Oil of the Week - Peppermint

I can't believe I haven't blogged about peppermint before. Peppermint is an everyday oil in our house. *giggle* It's also one of the oils included in our Everyday Oils Collection. My youngest son, Lei & I have allergies and daily we use a combination of lavender & peppermint oil in order to manage those allergies and remain symptom free. I put lavender on our faces before we go into a situation where we may encounter an environmental allergen. We put a drop of peppermint oil in the palm of our hands and sniff. Using this oils protocol, we've been allergy drug free since 2010. You can read all about that in this post.

 More uses for peppermint oil include:

• respiratory infections
• cold sores
• fungal infection/candida
• digestive problems
• headaches
• nausea
• skin conditions (itchy skin, vericose veins, eczema, psoriasis, hives)

Mamas, my absolute favorite use of peppermint oil with minis is to bring down a fever. Friday night, my oldest son had a fever. I don't know how high because we're currently without a thermometer but he had a headache so that means it was 102 or higher. I put 5 drops of peppermint oil on the bottom of his feet and within an hour, his fever had gone down. His head didn't hurt. He was sleeping soundly and his skin was no longer hot to the touch. You must have peppermint oil in your medicine cabinet.

Oil of the Week: Lemongrass

As I was pondering this week's oil of the week, I saw the lemongrass sitting on the desk and decided that this would be perfect.I recently felt guided to order lemongrass essential oil. I"m always curious when my intuition leads me to a new oil. When I placed the order, I didn't have any specific use for the oil in mind. Instead, I had some free product points and I looked for some oils to add to the order.

Last night, I felt guided to add lemongrass to my epsom/sea salt footbath. After the footspa, I felt completely relaxed and ready for bed. Tonight, in researching the benefits of lemongrass essential oil, I found that it's a sedative. Got bouncy minis? Slap some lemongrass on their feet. Be forewarned that lemongrass can irritate sensitive skin. If you're applying it anywhere other than to the bottom of the feet, be sure to dilute it with a carrier oil such as sweet almond or grapeseed oil.

A few drops of lemongrass on the bottom of the feet and this could be you...

Other uses for lemongrass essential oil include: 

• Treat ringworm by combinging 3-5 drops of lemongrass with 4 oz of a carrier oil and apply topically, on location several times per day until the ringworm clears up.
• Lemongrass works as a natural insect repellent. Add 10-12 drops to 8 oz of water. Pour mixture in a spray bottle and spray directly onto skin. 
• Diffuse or direct inhale lemongrass to alleviate discomfort from sinus/respiratory infections.
• Make your own carpet refresher by adding a few drops of lemongrass to baking soda. Sprinkle mixture onto carpet and leave for a few moments. Vacuum as usual for fresh smelling, disinfected carpets. 

Oil of the Week: En-R-Gee

En-R-Gee is a Monday kinda oil. True to its name, En-R-Gee is an uplifting blend of clove, juniper, fir, black pepper, nutmeg, rosemary and lemongrass. This blend increases vitality, circulation and alertness in the body. It smells yummy, too.

 Diffuse En-R-Gee in your space to experience mental alertness, uplifting and reduced fatigue. It also works as an air purifier when diffused. Use En-R-Gee to help pull yourself out of mommy-induced fatigue. You know, the kind that comes with mommy-brain. Be cautious of the minis, though. They really don't require more energy. ;)

Oil of the Week: Ocotea

This week, I'm featuring an oil that I haven't experienced outside of a quick sniff from a friend's bottle. I'm featuring Ocotea because it's one of Young Living's free oils this month. Yes, I said one of. I'll feature the other free oil next week. Since I do not have personal experience with this oil, I found this picture to share this information with you all. I pray it's beneficial. I certainly learned some things.

Oil of the Week: Lavender

I was super concerned about using lavender as the oil of the week because I blog and post about it so much. This blog, however is about my family's experience as oilers and right now during allergy season in the Midwest, our experience involves a LOT of lavender. LOL! For those of you who aren't familiar, my son Lei and I have quite severe allergies. Lei's are much more severe than mine are and this time of year, we go through lots of lavender, peppermint, lemon and Purification oil.

During allergy season, you want to arm yourself, not with an OTC drug, but with lavender, peppermint, lemon and Purification oils in order to support your body's natural ability to manage allergens.  Lavender is God's antihistamine. It works to block the effects of histamine in the body. Immediately upon noticing my son  rubbing his nose, I send him to put a drop of lavender oil in the roof of his mouth. By the time he's done complaining about how disgusting it is (Lol! It does NOT taste good, y'all), he's stopped rubbing his nose. Even the fastest OTC drug doesn't work that fast. ;)

So, if you're experiencing allergies this lovely spring season, grab you some lavender, peppermint, purification and lemon and skip the drug store this year. Rub lavender on your face, put 1 drop of peppermint oil in your hand and cup your hands before your face and inhale deeply, place lemon and purification oils over your liver and support your body in purifying itself.

Ask Lila About Oils

This weeks question comes from Tahira West of Pure Peace Life Coaching (www.purepeacelifecoaching.com). Tahira is hosting a Spring Forward coaching program and asked, "What are some good oils for springing forward?"

Immediately, my mind went to orange, Citrus Fresh & other cheerful, perky oils. Then, I realized that she was looking for recommendations for the participants of her coaching practice who are going to be springing forward into bigger goals. That's when I realized that we need emotional oils. We need oils for fear, anxiety & self doubt. Below are general recommendations for oils to work through these challenges. For more specific to you recommendations, email oils@lilasimmons.com to schedule a FREE oils consultation.

Anxiety: orange, Roman Chamomile, ylang ylang, lavender, Valor, Hope, Joy, Citrus Fresh, Surrender, Believe...

Self-doubt: frankincense (one of my favorites), geranium, marjoram, jasmine, orange, peppermint, rosewood, rose, sandalwood, thyme, ylang ylang, Joy, Harmony, Valor, 3 Wise Men, Hope, White Angelica, Motivation, Live With Passion, Highest Potential

Fear: Bergamot, clary sage, Roman Chamomile, cypress, geranium, juniper, marjoram, myrrh, spruce, orange, sandalwood, rose, ylang ylang, Valor, Present Time, Hope, White Angelica, Trauma Life, Gratitude, Highest Potential

If any of these challenges are keeping you from springing forward, grab some of the oils from the lists above (use your gut to choose or schedule a oils consultation), slather them on & blossom into your fullness.

Oil of the Week: Joy

This week's oil of the week is near & dear to my heart. This is the oil that changed my life & started my oiling journey almost 6 years ago. I was wandering around a holistic expo when I came across this amazing smell. I followed it to a booth. Turns out I'd been following a woman who was wearing essential oils. She smelled soooooooooo good. We chatted for a few moments, then scheduled an appointment for her to come over & share the oils with me. Turns out she lived 7 minutes from my house.

So, she came over with this massive bag of oils on the worst day ever. I had hypoglycemia so when I got hungry, I became a monster. Also, stress made things worse and boy was I stressed. Not only did I hate my job but my finances and my marriage were a mess & she came just as I was returning from work, hungry, to a messy house and dinner wasn't ready either.

Being the people-pleaser that I was at that time, I put on a smile and did my best to be a good hostess. She handed me oil after oil to smell and I half listened to her spiel. Then, she handed me something that I liked cause I didn't give it back right away. I kept sniffing the other stuff she handed me but I sniffed this oil in between. she noticed that I wad holding onto this one oil and she gave me a sample vial of it along with her contact info and she left.

Obviously that oil was Joy. Here's the miracle: I sat on the floor & played with my babies while I waited patiently for my husband to finish making dinner.

What I later learned was that I'd been depressed (well, I kinda knew that but not to what extent) and that day in my livingroom with that oil that I kept sniffing, the depression that I'd nursed for 6+ years started to lift. Thus began my love affair with the oils.

If you think you may be experiencing depression, try Joy. It is known as the #1 oil for depression. It changed my life.

Oil of the Week: Orange Oil

Spring has sprung and that means happy, floral oils are hitting the diffuser. Lei (my 5 year old) is all ready with his orange oil in the pic below.

In doing research for this post, I found that orange oil is highly antitumoral. It is a relaxant, an anticoagulant and a circulatory stimulant as well.

I like to use orange oil as a general mood booster. I've recently paired it with Valor to lift me out if a deeeeeep depression. Even though the spring equinox was last well, we got almost a foot of snow here last night. Today, I'm inviting spring into my home & head today with some orange oil perfume. I invite you to do the same. Get your orange oil today.

Ask Lila About Oils

This question came from A Curious Reader. What's the difference between the Stress Away roll on and the new 15 ml bottle of Stress Away?

This is a great question because I didn't realize there was a difference in the two until I placed my monthly order last week & the lovely man on the line outlined all of our new oils. Stress Away is a yummy blend that I like to call a Margarita for your nose. This blend was formulated to relieve daily stress. It is an excellent massage blend as well.

Oh, I didn't answer the question. The difference is that the roll on contains coconut oil. This means that the 15 ml bottle is going to be more potent and is going to last longer than the 10 ml roll on bottle. So grab yourself a bottle of Stress Away today and rub your days away.

Ask Lila About Oils

This week, anonymous wants to know why Rose oil is SO expensive. "What makes it so special other than smelling like roses", she inquires. I love this question because high quality oils are usually priced higher than perfume oils. Rose oil, at $236.51 of a mere 5 ml bottle, is Young Living's highest priced oil.

Now, I'm sure YOU wanna know why it costs so much too. Well, let me tell you. It takes 5,000 lbs of rose petals to get one ounce of rose oil. THIS my oiling friends, is why rose oil is so high priced.

As for what it does, rose had been used for thousands of years for the skin. In addition, to healing the skin, rose is also anti-inflammatory, anti-ulcer, a relaxant, anti-viral and treats hypertension and anxiety.

Want your essential oils questions answered? Email your questions to oils@LilaSimmons.com.

Oil of the Week: Cedarwood

Last year I had some reward points (which equaled free oils) and I was guided to order some Cedarwood. I had no idea what it would be good for. My intuition is always right though, so I ordered it. I liked the way it smelled just fine but I couldn't really figure out what to use it for until I started a 21 day meditation challenge with the Chopra Center. Before meditating, I would apply 1 drop to my 6th chakra. I noticed changes in this challenge compared to my previous attempts at meditating. Not only was I able to sit through the entire meditation, I often felt surprised when it was over. It was a miracle.

In doing research for this post, I found that Cedarwood is good for:
~ combating hair loss
~ lymphatic simulation
~arteriosclerosis
~ADHD
~ skin problems such as eczema, acne, etc.

Cedarwood is recognized for its calming, purifying properties.

Oil of the Week: PanAway

Aaaaaahh... My personal period oil. LOL! As the name suggests, PanAway is an essential oil blend (meaning more than one oil) that relieves pain. There have been months when I've followed Alisa Vitti's (founder of FLO Living & the vagina whisperer) Twitter tips and have had no cramps at all. When my diet is not on point, I use PanAway. It's my personal period oil because I haven't tried Dragon Time yet and lavender doesn't work for my cramps. :( When I feel the cramps starting, I rub a few drops of PanAway on my lower abdomen and soon, they're gone. :) I have learned that I cannot use PanAway when I'm lying on the heating pad. The heating pad heats up the spicy oils in the PanAway and I end up feeling even worse. My mother had degenerative arthritis (that's the stage past rheumatoid arthritis - it's basically the most severe form) and PanAway worked better to ease her pain than the drugs her Dr. prescribed.

It's safe for little one's too. My daughter (age 8) is having a challenging time as her breasts grow in (she's gonna kill me for this later- Lol!) and she rubs a few drops of PanAway on her chest to relieve the pain. She's almost a pro oiler. When she feels discomfort, she tells me exactly what she needs. "Mom, my breasts hurt. Can I have some PanAway?"

I'm curious. What do you use PanAway for? Leave a comment in the box below.

Oil of the Week (Returns): Peace & Calming

I've decided to make a few changes with the posts. I added a weekly post called 'Ask Lila About Oils.' Got a question about oiling? Send them to oils@lilasimmons.com. I look forward to answering your questions.

Now, about the Oil of the Week: Peace & Calming is a soothing blend of Tangerine, orange, ylang ylang, patchouli and blue tansy. Mmm... Patchouuuuuli. No wonder Peace & Calming is one of my favorite oils.

I use Peace & Calming to support me in those crazy mommy moments like the one pictured here -----> Those moments when I want to put all of the children on a FedEx truck to their father or our friends in VA or TN.  *chuckle*

 I sniff it straight from the bottle in emergencies. Other times, I add it to my bath. A quick note on adding oils to the bath: Because oils are not water soluable, you must mix the oils with a salt (sea salt or epsom salt) or baking soda before adding it to the bath water. Dissolve the salt or baking soda under warm running water. Another method of application is to rub the oils on the bottom of my feet. I don't usually have that kind of composure, though. 

The fragrant qualities of Peace & Calming promote relaxation, a deep sense of peace and emotional well-being. It is an excellent prelude to a good night's rest when rubbed into the bottom of the feet. Other uses for Peace & Calming include: 

• reduces tension
• uplifting
• reducing depression, anxiety, stress and insomnia
• may calm overactive & hard-to-manage children

Ask Lila About Oils

This week, Curious Mama asked me why some of Young Living's essential oils are out of stock ... and often for a WHILE. This can be annoying when one knows how good these oils are and we want or even NEED them. My answer is because Gary Young (Young Living's founder) has a high standard of quality for the essential oils that are distributed by Young Living. All of Young Living's essential oils are independently tested by 3rd party testers. If they do not meet certain standards, we do not distribute them. The essential oils that are grown specifically in Europe, like Frankincense, are purchased from another vendor. These are usually the essential oils that we are out of for the longest because we do not grow them ourselves and we simply have to wait for a product that is of Gary's high standards to become available.

Have an oily question for me? Send your questions to oils@lilasimmons.com.

Ask Lila About Oils

• This week, in lieu of the 'Oil of the Week', I'm sharing a Q&A that arrived in my FB inbox from a friend.
  

  
  

  Curious MamaI have a question...You and oils...What is your favorite, or favorite few?
  
  Lila Simmons
  Lavender, peppermint and Thieves.
• Curious Mama 
  

  Awesome stuff. I was just curious. Thieves...What do you do with that?
  

  
  
• Lila Simmons
  

  Put it on the bottom of little feet before they connect with other little ones. Thieves keeps the germs away.  It kills germs too.

  Curious Mama

  Ahh
• Lila Simmons
  

  
  

  'Hubby' had swine flu in '09. Made him drink it, diffused it and put it on his feet. Not only was he recovered in 4 days but no one else got it either.

  LOVE me some Thieves.
• Curious Mama
  

  OMG talk about a testimonial.
  
  Lila Simmons
  YES!

& just in case YOU are curious, Dear Reader, peppermint is good for: inflammation, fever, allergies & more. Lavender is called the Universal oil. There's not much that it isn't good for. In our house, we use lavender for allergies, relaxation, burns (I burn my self quite a bit...) and more. 

Oil of the Week: Purification

As a mom, Purification is almost as necessary an oil to have on hand as lavender. Purification is our topical antibiotic. We don't use those OTC topical antibiotic creams. When someone gets a scrape, and that someone is my 6 year old son and the scrapes are almost always on his knees, I rinse the wound with water and then apply Purification. He DEMANDS that I put a band-aid on it and I do ... but they slide off. *chuckle* They heal at an incredibly fast rate.

Get yours now at www.youngliving.org/lakeithasimmons

Purification is a blend of citronella. lemongrass, rosemary, Melaleuca, lavindin and myrtle. It is good for:

carpet refresher

• antibiotic purposes (as mentioned above)
• repelling mosquitoes (mix with water and spritz on)
• removing the toxins from a bug bite (apply to bug bite)
• neutralizing odors (as with my carpet refresher at right; ask me for the recipe)
• cleansing and purifying blemishes (pimples, whiteheads, etc. are simply infected pores)
• cleansing the air and neutralizing unpleasant odors (we diffused Purification when we visited my mother, who smooked)

There are MANY more uses for Purification. Make sure you have some on hand.

Oil of the Week: Lemon Oil

Lemon is one of my favorite oils because it's versatile and affordable. My daughter LOVES lemon oil. She's always eating utnil she's stuffed. She comes and gets the lemon and puts a couple drops on her tummy to alleviate the discomfort. It's great for digestive health and it is also cleansing and purifying to the blood.

With school starting back here on Monday, we will be using lemon oil while we study for the rest of this week. Lucas, my oldest son, has a spelling test on Monday and Lillian, my daughter, has a multiplication test this week as well. Another benefit of lemon oil is that it enhances focus and concentration. I remember reading in the EODR (Essential Oils Desk Reference) that when lemon oil is diffused during studying, test scores increase exponentially.

Oil of the Week: Thieves

My friend Racquel chose the oil for this week. I'm thrilled that she did. I LOVE Thieves. I call Thieves the Kindergarten oil because kindergartners are notorious for bringing home germs from school. They're such good sharers and the chief thing they share is their colds and flus.

Read the story of how Thieves got it's name here: http://www.secretofthieves.com/four-thieves-vinegar.cfm It's quite a long story. My version is: A bunch of grave robbers during the Black Plague were caught by the constabulary (that's long, long time ago European for cops) and were given the option of leniency in their execution (there are lenient executions, apparently) if they gave up the 'secret' of how they walked among the dead without getting sick. Their secret was a proprietary blend of essential oils and vinegar that they soaked their clothes in.

Several recipes exist for Thieves. Our blend is of the oils among the list that tested the highest in germ fighting abilities (there are more scientific ways of saying this *giggle*).

The holidays are upon us. There will be lots of sharing. Make sure that you're not sharing germs with your family this holiday season. Diffuse Thieves in your home. Use Thieves hand sanitizer. Clean your home with Thieves cleaner. Did I mention that Thieves smells DELICIOUS!!!

Most recently, I began using 4 drops of Thieves on my 6 year old son's feet at night before bed and in the morning before school because he had a runny nose and a cough. Yes, I ran out of Thieves for a month. Woooon't happen again. After a few days, he no longer has a cough, a sore throat or a runny nose. I'm still using Thieves twice a day on his feet, only I'm using 3 drops instead of 4. Soon, I'm going back to once per day before school in the morning to protect him from all that sharing that happens at school.

Protect your family. Grab your Thieves now!!!

Oil of the Week: Valor

I've decided to institute an oil of the week. Each week we are going to dive into a different oil. This week's oil of the week is Valor.

"Valor is an energy balancing blend of Rosewood (Aniba rosaeodora), Blue Tansy (Tanacetum annuum), Frankincense (Boswellia carteri), and Spruce (Picea mariana) in a base of pure Almond Oil. Valor works with the bodies electrical and nervous system bringing alignment and balance throughout the whole body system."

I like to use Valor on the bottom of my feet in the morning to support me in staying grounded throughout the day. This is quite necessary for me, too because I am highly spiritual, flighty even and I require grounding. For more tips throughout the week on the various uses of Valor, please friend Lila Simmons on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/empresslila.

Valor is but one of the 9 oils found in Young Living's Everyday Oils Kit. This kit is a steal because it includes a very moderately priced oil, frankincense and the kit itself costs little more than a single bottle of frankincense. You can grab your Everyday Oils Kit at http://www.youngliving.org/l3simmons.

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!!!