Patchouli

So I had this idea the other day to do a post every month about the uses of the new oils I got that month. I started researching some of my new February ones and realized that it would be a LONG post to cover the oil as well as I want to! So we'll just start with one oil and go from there. 

This month, I got patchouli. So many amazing ways to use it!

Patchouli is great for soothing discomforts and supporting skin regeneration. It's also good for breathing discomforts, occasional skin blemishes, and other skin irritations. 

It repels wasps, mosquitoes, and termites! If I still lived in Utah, I'd be spraying the stuff all over my yard! Those wasps were taking over the world in my Utah neighborhood and I wish I'd known that simple patchouli would rid me and my kids of their incessant threat. Viscous creatures, I tell you! Patchouli will help soothe insect and snake bites too.

Patchouli has 24 sesquiterpenes that cross the blood-brain barrier, so it supports the central nervous system and helps who need some extra support in the brain. Especially good in combination with vetiver to calm our more active or scatter-brained kids.

Patchouli is a great oil to use while doing yoga or tai-chi since it helps you feel more grounded and fluid and helps connect the mind and the body. It's useful for people who are working to improve their body image and physical self-love.

Use it topically on location to soothe skin discomforts, and use it on the bottoms of feet, back of neck, or on the roof of your mouth for emotional/behavioral support. Diffuse it for emotional, behavioral, and spiritual support.

I'm looking forward to using my patchouli!

These nasty seasonal threats!

So, I've been hearing about a LOT of people struggling to maintain a healthy respiratory system I thought I'd post my tools here for those looking for ways to support their bodies.

Maintaining open airways (fills a 15ml bottle)

eucalyptus 50 drops (supports open airways and sinuses)
peppermint 40 drops (supports open airways, also helps increase the absorption of the other oils)
lime 30 drops (good for all things respiratory)
lemon 30 drops (relieves congestion)
lavender 30 drops (calms, soothes)
cypress 20 drops (helps with occasional coughing and supports breathing)
rosemary 20 drops (helps with occasional coughing and congestion, and supports breathing)
frankincense 15 drops (helps with everything)
fill rest of bottle with coconut oil



Chest Rub 

 6 drops Melaleuca
 12 drops Eucalyptus
 15 drops Rosemary
 12 drops Peppermint
 9 drops Cypress
Apply to chest for relief of occasional cough.  Can also be made with virgin coconut oil and used as a 
rub



Upper and Lower respiratory support
22 drops Marjoram
22 drops Thyme
15 drops respiratory blend
15drops Melaleuca
10 mil roller bottle Fill the rest with Coconut Oil
Rub on chest, back and feet. Also layer respiratory blend diluted with 1 to 4 Coconut Oil on chest, back and feet. Also layer immune support blend the same way, same dilution. Do this protocol every hour and continue for 2-3 days after you're feeling well. 


Sinus Discomfort
   40 respiratory blend
   25 Lime
This remedy is perfect for the occasional runny/stuffy nose.  Apply over sinus areas under eyes and above 
eyebrows; also under nose.  It is very effective to layer with lavender to relieve occasional inflammation.


Immune support             
 20 Oregano
 40 Lemon
 30 Immune support blend
This is a great concoction for supporting the immune system.  When you feel mild aches or the occasional scratchy throat coming, its time to start! Apply on throat, behind ears, and bottom of feet. You can also substitute melaleuca instead of oregano for a milder mixture. Or use both for extra power. 

Food Recipes with Oils

This is a post that I'll have to update with pictures the next time I make them, but since I need to get these recipes on the computer before I lose the hard copies, I figured I'd just get them up! Cooking with essential oils is fun and easy and a great way to use healthy ingredients in your cooking.

Let's start off with some treats for this post!

Energy Bars:

1/3 c. raw almonds
1/4 c. dates
1/3 c dried cherries (I've used craisins with success)
1 T. chia seeds
2-3 drops Wild Orange essential oil

In food processor, pulse nuts until finely chopped. Add dried fruit and process until everything is sticky. Add other mix ins and process until combined. If you choose to add other spices or vanilla, stream in while processor is running. If you need to, add water a bit at a time until it holds together. Foll into balls or press into a pan and cut into squares.

Chocolate Mint Truffles:

1/4 c. unsweetened dark chocolate chips
1/4 c raw almonds
1/3 c raw cashews
1/2 c. dates
1 T cocoa powder
1 T coconut flakes
2-3 drops peppermint essential oil

Grind chips and nuts. Add dates. Stream in cocoa, coconut, and essential oil. Roll into balls. I omitted the coconut because I don't like it.

Both of these recipes make a rather small batch. When preparing to teach a class, I at least double or triple these.

Spicy Citrus Apples:

Apples
Water
2-5 drops total of immune support blend (clove, cinnamon, eucalyptus, rosemary, and wild orange) essential oils

Slice apples. Put the oils in a large bowl and fill bowl halfway with water. Add apples. Simple. Delicious. Healthy.

A not-so-healthy treat:
Grasshopper Bars:

One box of brownie mix, prepared according to box instructions in a 13x9 pan

Mint layer

  4 Tbsp butter, softened

  2 C sifted powdered sugar

  2-4 drops Peppermint essential oil

  green food coloring

  1-2 Tbsp milk

Beat together all ingredients except milk. Add enough milk to make the mixture a spreading consistency. Spread the mint layer over the brownies and cool in the refrigerator for 1 hour.

Topping:

  2/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

  6 Tbsp butter

  2 t vanilla

In the top of a double boiler (I just use a sauce pan and keep the heat fairly low) melt the chocolate chips and butter stirring frequently. Add vanilla. Remove pan and let cool slightly. Carefully spread the cooled topping over the chilled mint layer. Let the bars stand for 1 hour. Cut into Bars.

The original recipe called for peppermint extract and they were still so yummy but always gave me heartburn (so, apparently, peppermint extract gives me heartburn. ;) ). Once I started using peppermint EO instead, no more heartburn!! Yessss!!!

I'm planning to try flavoring popcorn with lime or lemon or maybe the immune support blend today, so we'll see how that goes!

Emotional Healing with Oils

Energy work is a topic that is relatively new to me. It. Is. Fascinating! I love all the things I'm learning about it! It resonates with me and enhances my spiritual growth and progress. It's been so interesting to me to learn ways to use oils to help with my family's energy.

The most amazing thing to me was to learn that frankincense will bring you closer to your father (both your spiritual Father and your earthly father) and myrrh will bring you closer to your mother or mother earth (which to me also translates into my spiritual mother). Interesting that those are two of the three gifts the Wise Men brought to the Baby Jesus as he left his heavenly parents to come into this mortal world. I find things like that in the scriptures all the time. The Lord's parables, metaphors and symbols are unbelievably perfect. And the idea that the wise men knew to bring gifts to the Savior that would help Him commune with His Father and Mother was profound to me.

Another oil that I've been using lately for my son is melaleuca. It's the oil of energetic boundaries and helps break negative ties in relationships with people, energies, or spiritual beings that drain one's energy. Some energy work with my son has suggested that this is a problem for him. That others are draining and confusing his energy and it's part of what causes his weird negative behavior. Melaleuca helps establish boundaries so no energetic leaching can continue. I'm excited for this tool and will continue to use it with him and monitor his behavior! Cool!

A recipe that I'm excited to try as I work at the beginning stages of my new essential oils business is 4 drops of bergamot, 4 drops of lemon, 3 drops of basil, and 3 drops of geranium. This blend helps with decision-making and positive attitude. It's one I want to keep in mind for the times that I get discouraged.

I'm also looking forward to try a combo of clove, frankincense, and wild orange with my kids when they are being selfish because it promotes a desire to serve others. Cool? I think so!

This is opening a whole new world for me for being a healthy and happy person. I've learned over the years how to not hate myself and my life and how to feel content with things, but I haven't yet learned to enjoy my life and to feel happy about where I am in life. I tend to look forward to the next impending change that I expect to fix all the things I feel to complain about in my current situation, whatever that may be. The things I'm learning about oils and energy work are empowering and I look forward to learning more about how to help myself overcome my emotional obstacles. What a blessing this knowledge is!

Behavior Challenges

I am SO excited about the new focus blend I found!! I have high hopes that it will do a lot for my 7 year old. He's a very good-hearted guy but he struggles immensely with impulse control and a few other things. My kids have been through a lot this year. Lots of change. Their daddy finished school (YAY!!) and was home a lot for the first few months as he looked for a job. Then we had a baby (#5) and then Daddy moved to Arizona without us for a few weeks while he looked for a house for us. Once we were all out here, the kids were home for a week while I hunted and hunted for a suitable school. My guy was not up for the challenge and it was a rough month or so at the new school and a rough time at home. This year, I have them at a different school and my son's first month there was a struggle. He was coming home everyday "on yellow" which is the way his school tracks and motivates behavior. Green is good, purple is better, blue is best. Yellow is a warning, orange is strike two, red is a note sent home and losing recess. Seriously, his calendar for ALL of August had one or two greens and the rest was yellow, an orange, and a red. So this month, I came up with some oils that I thought would help him:

Frankincense--An all around oil for when-in-doubt. It also helps you feel closer to your Heavenly Father, which I feel will help him to make better choices and feel of God's love for him, which he, in turn, is usually great at paying forward.

Grounding blend (lots of tree oils)--to help him feel grounded and normal and less clumsy.

Cilantro--I used this at night for a while to purge heavy metals since they are linked to all kinds of health and behavior issues. Then it got misplaced when I cooked with it one day... :(

Lemon--to help him feel happy and to cleanse toxins.

Wild Orange--to help him focus and stay on task.

Peppermint--to help him feel alert and attentive (he still sucks his thumb when he's tired or grumpy)

I used these on him everyday. I also had him start taking healthy lunches from home instead of eating school lunch. Partway through the month, I got lazy/the kids got lazy/we ran out of food/we ran out of money and decided to capitalize on the free lunches from school, so he's eating school lunch again. But his September calendar looks 100 times better!!! ALL greens, except for two purples!! How's that for an improvement!? Since we stopped doing home lunches, his behavior at home has been worse, but he's keeping it together at school, so we'll take that! Thank you, essential oils!!

Intro

I used to have this awesome blog here about essential oils that taught so many amazing things and added value to the discussion and education about essential oils. Then the natural health industry got targeted and censored by the those with deep pockets and lots of influence whose bottom line was being affected by this amazing movement. They are the puppeteer controlling our government and we as a people are now banned from empowering others by teaching them about things that will change their lives in a completely healthy and natural way. So we have been reduced to this: 

If this violation of freedom of speech upsets you, feel free to write your congress representatives and tell them that you want to maintain your right to use natural healthcare solutions and have access information that supports you on that journey. Find your representative here.