A few years ago I was a kindergarten teacher in Stony Plain, Alberta in Canada who had no clue was clean living looked like, what essential oils were and none of that was even on my radar. I was a Clorox using, Glade plug-in loving, Taco Bell eating (still love me some tacos!) pregnant mama to a busy one year old. That feels like an eternity from now and where are family currently is as far as lifestyle goes. Crazy how something so small could impact our little family in the best way!
I will be honest with ya... when a kindergarten parent gifted me some homemade goodies using essential oils along with a Young Living catalogue I had never heard of essential oils and simply thought that sounded like something hippie people would be into. After all, this same parent gifted me one of my fav gifts for Christmas- a bottle of wine. So I did what any good teacher would do, I used the sugar scrub she gifted me and I felt so much better afterwards. Not only did my neglected skin feel buttery soft, but I felt better emotionally. Then after I used the sleepy spray she also made me a few nights in a row I realized I was sleeping better and also getting up less for bathroom break which is a big deal for a pregnant mama expecting a new babe in just 2 short months. I was intrigued and had to find out more!
Long story short- I was introduced to the Think Dirty App (it's a free app) which I used to scan all the products in our bathrooms that I was using for our toddler and ourselves. I was appalled! Like how could companies even be allowed to sell these items in stores and we are so ignorantly rubbing these things all over our precious babes. This made me angry. Yes, angry. Angry that I had no clue about the fact that ingredients do matter, that they can have lasting impacts on our family, that companies would be okay with marketing and selling these things to families and that I had been using them for years. That is when I had enough and decided to take a small yet simple step to try a little better. That all started with this box of the best & most popular essential oils & diffuser.
I am not an expert in all things essential oils or healthy living. I will be the first to admit that. I am just a mama that found some things that make our hard times a lot less difficult, and that is possible with these little bottles of plant goodness that has made big impacts in our home.
Here's a little list of a few things we no longer use-
Neosporin/ Polysporin, Vicks, Clorox anything, Frebreeze anything, Windex, candles, plug-ins, cough syrup, dryer sheets, monistat, throat spray, orajel, anitbiotics for ear infections or UTIs, Pepto Bismol to name a few
Those are just a few that popped in my head and there are still a lot more. Is there still a place for modern medicine? You bet. But is it our first and only option? No way. I now feel so empowered to be the gate keeper of our home and have learned how to better choose options that work best for our family. It's nice to not feel so helpless at every little turn.
And let's not forget... While we currently are living back in Mississippi where I am from, I discovered essential oils while living in my husband's hometown in Alberta, Canada. Young Living is a world wide company and what is so fascinating is that while some of the oils vary that come in your oily starter bundle, they had many of the same purposes. It still amazes me that you can use literally one bottle of essential oil for more than a handful of things. It is convenient and just super cool.
Toxins enter the body so easily....
For example, we breathe them, absorb them across our skin, & ingest them. This results in their ability to accumulate in the body. This is termed bioaccumulation. It may help us to visualize this concept if we liken our body to a glass of water and visualize these toxic exposures as drops. Toxic drip, after toxic drip, bio-accumulates into our body and fills our glass. Eventually, we have collected enough toxic drops (exposures), until our glass overflows. This is the tipping point, when we have reached the toxic threshold. This also is when symptoms of imbalance appear, or worse, we are diagnosed with a disease.
- Aroma Home
This made me think... Hmmm. I wonder what others' toxic drips looks like. This doesn't mean we have to be 110% perfect and have absolutely no toxic drip. That's extremely difficult this day in age, but to me it's more about being aware and trying our best to lessen it. For me it looked like.... Big Sexy shampoo & conditioner, Bath & Body Works body wash, Gillette shaving cream, Dove bar of soap, Clearasil face wash, Dove deodorant, ProNamel toothpaste, Mac makeup, Urban Decay make up and Maybelline makeup. It also looked like using Clorox wipes, literally a Frebreeze plug-in for every room, Febreeze spray, Windex on all the windows and candles through out our home to just name a few. Three and a half years ago I would have never imagined that I would feel so empowered as the gatekeeper to our home!
