A Little Joy For Springtime

5 years ago, I was attending a holistic fair when I smelled this FABULOUS fragrance. I followed my nose to this tiny booth manned by two wonderful ladies. One was a colon hydrotherapist and the other was the Lady of the Oils (she's what smelled so good!!!). So, I told her how DELICIOUS she smelled and we chatted a bit about essential oils. When she gave me her card, I discovered that, though we were an hour away from home in some part of MO, we lived in the same small IL town maybe 7 minutes from each other. Talk about a small world and synchoronicities.

Well, I scheduled a meeting with her because I wanted to know more about these oils. At this point, all I cared about was that she smelled SO good and I was fascinated by anything related to natural healing. Lillian was 1, Lucas was about 10 months and little did I know, I was baking a Lei.

On the day I was schedule to meet with Cristina, I'd worked a LONG day at a job that I really didn't want because I wanted to be at home with my minis and only my fear of disappointing people made me keep the appointment. I arrived at home maybe 10 minutes before our meeting time. I was exhausted. I was frustrated. Most importantly, I was HUNGRY!!! This is important because when I got hungry, I became ... GRUMPY.

When Cristina arrived, I put on my good hostess face and smelled all of these oils she was passing to me. I do not remember a word she said. All I remember is one of the oils she passed me, I held on to. It smelled sooooo good. I sniffed and sniffed and sniffed until I finally had to give it back to her because she was leaving. Before she left, she gave me a tiny vial with a sample of the oil in it. I thanked her, walked her to the door and then sat on the floor and played with the minis while I waited patiently for dinner to get ready.

I was AMAZED by how I felt. Over the next few weeks, I used that tiny vial of Joy and noticed a depression that I'd rationalized away lift. In hindsight, I realized that the hypoglycemic symptoms of becoming a fire-breathing dragon lady were related to the depression because, from the first time I smelled it that evening in my livingroom with Cristina, I have NOT had an experience where I became grumpy when I'm hungry.

Happy Mental Health Month!!!

What Have You Done to Him?!!!?

This is what I was asked by a teacher at my son's daycare. My four year old son, Lei, had been cranky, moody and generally unpleasant for the past year to people who were not related to him...and on more than a few occasions to those of us who are. *giggle*

Every day that I would drop Lei off at daycare, he'd scream and cry and cling to me and throw a general fit. I'd pry him off me, kiss him someplace and tell him that I'd be back in the afternoon for him. I'd relate it to a part of the day that he could understand. 'I'll be back right after snack time,' or 'I'll pick you up during naptime.' Nothing helped!!! He still behaved like a little monster when I dropped him off. To boot, outside of throwing fits, he really didn't talk very much. He spoke very well when he did speak. It was simply a rare occurance.

Well, after I began using the Thyme oil (4 drops on his feet at bedtime), he began sleeping better. Then one day, seemingly out of the blue, I dropped Lei off at school and he said, 'Bye Mom,' and kissed me on the cheek. I noticed, a little.

A few weeks later, the teacher that I pick him up from after his classroom closes very enthusiastically asked me, 'What did you give him?'

'What do you mean?' I asked her.

'We were sitting outside and he came and sat beside me and started talkin' to me. He laid his head on my leg and everything. What did you do to him?' she asked again.

I laughed, then replied, 'He's always like this with me.' Then I shrugged and said, 'Maybe it's the Thyme oil or maybe it's that he hasn't had an allergy flare up this spring and he's feeling a lot better. He's been sick for the last 2 springs, you know.'

I'm not sure how but somewhere betweeen the Thyme, Lavendar, Trauma Life and Peppermint oil, the McMonster is gone and Lei has returned. YAY!!! *giggle*

Happy Mental Health Month!!!

As a mom, your mental health is imperative to your family's wellbeing. The wisdom that one's mental health affects the rest of one's experience is becoming more mainstream in the West now. In celebration of this wisdom and of May being Mental Health Awareness Month, I'm going to be sharing oils with you that enhance and support mom's mental health. ;)

The first oil I'd like to share with you is one that I like to call my sanity oil. Peace & Calming is a soothing, earthy blend of oils that include tangerine, orange, ylang ylang, patchouli and blue tansy. Whenever my minis are being unruly, I put Peace & Calming on their feet and rub he residue into their hands and have them breathe in the scent from thier hands. They settle down immediately. I also diffuse it in the bedroom for 15 minutes, 45 minutes before bedtime as well as turning off the TV and dimming the lights. It makes getting them to fall asleep sooooooo much easier. They almost put themselves to bed. They never let me forget to put the oils on, either.