some essential oils and once again, your health will thank you! 

Thieves, thieves and everything thieves

We did a blog post on the Thieves Oil.  Thieves Oil is a blend of five essential oils that are scientifically documented to be highly anti-infectious, antiviral, antibacterial, and antiseptic. Thieves essential oil is a safe and natural way to help care for your family's health. Since the oil is great, why wouldn't you want to try all the Thieves products? 

There are many household products based on the Thieves oil.  They have toothpaste, mouthwash, concentrated all purpose cleaning, hand sanitizer, spray and hand soap.  Do I use any of these?  YES!  I use them all, and I am totally in love.

There have been studies that the Thieves blend works better on bacteria and mold than bleach.  And it is non-toxic.  If your kid happens to put the spray bottle in their mouth and start drinking (not that this has EVER happened to me?) there is no call to poison control.  The suggestion is to drink some water because it might "taste bad".  I don't think Coy thought it tasted too bad.  :)  I use this cleaner for everything, countertops, bathrooms.  I have even put a capful in the laundry to wash the clothes, or to take the mold smell out when I forgot to put them in the dryer- ooops!  

Have you read the ingredients on your toothpaste tube?  It is toothpaste and says that you shouldn't ingest it! Why would you put that in your mouth? The Thieves toothpaste took a little getting used to for me, its not the minty taste of Crest and it doesn't 'foam', but now I can't use anything else. And my teeth feel cleaner ALL DAY.

The spray.  This spray saved me!  My throat was killing me, kept me up all night and then I decided to try the spray.  I sprayed it directly in my mouth and it numbed my mouth immediately and helped so much.  Anytime it started to come back, I sprayed again and poof.  This stuff works y'all!  

And my other favorite- the hand sanitizer!  Regular sanitizers are terrible for you and new research is coming out showing that they don't even work to kill cold and flu germs!  Why put that toxic stuff on your hands (one of the places that your body absorbs the quickest), when there is a non-toxic product available?  

Look at this deal?  You can save about $60 with this deal. http://www.youngliving.com/en_US/opportunity/products/essential-rewards-kits/thieves-essential-rewards

This can get you started, and if you enroll in essential rewards, you are getting 10-20% back in products each month and with reduced shipping costs.  Why wouldn't you switch all your household products over to these?  You aren't spending any MORE money, you are switching your money!  To a better product.  With rewards.  And making your family healthier in the process.

Testimonies 1

Jenna and I have been amazed at some of the comments we've gotten from people who have started using Young Living oils! We wanted to share some of them. We're going to keep collecting them to share periodically just because it excites us so much to hear all the great results from people! I love knowing we are all taking ownership of our health and using natural products on our bodies.

Lauren M: I sprinkled Purification into the dog crate yesterday because it was stinking up the laundry room and bam smell was gone and it's still smelling amazing in there a full day later (that never happens!)!

Veronica D: RC is amazing. I've had a cough, and it's so much better when I put it on my chest.

Kelly S: I received my diffuser last week and I love it!!!

Laura K: {after using Peace and Calming for the first time at night} OMG. E slept until 7:30 this morning. Her normal wake time is 5:30 - 6:30 at the latest.

Veronica D: Clarity is better than a chai. Never thought I'd say that. {Me neither from another chai-addict}

Kellie:  My husband was asleep snoring, I applied lavender to the bridge of his nose and the snoring stopped!

Lauren:  We cancelled my daughters tear duct surgery because lavender on the bridge of her nose clears it right up.

Lindsey:  I had bad allergies and applied lavender under my tongue.  It tasted terrible but it helped so much!

Don't forget - if you're interested in trying out essential oils, we have a step-by-step guide at the top called 'How to order essential oils'.

Happy oiling!!

How about some conversation about supplements??!?

Ok, let's take a short break from oils (not that I WANT to, but maybe you do?) and talk supplements.  When I started my "crunchy" journey about 5 years ago, I did a lot of research into supplements.  Which ones should I take?  Are all supplements created equal?  Should we even take supplements?  Do we need a multi-vitamin?

The amount of information on this was totally overwhelming.  And the crazy thing was if you talk to one doctor they will tell you the exact opposite of another doctor.  Where do I start?  Luckily there is this lovely thing called the internet, and after hours and hours and hours and HOURS of research and conversations with a lot of different "medical type" people, I formed my own opinions.  And, like everything else oils related, this is my own opinion.  And this is what I do for my family.  So, take what you want from it :)

So, in the winter months my whole family gets this routine everyday:

1. Thieves on feet in morning and night- help with that immunity!
2. Ningxia Red (especially the adults, sometimes the kids)- this is an awesome YL product, which I am sure I will blog about later.
3. At night the kids get what I call "yum yum".  The kids LOVE their yum yum and when it is announced that it is yum yum time, I have cheering kids running towards me.  Are they brainwashed?  Maybe?  :)
Yum Yum consists of applesauce that has a high quality probiotic mixed in as well as about 4000-5000 IUs of Vitamin D.
4. They also get Vitamin C "gummies", a fish oil pill most days and elderberry when they have been around sickos.

The above is everything for the kids.  For Clancy and me, we both take a quality probiotic and about 8000 IUs of vitamin d3.

Y'all, if you haven't done your research on Omega-3, Vitamin D3 and probiotics, I suggest you start.  These three things in addition to my oils, I believe, are key!

So, in the summer we only do probiotics, thieves and fish oil.  I hardly ever put sunscreen on my children or us (another post for later), and so they get plenty of Vitamin D in the summer without supplements.

So, this has worked for us... and maybe it would work for you?  I am sure people would have different opinions than I have, but after my hundreds of hours of research and conversation, this is what I feel most comfortable with.

Is your regiment any different?  Why?