I have to admit I'm such a granola. Crunchy, crunchy. I used cloth diapers with my kids, unpaper towels in the kitchen, and rags to clean. I recycle zippered plastic bags until you can breathe through them and feel it coming out the other side. I reduced, reused, and recycled before it was a government slogan. I eat raw foods and only meat and veggies, at that. I'm pretty down-to-earth, you could say.
But I never ran across Essential Oils until two months ago.
I had gotten a cold at my in-laws, something that has become a regular occurrence. I'm not sure if it's the wood heat or the walls made of wood, or the long, long flights in enclosed spaces with recirculating air, but I get sick there every time we visit. I've always had a depressed immune system due to years of chronic sinus infections. Someone sneezes on me and I get sick. To help heal me, my mother-in-law put a pot on the stove with some peppermint oil to simmer and diffuse to help clean me out. I thought, "hey, maybe I should try a drop in some tea because it would help clear me out faster." It was more like taking horseradish or wasabi, and almost burned the inside of my nasal passages doing so. She came to me a little astonished later and said she wasn't sure that all essential oil should be ingested. She was right; not all oils can be consumed. One must check to be sure. (Caveat: many Young Living essential oils are ingestible, and I consume YL's Lemon, Lavender, and Peppermint on a regular basis.)
Fast forward to my next deployment trip, in Hawaii with my sister. While at my in-laws, I had also burned the heck out of my thumb. I wish I had taken a picture of it, but really, it would have grossed you out. I probably had a third degree burn on my finger. My sister suggested getting some tea tree oil at the local Melaleuca store. I dabbed it on and felt relief. I could finally start to move my thumb, a far cry from the pulling I had started to experience when doing so because the scar tissue had already started to build up. I had really gotten worried before finding out about the oil that my thumb was going to have limited mobility. Yes, it was that bad. I first applied oil five or six times a day. I carried that little 5ml vial in my pocket and applied whenever it hurt or was raw. Sooner or later I realized I was forgetting to put that vial in my pocket, and had only started to apply the oil twice a day. Then once...then I realized multiple days were going by and I was forgetting over longer periods of time...
Fast forward, then, to receiving an invitation to a friend, Amanda Uribe, for an Essential Oils 101 class she was having soon upon my return to Alaska after four weeks in Hawaii. If I made it back (all speculative because we were planning on taking a space-available trip back home), I would go. As God would have it, we made it back that Monday so attending Friday was not a problem as long as I had a sitter. I figured I had a lot of wellness figured out (diet, nutrition, spiritual disciplines) but knew nothing about essential oils. I don't even think I realized the Melaleuca I was using on my thumb was even considered an essential oil!
I went to the class hoping to learn a lot, but not planning to purchase anything. Something struck during the class. You see, I have Type 1 diabetes and have to be on insulin for the rest of my life. I also have a penchant for natural healing, and have seen results in my own health through what I put into my body. I so wanted to believe this was true, but had a notion that it could be quackery or alchemy. I was still curious enough to try it that I decided to just buy two vials, one of peppermint, and one of lavender. $40, not bad, we could do that. And if we still had some left over when we PCS'd out at the end of our time here, we would not be out too much, right?
When I talked to Amanda, she let me know that at $20 per vial, I was spending twice as much as I could if I got the Everyday Essentials set. I also would get a $40 credit on future purchases as well as $40 coupon toward a diffuser. So I could actually get the set for "essentially" $110 and a diffuser for half off. And I would still get the two vials I would have gotten for $40 basically free. I agreed with her that was a good deal and decided to go for it. I was still really hopeful that wasn't a bad idea, but I had smelled the oils at the class and heard some powerful testimonies from close friends, so I figured I shouldn't be too far out of line for trying it.
Going home that night, I heard John coughing in his room. Sure enough, in the morning he was congested. I had hope I could help him with the lemon oil, supposed to clear congestion. Then, when I myself got sick, I thought, "we need this! When will my oils get here so I can see if they really work?"
Sooo, when they came, I was excited but skeptical. We would be throwing a lot of money down the toilet if they didn't work. I don't remember the exact order that things occurred in, so please take the little bit of artistic license I'm going to take to write things as they come to mind.
John's cold cleared up within a day using lemon and peppermint. I had to apply coconut oil to his skin to apply the peppermint, but he was better quickly. I took a bit longer. However, I have traditionally gotten sinus infections every time I get a cold, so I knew my nasal passages were going to fight with me to get better. However, just like the little engine that could, I marched on, and especially at night would apply both lemon and peppermint to the area under my nose. The first night I had to apply them four or five times, waking every time I couldn't breathe. As a week progressed, I got to where I was only applying before I went to bed. Within a week, the cold passed and no sign of any infection or residual cold has come back. Contrast that with being sick for two weeks at my in-laws using peppermint oil every night there too.
I tried the Peace and Calming on John next. He is your typical rambunctious preschooler, and before bed it is like wrangling an octopus trying to get him to calm down enough to get his jammies on him. Put a little dab of Peace and Calming and Lavender oils on his feet, or behind his earlobes, and he is putty in my hands. Plus, he goes to sleep calmly and quickly.
Shana really prefers Panaway, an anxiety and stress reliever. She will also use Frankincense and Lavender. Her most stark testimony occurred last Saturday after she had returned from an American Heritage Girls sleepover. She was so tired she was screaming at both John and me. I somehow got her into her bed and gently told her I was going to apply some oil. She defiantly told me I wasn't and it wasn't going to work. I guess she was trying to push a button, but as I had applied Panaway before I went upstairs, I was feeling pretty confident I would not let her defiance rattle me. I gently told her I still was going to apply it. She fought me, but left enough room for me to apply it to her behind her ears. Literally within a second she relaxed and her decibel level went down about 50 points. She calmly told me it didn't work, still trying to muster the ability to sound tough, but realizing she didn't. I calmly replied that I knew she knew it actually did work and then we were able to do some soul business together.
That was probably the most stark testimony to date. Since that day, Shana has asked me for oils, and even begged me for some in advance of a Kleenex on Sunday when she was congested. It was since that day that I believe the lightbulb went off in my six-year-old's head that these oils really work. It has been amazing to see my daughter ask for them because she knows they help her.
And I think that's why I am myself amazed at these oils. They really DO work. My skepticism has evaporated and I am on fire. People need to know that they really can have ailments cured naturally. People need to know that only one drop of the oil can cross the blood-brain barrier where only synthetic drugs have ever gone, and that these oils, being natural and therefore safe, can effect a difference in us and our children without going the medicinal route. People have to know they can take control of their health by choosing which oil to use based on a particular set of circumstances.
Beyond that, our oils are a routine part of our day already. I start my day with a drop of lemon oil in 32oz of water to detoxify my liver of the synthetic insulin I am forced to take because of my diabetes. All three of us take at least two oils in the morning depending on circumstances. I let my kids choose oils so I can see what they need and so they can get a feel for what each particular oil does. They have to choose at least two. We do the same thing in the evening. Both kids pick at least two oils, and we decide the best place and way to apply them to achieve whatever impact they need. I have learned about hot oils and that you have to dilute hot oils with a neutral vegetable-based oil such as coconut, olive, almond, or avocado. We have to watch out for peppermint, Panaway, and Thieves (which I use, but the kids haven't yet).
As needed, we will pull the oils out during the day and use them. The kids know they have to let me put it on them. I say that because we usually need them because of a temper issue or an inability to control oneself. Those things often point to a body or brain that has temporarily gone off track. The other reason we have to apply during the day is based on physical symptoms such as congestion or headache.
Then we use oils throughout the day. I do not leave the house without oils anymore. I offer them to friends whenever they mention having something they are having trouble with. As this has only been a few days, I've gotten them out some, but not a ton yet. I have even thought of getting an Everyday Essentials set just for my normal satchel that I lug around!
No comments:
Post a Comment