What's in your diffuser today? I'll tell you what's in mine! Today I have a refreshing mix of three Young Living oils, infusing my small loft space with their bright and cleansing scents.
Our diffuser runs pretty much nonstop in our home, and we get rather creative with the oil combinations we use. With spring upon us and the usual itch of deep cleaning, reorganizing, or household decorating that accompanies it, I felt the desire to throw together this bright and refreshing blend to compliment the mood. It also helps clean the air from all the molds, allergens, and bacterias that are floating around right now.
Here it is:
Tea Tree is a warm, clean, and fresh oil that is antiviral, antibacterial, and antifungal
Spearmint is antibacterial and good for lifting the spirits
Orange is cleansing, safe for children, antibacterial, tolerated by most people, and helps to promote happiness
Want to know more about how you can diffuse oils in your home? Click here: https://www.youngliving.com/signup/?sponsorid=1641212&enrollerid=1641212
Happy Spring!
I am super excited about the "Detox Your Home" series! I love making natural products. They not only smell great, but are safe and effective.
Kristi Sawicki just showed us how to make Thieves Household Cleaner. If you missed it, check it out here: http://savingdollarsandsense.com/frugal-diy-nontoxic-household-cleaner.
Today I'd like to show you how to make a wonderful-smelling and exotic couple's massage oil. As a massage therapist, I am always looking for great products to use on the body, especially when they include good quality aromatherapy oils.
Making your own massage oil ensures that you will be putting an all-natural product on your skin, not something loaded up with animal by-products, harsh chemicals and preservatives, or synthetic fragrances.
In this recipe, sweet almond oil is the base, or carrier oil. Make sure to purchase cold-pressed oils, and even organic, if possible. Almond oil has a light feel and a mild nutty odor. It is nourishing and well-suited for massage, as it provides the right slip and glide without being too heavy. It is also great for those who are gluten-intolerant.
The Young Living oil blend I've added to the base is called "Sensation," which is made up of rosewood, ylang ylang, and jasmine.
Rosewood: encourages feelings of tranquility and works as an antidepressant.
Ylang ylang: an aphrodisiac; relaxing, helpful for frigidity, promotes arousal.
Jasmine: also an aphrodisiac; dissolves apathy, and encourages confidence.
These are all great ingredients for a couple's massage oil! Sensation has a rich, floral smell with earthy and spicy notes. A heavenly fragrance that is sure to put you in the mood!
Here's the recipe:
(Recipe credit to Melissa Poepping, author of "The Chemical Free Home.")
Next, learn how you can make a homemade shower spray from Denise Bowen: http://wp.me/p4gx5D-39.
Be sure to check out all 30 posts in the "Detox Your Home" Spring blogger series! Click here: myblessedlife.net.
Sign up today with a Young Living Premium Starter Kit and receive a free copy of Melissa Poepping's "The Chemical Free Home." This invaluable resource contains information on the benefits of essential oils, harmful ingredients in household products, and natural recipes to help you keep your environment and your body safe.
Are you ready to jump into this wonderful world of caring for yourself and your family naturally with essential oils? The time is now! Click here: https://www.youngliving.com/signup/?sponsorid=1641212&enrollerid=1641212 to learn more or contact the person who introduced you to "Detox Your Home" Spring blog series!
Go back to your roots.
Vetiver oil, that is. It's extracted from the root of the vetiver grass. I purchased a bottle from Young Living a couple of weeks ago because I'd read that it benefits people with ADD.
My husband has struggled with this condition off and on his whole life. After getting on Adderall a couple of years ago, his life dramatically improved. Being the natural couple we are (some would say "hippy"!), however, we would like to not be so dependent on drugs to regulate symptoms like this. We realize this is not always possible, and medications definitely have their place.
We are trying the oil combo Valor and Vetiver. It's only been a couple of days, but I've been putting the Valor on the back of my husband's neck and the Vetiver on his big toe, or on his wrist.
I asked him today if he's noticed anything in particular. He says that it hasn't been long enough to report significant symptom changes, but one thing he has noticed is less anxiety.
No surprise there. Vetiver is a wonderful earthy smell, and as it fades, becomes sultry and exotically powder-like. It lingers, and even after applying it to my hubby, I've benefited from its calming effects.
We will keep you posted!
After much deliberation about what and where to eat the other night, my husband and I got into the car and drove over to the Tower Grove South neighborhood to the little hole in the wall burger place called The Dam on Morganford Rd.
It was late. We both had worked all day. We were tired, and we also were in need of groceries. The cupboard was bare. The conversation went something like this:
"What do you want to eat?"
"I don't know. What do you want to eat?"
"I just don't know!"
"What about Domino's pizza."
"Well, they've been delivering their pizzas cold lately."
"Yeah, that's true."
"What about Chipotle?"
"I don't want Chipotle."
"It's really cold and dark outside. I just wanna stay in."
"I know...but there's really nothing to eat here."
And so it went, on and on for about half an hour. I remembered reading in a local magazine about this restaurant called The Dam. They were getting great reviews, and they boasted antibiotic-free meats, and local, fresh ingredients. We both finally agreed to check them out. (See menu below)
http://thedamstl.com/dam-slow-food-fast-thedamstl-com/menus/
After making a U-turn and calling the restaurant to see what their cross street and nearby landmarks were, we found a side street to park and walked over to the little hole-in-the-wall "Dam." Quaint, and hip at the same time, The Dam gets you excited on the first walk through the door. A large chalkboard with menu items adorned the wall on one side, and on the other was a small bar shelf lining the wall with a few stools.
My husband ordered a single burger with cheese, which he claimed was one of the best he'd eaten ("so fresh, and better than Five Guys.") and I ordered the vegetarian specialty burger that had coleslaw and curry mustard sauce on it. Can you say, "Yum"? Of course we didn't skip the side order of Belgian style fries, with a curry and jalapeno dipping sauce. Oh my, was it a treat! And we kept it all under $20, though I think we went over that a little at the end when I decided to buy one of their large and chewy chocolate chip cookies.
Yep, we'll be back.
Do me a favor. If you're hungry, don't want to cook, desire good quality fresh food without preservatives, and you want to save a few bucks, head on over to the Dam. You won't be disappointed. Just do it.
I asked my husband before our much-adored nap today if he'd like me to diffuse some essential oils. Occasionally I'll do that before we sleep to help us drift off better. He said, "Sure!" That's one of the many things that I love about my husband. He enjoys natural fragrances as much as I do, so it makes it especially fun to experiment.
I did some poking around on Pinterest to see which oils might enhance sleep. I came across a Young Living pin on cedarwood oil that recommended dabbing a drop on the wrists and forehead to promote rest.
After I anointed my husband and I, we lay down and soon were floating away to a slightly narcotic slumber, the earthy and grounding woody fragrance penetrating our subconscious. We will be trying this again before bed tonight.
Later this afternoon, I mixed and burned in the diffuser rosemary, cinnamon, fir, black pepper, and nutmeg for a very stimulating and energetic blend. It filled the air with a robust aromatic scent that was stimulating to inhale.
Aromatherapy. I've been interested in this subject for years now. I love me some plant oils! On my shelf in the laundry room sits a big tackle-like box of various kinds of bottles: eucalyptus, spearmint, orange, rose, lavender, fir, geranium, frankincense, black pepper, and others, including some rare and precious ones, jasmine (I think a night-blooming variety), and sandalwood in tiny dram bottles.
I have often thought that if I could just work with oils every day I would be so happy! Right now, in fact, I have Roman chamomile, jasmine, peppermint, and rosemary diffusing. It smells heavenly.
Lately I've been looking into Raindrop Therapy, a technique using essential oils in massage developed by Young Living. I am excited about it, but still researching all I can before I can chunk down the money to buy the kit required.
If you read this, and have used Raindrop or been successfully treated by the therapy, please take a moment to comment on this blog. I'd love to hear from you!
My sister and I laughed as we made our way up the sidewalk to the Missouri History Museum on Lindell Boulevard today. The sign said, "Caution. Ice."
It's hard to believe that most of the ice and snow has melted since last Monday here in St. Louis, when everything was a blanket of white.
We spent a little over an hour wandering around, first checking out the Thomas Jefferson room, and then upstairs we meandered through the St. Louis history displays.
Andrea, my sister, told me she wished she'd had more time to spend reading everything on the walls and examining each exhibit.
This is definitely a two-day or so field trip. I got stuck absorbing crinkly-looking framed newspaper reports of the 1896 south St. Louis tornado that killed around 200 people. Back in that day, they didn't have the means to handle a disaster like that. The mounds of rubble and broken down homes looked pretty dire.
Sitting on make-shift bleachers in a darkened room decorated with St. Louis Cardinals' memorabilia, Andrea and I watched a documentary on a large screen. There were several interviews about favorite memories connected to the team.
We'll be back! This is a great place to learn all about St. Louis and I highly recommend it!
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