Seasonal Discomfort

Spring is here in New England. I have been waiting for Spring since end of Jan as this winter was so brutal. This and Fall are my favorite times in New England. Spring = beautiful flowers, sweet sound and sight of birds and who can forget our friend the pollen. Here is a picture from our walk yesterday in our neighborhood.

spring

When we lived in CA, I did not have any problem with seasonal stuff. But here, I seem to always have a problem the moment Spring starts. Last year, I discovered how Essential Oils can help. There is a saying that I recently came across “And there is an oil for that….” and yes there seems to be an oil for everything.

So, last year, I used oils for seasonal discomfort and it seemed to help quite a bit. I took 3 drops of Peppermint, Lemon and Lavender in a capsule. You can also add it to raw local honey to enhance its effect. In addition, I also applied Lavender to my temples, nose, throat and chest every time I would go out. You can do this as needed.

Seasonal Discomfort

The wonderful world of Essential Oils

Essential Oils

Back in 2013, as a new mother, I wanted to raise my child using natural products. Besides using products that contained less chemicals, I also wanted to use natural ways of dealing with common ailments that most children are exposed to. Coming from an Indian background, I was raised with home remedies all my life like drinking fennel, cumin water through the day when I had a cold. During the process of researching home remedies, I came across Essential Oils.

Essential Oils are more than just their aroma. Essential oils have been used medicinally for thousands of years through history.  When I looked on the web, I found plethora of information on Essential Oils which was overwhelming. I was looking for oils that were safe to use on babies. I also cared about the sourcing and quality of the oils.

To help me understand the usage and power of essential oils on babies and young children, my dear friend and guide Naomi (who is an advent researcher of natural remedies ) referred me to “Gentle Babies”  by Deborah Raybern. The book gave me quick insight into few oils like Lavender, Frankincense, Peppermint, R.C etc and their powerful healing qualities. The book described in details about Oils manufactured by Young Living. It intrigued my interest in finding about this company.

This company has been around for over 20 years and was founded by Dr. Gary Young. Young living is known for its exceptional high quality essential oils, dietary supplements, personal care products for creating and maintaining a healthy life style. They make their oils using the purest of the ingredients, through steam distillation and cold press. They contain the pure essence of the plants that can be inhaled, diffused and ingested as well. The biggest seller for me was that they were environmentally sustainable. It has become more important to me since I had my son as I want him to enjoy the beauty of Earth when we are long gone.

To test their quality and effectiveness, I bought a few of them like Lavender, Peppermint, Thieves and Lemon Essential OIls. These oils were versatile in their usage. I began using them sparingly at first or only when needed (when my son was sick for instance) and because I saw amazing results, I started using them daily. Initially, I bought just a few oils and then as I got more confident with my knowledge by reading and doing research, I started buying more as we now use the oils every day, sometimes, multiple times a day.

I would have to say that I was a skeptic when I first got the oils. I would forget to use them or only think of them when me or someone else was starting to get sick or needed it somehow. It took many months of using it consistently and reading about it and doing my own research that I started to love it. Now, I can confidently say, it is something I really love and I keep it close to me as I never know when I need it. Like they say, a stitch in time saves nine. If I can use it as soon as something happens, like a scrape or a burn or a sickie coming on, it is a lot more effective.

I really enjoyed playing with the oils every day with myself and my family. Do you have stories that you would like to share about using essential oils that have been useful and helpful to you? I welcome hearing from you…