Why these oils are essential!

Ok – I admit, I’m a convert. I feel as if I found a secret club and then discovered it wasn’t so secret.

Hoards of women (I’m sure there are some men, but I am yet to find them) are espousing the virtues of these plant extracts on their blogs, diffusing exotic blends in their homes and dabbing Citrus Bliss behind their ears.

Children around the country are falling asleep to the aroma of On Guard and lavender and the men in our lives are enjoying the benefits of Ice Blue rub.

Yes, I’m talking about doTERRA. I’ve read articles which claim these oils are the answer to almost every illness and household crisis to reports they are potentially dangerous. But I kind of decided to see for myself what all the fuss was about. And I have to admit, I love them. There I’ve said it. I love the oils.

I understand you have to be careful – and conservative.  These oils are highly concentrated, after all one drop of peppermint oil is the equivalent of 28 cups of the leaves. And there are contraindications to many of the oils, which you need to be aware of.

But so far my successes have been many and my failures few. And there aren’t many things in life I can say that about.

My first foray into the oils was using a dab of Lavender on my wrists at night and a couple of drops on my pillow. I normally fall asleep immediately but have been known to wake in the early hours with varying degrees of success at getting back to sleep.

I’m a yoga teacher, so I normally focus on breathing techniques and mental relaxations and affirmations. I have a 50/50 success rate, yet when I combined this with a whiff of lavender, I found myself drifting back to sleep easily and waking up feeling refreshed. Massive Tick.

Next is my youngest son, who has asthma. I diffused Easy Air for him and he was soon as excited as me – telling all his friends at high jump training about how the oil has helped him breathe. I have made him a range of oils (mixed with sweet almond oil or fractionated coconut oil) so he how rubs the easy air oil on his chest at night. He also loves the On Guard and says how his room smells like cinnamon.

My daughter not wanting to miss out, has become masterful at blending oils in her diffuser (yes, that’s right I’ve had to get a diffuser for them both to avoid fights). She loves the citrus blends and says it makes her feel happier. She’s even made up a blend of peppermint and rosemary which she takes to school to help her focus in class.

Another time I went on a training walk with some friends who are doing the Oxfam 100m hike… I guess walk was not exactly accurate as it ended up being a 20km hike over rugged terrain and to make it even more gruelling we had to return in time to pick up our kids from school. Four hours later I could barely limp into the school grounds. That night I had a hot bath with Epsom Salts and massaged Ice Blue into my aching legs. I honestly thought I’d be unable to move the next day but amazingly I was fine. Absolutely fine. Not even a twinge.

Other successes include discovering the miracle of lemon. A friend recently told me her son had vomited in her car. She’d cleaned, scrubbed and even had the interior detailed, but still the smell remained. So I made her up a spray bottle with lemon. A few squirts later the smell had totally gone.

‘That was amazing!’ she enthused.

And probably the biggest success was with my youngest son – he managed to sprain his ankle at soccer just three days out from this athletics carnival. Now Leo lives for high jump. I’m pretty sure he bounced before he could walk. And he jumps. Over everything.

And he wanted to bounce into the Zone Athletics Carnival.

Only it didn’t look like he’d be jumping over anything for a long time.

‘Why don’t you try the oils?’ suggested my friend, Nikki. And she came up with a blend of lemongrass, marjoram and wintergreen.

I felt like I was casting a spell as I gently massaged the concoction on to his foot.

Our lovely Chiro strapped his ankle and checked him out and then to everyone’s surprise the following day he not only took part in the school high jump, but he won it – and broke the school record!

I’m not suggesting that oils are the panacea to all of life’s problems, but I have to admit, it’s fun blending, massaging and smelling the oils. And that is why I’m keen to continue on the journey to see what other successes I have. And as for the failures, well I am cautious, so I don’t ingest the oils although I do cook with them. The worst time was when I put too many drops of oregano into the pasta. Not even the dog could face that dinner. But apart from that and churning thru that lavender a bit too quickly, we’re going well!