Using essential oils
Essential oils are aromatic compounds found in the seeds, bark, stems, roots, flowers and other parts of plants. It is always important to use a quality essential oil. They can be used to relax you, help you fall asleep or wake you up. They can be used to help you feel more balanced, cure your acne, lessen your wrinkles, lessen the duration of a cold or flu and speed up the healing of a wound to name just a few of the hundreds of benefits and uses.
Because they can be used in many ways like supplements, ointments or medications they need to be certified therapeutic grade and you need to understand how to use them. Essential oils are safe and easy to use but understanding how to use them is highly advised. Why is this important? Well to begin with essential oils really have therapeutic qualities that carry potent medicinal and cosmetic properties. For instance, many times we think more is better. If it calls for one drop, will two or three drops work more quickly? That’s not the case with essential oils – less is best. And using more often throughout the day is better than one larger dose. Some essential oils when certified therapeutic grade can be ingested such as lemon and ginger but unless is says on the bottle don’t ever ingest them.
Some of my absolute favorites and what I use them for are:
Lavender – for stress, bug bites and sunburn
Lemon – tastes amazing in my water, cleaning my house, a few drops in my dryer, mix with coconut oil and rub on my skin
Peppermint – I mix with baking soda and organic coconut oil for my toothpaste, a relaxing cup of tea and tension headaches
Ginger – in a cup of tea for nausea, indigestion or gas. I also like to add a few drops in my seltzer water for a homemade ginger ale without the sugar!
Frankincense – There are so many great uses for frankincense. Why do you think it was one of the gifts given to baby Jesus by the three wise men? But what I mostly use it for is to lessen my wrinkles!
