Essential Oils: when everything old is new again & a giveaway!

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Photo by Amalia from secondbreakfast.us.

Essential oils are hot. Hot, hot, hot. Have you noticed?

And today is your lucky day, dear gentle reader, because my good friend Debora–who is building her business with doTerra–has offered to partner with me in giving away bottles of her three “go-to” oils: lemon, lavender, and peppermint.

I want very much to learn all I can about them, and I am learning, bit by bit. But you understand, I know you do, that there are only so many hours in the day. Also, you understand about planting season and my hapless addiction to being outside. *siiiigh* I have purchased a couple of books about EOs to learn more about them, but haven’t settled down yet to read them completely.

They are sitting on my nightstand! Waiting.

Many bloggers have accounts with EO companies, and make a nice income from this affiliation. A nice income is good. I’ve been offered the opportunity to learn more about this. I have actually made the uncharacteristically-abrupt decision that this is the day! that I will study all that I can about EOs–how they are used; which brands are the best; everything! Aaaaand I settle myself down with a huge cup of tea (licorice spice), a couple of books and our kitty Goldberry (she adds coziness to every task) to tackle this complicated and much-encompassing topic. But then! Mack rushes in from outside, smelling like fresh air and little boy, and asks me to—actually, demands that I must!–come outside.

Outside. It’s where all the magic happens around here.

“Mom. There is something you need to see,” he says, softly. Wheedlingly. Big eyes. Sweet expression. Hand on my arm, gentle pressure. He is pulling out all the stops here. Then he says it. “Something I know that will delight you.”

This little boy knows his ol’ mama so well.

Gentle reader, I can’t say no to this request. Ever. Ever, ever. Delight-instigating sights fuel my spirit, and Mack knows this. In just the past week I’ve followed little Mack outside when he has used this catch-phrase, to get lost in delight with him, over:

• a nest of baby robins, up-close
• a wren’s egg (most exquisite thing ever! Peachy-pink and so, so tiny!)
• a hidden peach tree (a volunteer!) covered with bitty fuzzy peaches
• a hen–our bantam, Butterscotch–devotedly sitting on a secret nest full of eggs (it was secret)
• our goose Lucy, bathing in the pool in the chicken yard (heretofore unused!)
• Cotton Day
• a tiny tree frog, balanced on Mack’s finger

Well, hello dainty little tree frog, perched upon my fingertip. Stay as long as you like. #treefrog #sotiny #sotinyandcute #gooutside #lifeisbeautiful #anyawouldlikethis @andhegames @mrslotulelei @amaliacharis

A photo posted by Amy Young Miller (@amyyoungmiller) on May 21, 2016 at 7:45pm PDT

I’ve learned to take my camera with me when he beckons me thus.

So you see . . . sitting inside and reading thick books on any topic just isn’t in the works for me right now. It’s outside weather, baby. In a few weeks when the Nebraska summer turns to oppressive heat and humidity and clouds of mosquitoes too thick to see through (just a slight exaggeration), I’ll be content to be inside for more hours of the day again, but for now it’s outside I must be, during most of the waking hours.

I am a slave to my outside nature, folks!

And I am so, so happy to have another kindred spirit in the house who is just as delighted by the outdoors as I am. And that is little Mack. Goldberry, our kitten, is a kindred spirit in this area, too.

Goldberry loves playing in the backyard at Golden Hour.

But back to essential oils.

According to Wikipedia, use of essential oils goes back to the first century. The earliest recorded mention of the techniques and methods used to produce essential oils is believed to be that of Ibn al-Baitar, around 1200 AD. He was an Andalusian physican, pharmacist, and chemist. But. Anybody who knows the Christmas story can point to an earlier mention of essential oils in the Bible: of course gold, and the precious oils Frankincense and Myrrh were brought to Jesus as gifts from the Magi.

Think on that for just a moment: two essential oils–frankincense and myrrh–were among the most costly and precious of gifts to offer to the new baby Jesus. Pretty cool, eh?

Amalia and I have learned enough about several EOs to make many of them part of our everyday lives.

You don’t have to know everything about a topic to benefit greatly from it, right? To wit:

• When I was having such a dispiriting time with insomnia earlier this year, I used essential oils in a diffuser in the bedroom at night, and it did seem to help. And I loved the way it may the bedroom smell, too. I still use it, though I’m sleeping much better now, thank you. 😉
• Amalia uses peppermint and lavender and lemon oils, mixed with coconut carrier oils in rollerbottles, to ease her frequent headaches.
• During the wintertime, whenever any of us had a cold, we’d run a diffuser with EOs in the living room, or wherever the cold sufferer was hanging out. We used eucalyptus, rosemary, lavender, and tea tree oils.
• Rubbing EOs on the chest (mixed with carrier oils), or on the soles of the feet can help treat colds or respiratory infections.

My friend Debora is a doTerra essential oil consultant, and she has offered to host a giveaway with me of her three “go-to” oils: Lemon, Lavender, and Peppermint. You can learn more about doTerra oils and Deb’s business here. 

Deb loves to help others who want to start using oils in their own homes. She would love to help you, too, and if you send her an email at the contact information below, you’ll get a speedy reply from her. She has helped Amalia a great deal by educating her about how to use essential oils for her headaches.

Here’s what Deb uses these three oils for:

Lemon:

Deb says: “3-5 drops in 8 oz of water each morning is a refreshing way to start the day! Lemon can be used in so many ways. It is great for anxiety, constipation, cold sores, the common cold, and many more health complaints.”

Lavender:

Again, from Deb: I use lavender for allergies relief, as well as to aid in a good night’s sleep. I drink it in my water; I rub it onto the bottoms of my feet and my shoulders for relaxation, and I diffuse it. I also use it (along with Peppermint) to eliminate headaches.

Peppermint:

Peppermint is fabulous in hot tea, hot chocolate, coffee, and other beverages. I also use it for energizing before exercise, cooling and refreshing after yard work or a workout, and to keep me awake and alert when I’m tired.

When I asked Deb what her favorite oils are:

I have many favorites: Frankincense, Melaleuca, Fennel, Deep Blue, Breathe, On Guard, Digestzen, Lime, Ginger, Zendocrine….just to name a few.

The book that Deb recommends is this one: and, in fact, if you’re interested in getting a free copy, send Deb a note and ask her how you could do that. Free is always good. 🙂

“Modern Essentials” by Aroma Tools: Click here if you want to buy a copy right away.

Here is Deb’s contact information if you’d like to ask her any oil-related questions.

email: mydoterra.com/deborakoch, and click here to check out her website.

Thanks for popping in, gentle reader. I hope you enter and . . . I hope you win!

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