 Essential Oils have amazing benefits and versatility, but if you're anything like me understanding and using them can feel overwhelming at first. So let's simplify all that! The following post is LONG, I know and I hate making anything this long, but its necessary for you to get every ounce of know how you need. So stay with me, because I promise you its worth it. I'll start with where I started, which was a simple, yet really important question I needed answered, WHY?  "How are they better?" That was my next question, followed quickly by "how do they really work anyways?" I'm a visual learner and it was a lot of science stuff, so here's a video to help explain them way better than my words ever could. For those of you who love the idea of a written explanation, I won't leave you hanging. Essential Oils aren’t just great smells, they are oils containing the beneficial & healing properties of a plants leaves, flowers, seed, bark, or resin. Most people have no idea that essential oils can help bring balance back into the body. Before we started using Young Living oils, we had no idea how powerful and effective they really were. Essential oils have been used to support health and wellness for centuries, which you’ll see further down. So what exactly are they? Essential oils are the living fluid inside the plant that acts as their immune system. These plant fluids are the regenerating, oxygenating, and immune-strengthening properties of plants. When these fluids are distilled and extracted using a highly regulated, low-heat, slow-steam process and then used topically, aromatically or internally, they can help bring that vibrational energetic level that is lacking in our bodies back into balance. How do they work in our bodies? Essential oils are composed of microscopic molecules that are able to penetrate into the DNA/cellular level of every cell in our body (even crossing the blood-brain barrier) and can help to support our body’s natural healing systems.  So why Young Living? See this seal and process above? THAT'S WHY!!! You're probably asking the same questions I did, "I've seen oils at Whole Foods, Walgreens, on Amazon & sold for less from other companies! So why Young Living?" NOT all essential oils are created equal. The vast majority of essential oils on the market are not pure or planted, harvested, and distilled properly. Did you know that “90% of what is sold in the United States as ‘pure’ essential oil is fragrance-grade and diluted…These oils are found on the shelves of many health food stores and at online discount houses.” Young Living was the first essential oil company in the US and there is a reason every other company compares themselves to them. For all of you who know me and those of you who are meeting me through my words for the first time, I'm a girl who does my research. I chose Young Living for it's rigorous standards of safety and excellence. Their founder Gary Young is an amazing man and leader and it shows in the way the organization runs. All the way down to the people in customer service, who are like the most pleasant and helpful customer service people I've ever encountered! So even after hearing all that, I still thought they sounded a little "New Age" though if I'm honest I don't even really know what that term means. Then I heard that they have been around and used like they are being used today for thousands of years and are even referenced in the bible! That's a whole post in itself!! HISTORY OF ESSENTIAL OILS  Anyways, I love history, so of course I had to include a little info from the past. The use of essential oils for therapeutic, spiritual, hygienic and ritualistic purposes goes back to a number of ancient civilizations including the Chinese, Indians, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans who used them in cosmetics, perfumes and drugs. Oils are described by Dioscorides, along with beliefs of the time regarding their healing properties, in his De Materia Medica, written in the first century. Distilled essential oils have been employed as medicines since the invention of distillation in the eleventh century, when Avicenna isolated essential oils using steam distillation. Since then they have been used mostly as fragrances, except by very few physicians. It wasn’t until recently that their holistic healing properties have become a part of a more mainstream ideas in the United States and other countries. It's like rediscovering ancient knowledge, and that always gives me a little pep in my step. I'm a little weird, but all the best people are I'm told. "How Do I Use them" It can be a little overwhelming to get started with essential oils, but knowing some specific ways to use them is the key! AROMATICALLY  One of the easiest ways to use oils is to diffuse them into the air - Aromatically. Add water and your essential oils to your diffuser for a therapeutic experience each time! A general rule of thumb is between 5-8 total drops of EO in the diffuser at one time. If you love to change it up, only fill your diffuser half way and half the drops to keep from wasting your oils. A diffuser is included in the purchase of a Premium Starter Kit ($160) from Young Living, which is how most of us get started in the oils journey. TOPICALLY  You can also put them onto your skin (Topically), we have found that rollers are the best way to make topical application quick and easy. Young Living sells a few roller blends, but they are easy and inexpensive to make yourself. You can also use many of the oils straight out of the bottle and massaged into your skin. INTERNALLY  There are different schools of thought when it comes to aromatherapy. Some don’t use internal consumption and others do. Young Living has a line of oils called vitality oils, that are approved for internal use. One of the ways we use these oils internally is to place them in an empty vegetable capsule. This method allows the oils to reach the stomach and intestines without subjecting you to the taste or in the case of “hot” oils that tingle or burn the skin they bypass the sensitive tissues in the mouth and esophagus. Other oils, like many of the citrus oils, can be added to drinks and taken internally that way. I always tell people that internal consumption is a matter of preference and your comfort level. No matter how you use your oils, we HIGHLY recommend the Essential Oils Resource Guide to use in conjunction with your new Young Living essential oils as it helps explain dilution ratios, uses, and so much more! WHERE DO I START?  Okay let's get down to the real how to information. I already mentioned that most people start with the Premium Starter Kit. I was no different, after trying a roller or two that my Sister-in-law gave me, I finally called her one day and told her "I'm in, how do I do this whole essential oils thing." Well let’s talk about the oils that come in the Premium Starter Kit ($165 for over $400 in products) pictured above and how we use them. Young Living has compiled the 12 most versatile and easy to use oils into the kit to help people start their journey, and they've thrown in samples of our favorite products Ningxia Red, Thieves Cleaner, and Thieves Hand Purifier. Let's go over all the oils in the kit and learn about some of their uses and benefits.  Lavender, known as the Swiss Army Knife of oils is AMAZING!! No seriously, this was our first experience with Essential Oils, as it probably is for many others. We use lavender for relaxation, sleep, allergies, and skin care. Our son Treyden has sleep issues, like up every hour for the first 8 months of his life issues, with bout of sleepless night still occurring at 20 months. I am so thankful for the combination of Lavender and Gentle Baby Essential Oil! He went from 8 wakings to only 2-3 around 5 months when we started using oils to aid sleep. Soon after his adenoids were removed, and about a month after that at 13 months, he finally slept through the night. We massage those two oils into his feet, legs, and back each night. When we forget, like we did recently, he lets us know by waking up all night long. We put the oils back on, and sure enough he sleeps right through. People these oils saved my health and sanity, because I didn’t sleep more than 4 hours a night in over a year. So Lavender is a constant in our home. We diffuse it in the boys room at bedtime. It helps Trey relax, but also helped his older brother Brecken sleep through all the waking and crying fits. Now they both ask for oils at bedtime. It also helps me to relax! I add 5 drops to 1 cup of Epsom salt and take a relaxing bath at least once a week. It’s also a wonder on burns. The other week, I was doing too many things at once and reached for the hot handle of my cast iron skillet, thank you lavender for soothing that burn!! In the kitchen I add 1 drop Lavender Vitality to ¼ cup sea salt & herbs to keep in a spice jar, and it’s amazing on chicken or as a potato seasoning. On bad allergy days I add it to the diffuser with lemon and peppermint for relief or rub that trio behind my ears. For all you new moms, I also use it to fight Mastitis when I felt it coming on. All in All -Lavender is a MUST-HAVE oil!  Bring on the Peppermint! Peppermint is an energizing, soothing and cooling oil that can do so many important things. It’s an oil we use nearly every day. From a drop on my husbands thumb, which he presses into the roof of his mouth to thwart a headache, to diffusing during homework time for focus. Our oldest Rylie was diagnosed with ADHD, she was the whole reason we started using oils in the first place. We’ve seen amazing success at supporting her with oils, diet, and supplements. Anyways, it’s amazing how versatile peppermint oil really is! I’ll dilute peppermint (dilute a lot for kiddos - it’s a hot oil!) and put it on the spine of our kids to reduce fever. It’s a staple for us in the diffuser during pesky colds, we love to combine Peppermint with Lemon and Eucalyptus Radiata to ease cough & the symptoms of congestion. It really helps proper nasal function, alleviates symptoms from seasonal allergies, and helps my sniffles. We add it into my pain cream for my shoulder too. I love to add a drop of peppermint vitality to our fudge brownie or in a soothing cup of tea or hot cocoa. It’s great for supporting healthy digestion as well. Try adding a drop to a glass of water to help tame heartburn and ease a sour tummy. With my digestive issues, I add it to a veggie capsule and take it internally.  LEMON, LEMON, LEMON!! I can’t say it enough! Maybe its my love of all things lemon anyways, but this little oil has brought it to a whole ‘nother level! It takes 75 lemons to make one bottle of lemon essential oil! First and foremost, with any citrus essential oils, you want to make sure you are using glass bottles - rollers, water bottles, jars, etc. My favorite way to use lemon is internally. Its part of my weight loss trio (grapefruit, lemon, & peppermint). I put it in a veggie capsule and take it each morning to help promote digestive function and supports metabolic function. Some people prefer to drop it in some water, just be sure to shake well in a glass water bottle before drinking to combine it, remember oil & water don’t really mix. Lemon is an AWESOME cleaner, it can remove sharpie, crayon, and marker from surfaces (YES, I know this from experience). I use it in coconut oil to clean and condition my butcher block island. It removes hard water stains and is amazing at getting the goo from sticker adhesives and tape off things. I also make a body butter with Lemon and a few other oils and use it to breakdown cellulite by massaging the area for about 10 minutes. It is great at improving my circulation. The other oils in the mix are Juniper, Fennel, Grapefruit, Sage, Rosemary & Cypress.  THANK YOU LORD, for Frankincense. There is a saying in the oily community, “if it was good enough for baby Jesus, it’s good enough for me.” All kidding aside, Frankincense has incredible benefits. Hospital and researchers are beginning to use essential oils in research studies against big hitting ailments, and Frankincense is at the top of that list. My favorite way to use frankincense is as a skin care additive. It helps promote healthy beautiful and youthful skin. Frankincense helps sooth skin and has a visual tightening effect. It supports the normal aging process and helps increase skin elasticity {If you haven’t try a wrinkle roller made with frank & lavender!}. We’ve found it to be helpful with all those pesky head injuries that come with 4 kids, and headaches too. It also helps to calm my anxious toddler. There are so many uses for this amazing oil. It’s a really grounding a uplifting scent to me so I diffuse it during my prayer and quiet times. It has amazing benefits for the achy joints and joint issues I have developed. My husband has used it to remove skin tags and it helped get rid of warts on Ellie too. Did you also know Frankincense can help relieve congestion! It also has great immune boosting properties, so it too is part of our immunity routines. And if that wasn’t enough, it has been known to have uplift mood and help with some common mental struggles. This means by adding just a couple drops to your favorite diffuser blend you can fight away the winter blues and sniffles at the same time!!!! I LOVE Frankincense and so should you!  So far I’ve talked to you all about some of my favorite single oils, which just means they are oils that are distilled from a plant and those oils are bottled by themselves. But Young Living also makes amazing blends that save you tons of money and time. They combine some awesome single oils with all their benefits in these well thought out and effective blends. And let me tell you they are worth all the hype I’m giving them!  PanAway lovingly referred to in my house as Pain away. This blend of Wintergreen, Clove, Peppermint & Helichrysum kicks my pain to the curb and then some. I actually opened this oil first when I got my kit and my body butter recipe that I now use with all kinds of combinations was made to enjoy the benefits of this oil blend. I have chronic shoulder pain from an old injury and it causes neck and back pain, headaches, etc… So the body butter and Panaway massage cream was my first recipe try and it was so worth it. I’ve since found PanAway to be great for after a workout or anytime I need a little cooling relief. A few fun facts about some of the oils in this blend: Helichrysum helps to stop cuts from bleeding, like immediately! It’s amazing on bumps and bruises too. Clove is a great oil to look at if you have problems with blood sugar, you’re at risk for cardiovascular issues, or you need support for cataracts or immunity. Wintergreen is amazing for the widespread nerve pain I suffer from, it’s also great for supporting pain in general.  DIGIZE for Digestive Support DiGize is a new addition to the starter kit lineup, and man am I glad to have an oil specifically used for supporting digestive health. I have found that rubbing it on my tummy in a counter-clockwise direction has really helped ease the pain from my IBS significantly, RIGHT AWAY. Digize can also be taken internally and I do as it helps to relieve the symptoms I have from IBS and food allergies. Did you know both are inflammation related stomach issues? Last week, I got hit with a stomach bug and woke up feeling nauseous with sharp pain in my gut. I went straight for my digize! Rubbed it on my stomach and put 2 drops in a veggie capsule to take internally. The nausea was gone within minutes and my pain subsided. Though I spiked a fever later in the day, which I used peppermint to lower, I never threw up or spend the day within feet of the bathroom. By night I was absolutely fine. That is unheard of for me! My system is so sensitive to stomach illness that it usually has me down and out for days if not weeks. Some fun facts about some of the oils in Digize: quite a few of them support my fight of UTIs, I know TMI. Tarragon helps with my PMS too. Funny little thought: They say that sometimes the oils you need the most are the smells you are most turned off to. I had a good laugh when doing research for this 101 class. I have always said I don’t like Patchouli, I leave it out of roller recipes because I dislike it that much. It was one of the oils that actually was listed for IBS support in the reference guide and it also may help calm obsessive behaviors. I’m a little bit of a control freak so it looks like I need this little oil on 2 fronts. In addition to IBS I have an issue with Candida, and there are a few of the oils in Digize that help my body fight those pesky buggers too.  Stress Away!! Enough said. This blend is awesome. Life is stressful, that’s why Stress Away is one of my all-time favorite oils. I love being able to have a natural solution to combat everyday stress, because stress leads to all sorts of health issues. Stress Away is the first Young Living product to contain the unique stress-relieving combination of lime + vanilla, so it basically smells like a vacation in a bottle to me! I put it in my diffuser on the rare chance I get a quiet night to read a book in bed and decompress. When that’s not my reality, I put a little behind my ears as a quick & easy way to enjoy the benefits of this awesome blend. The cedarwood in this blend plays a part in helping Rylie’s focus each day and the vanilla helps her battle through when she’s just in a bad mood. We are also looking at some research studies that have been conducted about Ocotea to help Brecken. He seems to have a tinge of hypoglycemia and it may support his body in trying to balance blood sugar fluctuations.  Raven to Breathe Easy If you need a dose of respiratory comfort, Raven is the oil you want to reach for! When a cold comes knocking, Raven kicks can help with respiratory support. Raven is an amplifier to the beloved allergy trio (lavender + lemon + peppermint). When sinus pressure begin, these four oils make their way into my diffuser quickly! Remember that body butter? It makes for a great chest rub, add a few drops of Raven, it has a great smell and is equivalent to a vapor cough rub. I LOVE to rub it on my chest and feet, so does my hubs. It really has helped curb coughs and congested junk before they become something more! Ellie has a really sensitive respiratory system so we try hard to stay in front of anything, so it doesn’t turn into pneumonia for her. Other oils outside the kit that support respiratory function are R.C., Ravintsara, Eucalyptus Radiata or Globulus, and Tranquil down the spine. Cypress works great for supporting my circulation too! I have a sublux in my neck and a bad shoulder that cause my arm to go numb almost every night. I hate the feeling of waking in the night to that numbing pain! Cypress and Raven together are like my BFF for dealing with those issues. Marjoram also seems to help calm those nerves. And myrtle helps me with some of the slight thyroid issues I’ve experienced after 4 kids. It’s also on Trevor’s list of musts to support healthy prostate function. And when I had Plantar Fascitis this little bottle helped give me some great relief.  Citrus Fresh for a Happy Healthy Home So it’s the day before Thanksgiving last year, and my amazing and well intentioned husband decides to clean my self cleaning oven. Unfortunately he used smelly harsh chemicals and then had to turn on the self clean feature. THE ENTIRE HOUSE STUNK!! I was about ready to throw in the towel when I remembered this little blend. I put Purification with Citrus Fresh in the diffuser right in the kitchen and started the diffuser and left for the morning. I came back 3 hour later and I kid you not I couldn’t smell anything except that fresh inviting clean smell. I’m a believer for life. This blend is also one of the stars of our uplifting energy roller that we use all the time on our wrists. We diffuse it to ward bring a positive and uplifting environment in our home, especially during homework time. I love to diffuse it to make the house smell clean when all I had time to do was straighten up and want to feel like I actually cleaned.  Valor, where have you been all my life? All jokes aside, this little bottle is an incredible blessing! When I first joined Young Living it had been out of stock for a year. A good friend happen to have a bottle and gifted it to us, because it was a key component in our daughter Rylie's roller blend for focus. Thank God it was reformulated and is back and as glorious as ever. Now Valor makes it into my daily regiment for emotional wellness, sleep, and back & shoulder discomfort. They don't call it chiropractor in a bottle for nothing. It’s so worth trying, trust me it is AMAZING!  Peace & Calming, your name says it all! People if an oil could be a moms best friend it would look like this small green bottle of blessing. A few drops of this can change the course of an emotional breakdown or temper tantrum in 30 seconds flat, and that is not an exaggeration! I apply this to everyone in our family. It goes on the boys at nap time, witching hour, and just why are you so unreal crazy right now (ya thats a time trust me). It goes on the girls cuz #emotions are rough and I can't handle that much drama and neither can they. Rylie brings it to school to help her settle when she just can't sit still or is a bit nervous about a test. Ellie and Trevor like it in the diffuser at bedtime, and I put it on my bug toe to stop my brain from going in 8 million directions and making crazy to do list when all I want to be doing is falling asleep.  THIEVES!!! The Best Germ Fighting Blend EVER! During the Black Plague of 16th century, a small band of thieves were caught in the act and brought before the King, who forced them to divulge a most curious secret. The thieves had been entering the homes of plague victims and stripping the dead bodies of money, jewelry and anything else of value that could be found. Although the plague was highly contagious, not one of this morbid band of thieves ever contracted the dread plague even though their thefts had put them in daily contact with the dead bodies of plague victims. The King, eager to protect himself and the Royal Family, demanded to know how the thieves had avoided contracting the plague. Soon enough, the truth came out. The thieves were all members of the same family - a family from a long line of Apothecaries. Because of their intimate knowledge of the healing arts, passed down from generation to generation, they were familiar with a combination of specific plant oils that, when rubbed on the body, would protect the body from contracting this most feared and deadly disease. The King forced the thieves to divulge the specific plant oils used, and the formula for extracting them from the plants. With that vital information in hand, he was thereby able to protect himself and his family from the deadly plague. The recipe for the thieves' oils can still be found in the Royal English Archives. Young Living Thieves is a proprietary blend of pure essential oils tested at Weber State University, Ogden, Utah, and found to have a 99.96 percent effective rate against airborne bacteria. It has been found to fight staph and Ecoli. And we use it to fight germs and keep our family healthy. As for the cinnamon bark in this blend, I bought that one right away because it has awesome benefits for our health all on its own.  Young Living Thieves Household Cleaner & Hand Purifier are AMAZING!!!!! Seriously don't even get me started on all the Thieves products and their incredible uses! Okay well maybe just a few of Thieves Cleaners. Thieves Cleaner is a concentrate, which means that little packet makes you a big bottle of cleaner! The recipes are endless, seriously! Check out our blog to learn all about the amazing uses of Thieves Cleaner. From wood floors, to mirrors, to oven cleaner, and of course all purpose cleaner. This packet of awesome is just the beginning of your love affair with Thieves Cleaner, sorry NOT SORRY!  Last, but not least Ningxia Red. We need all the antioxidant support every single day. Enter Ningxia Red. It's a macronutrient, it's in a liquid form so you absorb it faster because the body doesn’t have to break it down, it's full of antioxidants that act like the exhaust system for your body working tirelessly every second of every day to wipe out as many free radicals as they can and Ningxia has TONS of antioxidants, it contains essential oils which help increase the absorption rate as well as imbuing their own benefits. All in all it is AWESOME!! I've been using it for about a year, every day and have seen a drastic, RADICAL difference in my digestive issues.  Is your MIND BLOWN YET? I know that it's a ton of information, but we really love our oils and I could share 10 more stories about each of these oils without breaking a sweat. So now comes that moment of truth, where you decide that you want to got on this journey too. I've already told you the Premium Starter Kit is the best way to go, and you've seen how awesome all the oils are in it. But now let me tell you about why it's the best value. Young Living makes the kit so affordable, I know $160 + seems like a lot, but when you realize that you get over $330 in products for half the price your tune may change. All the oils that I talked about are worth getting! The Premium Starter Kits are worth the investment. The Premium oils kit has all 11 oils, a diffuser (MUST HAVE), samples of Ningxia Red (an amazing health supplement), share cards and sample oils to use or give away, an aromaglide roller ball that fits onto the Stress Away bottle perfectly, and with all this comes your wholesale membership to Young Living. That membership allows you to get 24% off all the Young living oils, products, and supplements. I'll tell you more about those below. They also have kits for those who just want the health benefits of Ningxia Red, or who want the amazing cleaning and disinfecting power of Thieves Products. The Welcome Home kit has 8 oils, no diffuser 😥 but a cute wooden oil rack, and educational booklet. Plus, we have saved on health care bills and copays a ton since we started oils. The kit has already paid for itself in those terms for our family of 6. Wellness is an investment, and when I got my kit we weren't rollin in dough. Since then oils have not only helped us with our health, but this little business of sharing and referrals has helped to provide for our family as well. Read more of our personal story with oils. As if I didn't already give you enough reasons, Young Living is more than just oils! That’s right this awesome company who sells these top notch oils also has loads of other lifestyle options to support your health and allow for natural options for your home and personal care routines. They have all natural non-toxic cleaners, personal care products like toothpaste, shampoo & conditioner, body wash, soaps, skin care products, MAKE-UP, protein powders, antioxidant supplements, targeted wellness support supplements, the list goes on and on! The membership gives you a 24% discount on all these, and for those who take advantage, they have a monthly customizable “wellness box” subscription that comes straight to your door through their Essential Rewards program.
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