"It's only fun if it's fun for everyone."
When my boys were young, they thought it was fun to bug each other. I quickly started using this phrase to define fun.
I remember being tickled and poked in the name of 'fun.' I remember boys on the playground at school stealing someone's hat to play keep away while the victim cried and yelled for them to give it back.
On pink shirt day, we are saying 'no' to bullying in all its forms.
We know when everyone's having fun - when everyone feels included - when the laughter is not at someone's expense - when no one feels labelled and dismissed - where we all get to feel important!
That's fun - for everyone!
Have an awesomely fun week, friends!
In our learning space, Thrive With Essential Oils, we are focusing on gentle ways to support our hormones this month.
In the medical world In the medical model, hormones have to be really out of whack to be significant enough to warrant intervention. If they are not medically significant they are labelled 'normal range'. But normal is not optimal! We don't have to wait for things to get bad enough to need medication. Our bodies warn us when they need some support. With diet and oils, we can do things that are supportive and helpful at cleansing and nourishing our body systems so they work better. Essential oils can work preventatively to nudge our bodies in the right direction to create balance and help for the whole endocrine system - adrenals, thyroid and all the rest from top to toe.
I didn't know how much I needed support until I started to use balancing oils every day. Such a change to body temperature regulation, deeper rest, more even emotions, and a sense of wellness I haven't experienced in a long time. My blood work always showed 'normal'... but this is a new normal for me - and I am enjoying the difference.
Here are a few products we are using this month as we focus on healthy hormones and intimacy!
Sensation Blend: Dilute for a luxurious daily moisturizer and diffuse for intimacy. $43
Clary Sage Essential Oil: For happy hormones. $61.50
EndoFlex: For balanced hormone levels. $35.50
Progessence Plus: For natural, bioidentical progesterone. $48
Super B Tablets: For natural energy & stress relief. $25.50
Orange Essential Oil: For happy, citrus vibes! $13.75
SENSATION ESSENTIAL OIL BLEND:
It features a blend of essential oils that help to create a beautiful aroma that is profoundly romantic, refreshing, and arousing. The unique blend of Geranium, Jasmine, Coriander, Bergamot and Ylang Ylang can encourage and amplify an atmosphere of love, excitement, and affection. This blend is also nourishing and hydrating for the skin.
Topical Use: Dilute 1 drop with 1 drop of V-6™ or olive oil to make a beautiful massage oil. You can apply as a perfume.
Aromatic: Diffuse up to 1 hour 3 times daily.
Geranium essential oil is commonly used in perfumes for its uplifting aroma.
Jasmine essential oil:
helps develop a broader perspective with its romantic floral aroma—a very feminine aroma that embraces and exults the sacred masculine—and has been revered for centuries as a symbol of love and purity, harmonizing opposites to promote wholeness.
Ylang Ylang essential oil has a calming aroma that sets the mood for romance.
ENDOFLEX ESSENTIAL OIL BLEND:
has a floral, soothing aroma that is distinctly feminine! This oil contains the naturally occurring constituent linalyl acetate, which contributes to its calming aroma. Clary Sage helps support healthy estrogen levels and also promotes the appearance of healthy-looking skin, making it a great oil for women!
EndoFlex Essential Oil Blend has a base of sesame seed oil with a wonderful scent of spearmint, sage, geranium, myrtle, nutmeg, and German chamomile. It is a daily hormone support blend. These ingredients work synergistically to create a balancing formula that supports a healthy endocrine system.
PROGESSENCE PHYTO PLUS:
This oil blend is made with natural, bioidentical progesterone (meaning our body recognizes and processes it as if our body made it) from wild yam to help balance hormones, promote well-being and feelings of relaxation, harmony, and balance. Featuring some of Young Living’s most-loved premium essential oils, including Frankincense, Bergamot, and Peppermint, this plant-based serum features naturally derived ingredients that support the skin’s natural moisture cycle and help nourish and moisturize skin.
SUPER B TABLETS:
Super B is a comprehensive B vitamin supplement that provides all eight B vitamins, as well as bioavailable minerals, to provide the energy you need to feel great on the go. Super B features Orgen-FA, a natural folate source derived from lemon peels, and methylcobalamin, a source of B12 that's easy for your body to absorb. Combined with Nutmeg essential oil and bioavailable chelated minerals such as magnesium, manganese, selenium, and zinc, Super B helps maintain healthy energy levels, supports cardiovascular and cognitive function, and eases feelings of everyday stress.
ORANGE ESSENTIAL OIL:
Known as liquid sunshine, Orange essential oil has a sweet and uplifting aroma that brightens any room and cleanses the air when diffused. This happy citrus oil pairs well with just about anything and is a wonderful addition to roller blends and DIYs. I love it for mood support roller blends - try Frankincense, Joy and Orange together as a perfume! Great daily mood lifter!
Want to talk self care? Head to my home page and book a free self care conversation or sign up for my weekly email education. Want a learning community? We have Facebook groups for those who are just learning but don't have oils yet and an amazing team app with courses and resources for our customers! Let me know how I can support your wellness journey!
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I teach beginner piano to the girls I babysit and so enjoy watching them connect with music! The youngest came to her lesson in a princess dress and draped it over the side of the bench as she sat beside me with a lovely bow in her freshly brushed hair. We talked to her fingers about how strong and capable they have grown since we began. They have each learned to take their place on the keys and take turns offering their note to make beautiful melodies!
After reviewing the keyboard, intervals and notes on a staff, she sailed through four songs earning stickers with each success to mark the wins! To finish I asked her if she wanted to play a game on the piano together or if she would prefer to dance while I played a song.
With her spectacular dress, I'm sure you can guess her preference was to dance and twirl. I asked if she wanted a fast song or a slow graceful one. Graceful it was!
I love how music can be such a gift to destress, create, move and play! Andrew often goes to the piano after a day of classes to unwind and use a different part of his brain! I love listening as he grows his ability to play complex arrangements! And, of course, I love to play, create, dance and worship with music!
The harmony of music is also full of wonderful metaphors. I told the eldest about the song "Ebony and Ivory" from the 80's performed by Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder. I remember our Hudson version of the song harmonizing with my brother as we did the dishes! It still captures my heart's prayer that we would all thrive together!
Ebony and ivory
Live together in perfect harmony
Side by side on my piano keyboard
Oh, Lord, why don't we?
We all know that people are the same wherever you go
There's good and bad in everyone
We learn to live when we learn to give each other
What we need to survive together alive
Ebony and ivory
Live together in perfect harmony
Side by side on my piano keyboard
Oh, Lord, why don't we?
Songwriters: McCartney Paul James, 1981
Blessed are the peacemakers, dancers, poets, artists and musicians who add such beauty and insight to lighten our days!
I was sitting with my family last night and we were reflecting on how differently our Facebook feeds can be depending on what we have shown interest in. We are aware of the echo chamber of social media. Our preferred new sources, political and religious slants are echoed back to us to make us feel more justified in our perspectives. It's soothing to live in only one mindset and to not have to stretch to understand another point of view.
There is a lot of division at this point in the pandemic. We have had two years of making the best of the hand we have been given, but there is fatigue, loss, fear, judgement, blame and anger expressed behind the divisions as people want this to end.
My house has three guys who make decisions based on logic and want science and objective reality to be the guiding factors. Two of us are more tuned into the emotions of the people around us. We all want to be sensitive to the lenses we wear as we try to see the way forward. Our experiences, desires, losses and challenges create different mindsets that drive decisions.
I guess the question that landed in my heart today was: What will we choose to amplify: fear, doubt, anger, tolerance, grace, understanding, peace?
Today the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi was helpful to me as I look for a way to amplify productive movement.
Jesus wanted us to move in unity of the Spirit of Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self Control. Those fruits are the nature of who God is. I'd like to be a conduit of that Spirit in the midst of a difficult, challenging, prolonged marathon this pandemic has been. Want to amplify love and grace with me as we seek to build bridges of understanding, empathy and hope as we help one another through the hardships?
Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi (Prayer for Peace)
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
My family has been on a long journey to ditch harmful chemicals and toxic ingredients from our personal care and household products and we are seeing the benefits in our health!
My friend Kimberley has shared her research on this subject, motivated by her desire to have a healing home. I'll let her own words tell her story:
"This topic is one near and dear to my heart. I have been concerned and wary of the chemicals in my home since 2008 when one of my sons was diagnosed with a brain tumour. I asked his neurosurgeon (who was also a researcher) how could this have happened and if it was from the cleaning chemicals we used. She hesitated and said, 'We don’t have all the science to give you a definite answer on that question.' The way she answered I knew that there was more she wanted to say. I also knew she had two small children at home. I asked her what cleaners she used in her own home and she said vinegar and baking soda. That was a turning point for me. We threw out all our cleaners and we have been trying to lessen the chemicals we use in and around our family ever since. Nine years later my son’s brain tumour has not returned and he is doing great!"
Kimberley McGibbon is one of my Young Living teammates and continues to inspire me to 'think clean' and ditch chemicals. My family has been growing into natural personal care and cleaning solutions for the last 10 years. We have become increasingly aware of the chemical load placed on our bodies through commercial products that can increase allergies, disrupt hormonal balance, and create a stressful environment for learning and growth.
Want an easy button?
Young Living has made a commitment to use only natural plant and whole food ingredients in everything they produce. And they are committed to environmental stewardship and exceptional care for all workers from field to office. They even started a foundation to provide extra support for the communities where they plant and distill around the world. They have earned my respect.
For those of you that want the details, let's look at how to distinguish between products that harm and products that heal!
So, let's get educated on what to avoid in our shopping aisles.
+Chemical Fragrance:
Often just listed as "fragrance" or "parfum." Short term toxicity can include coughing, skin irritation, rash, wheezing, headaches, nausea, vomiting, and irritability. Long term toxicity can include cancer, lung disease, heart disease and reproductive disorders.
Found in: scented candles, perfumes, lotions, cleaning products and more.
+Triclosan:
Used in many formulations as an antibacterial agent to prevent or reduce bacterial contamination and registered as a pesticide by the EPA. Topical absorption of triclosan has shown disturbances to the endocrine system, and is believed to lead to birth defects and uncontrollable cell growth.
Found in: soaps, deodorants, cosmetics, shave gel, first aid spray, kitchenware and children’s toys.
+Phthalates:
A low cost endocrine disrupting chemical that in lab studies has shown to interfere with hormone production in rats and mimic estrogen in human studies.
Found in: plastic food packaging, lotions, skin moisturizers, fragrance, cleaners, glues and nail polish.
+Formaldehyde:
This is a known carcinogen and recognized as such by the Cancer Institute. Exposure can cause eye irritation, asthmatic response, skin irritation, headaches and nausea. Long term effects include cancer and possibly leukemia. Although products generally contain small amounts, when this chemical is used in many common everyday household items in addition to being present in our wood, sheetrock and furniture, our exposure adds up. To make things even more alarming, this isn’t an easy ingredient to find. The ingredient is often listed as it’s fragmented names Methanal, Formalin, Oxymethline, Urea, 1,3-Dioxentane, Quaternium 15, Methylaidehyd, Methylene Oxi, Formic Aldehyhy, Oxmethane F, Phenol Formal.
Found in: baby shampoo!, pet shampoo, shampoo and conditioner, body wash, sunblocks, cosmetics, baby wipes, toothpaste, some cleaners and more.
Isopropyl Alchohol: may cause premature aging of skin. Also found in anti-freeze. It strips skin of natural acid mantle, promoting growth of bacteria. It can cause headaches, flushed skin, dizziness, nausea and vomiting. Also causes mental depression according to “A Consumer’s Dictionary of Cosmetic Ingredients.”
Tetrasodium EDTA: contains formaldehyde and is a known skin and lung irritant.
BHT: this fragrance has been linked to organ system toxicity and is a known skin, eye, and lung irritant.
Disodium EDTA: neurotoxin linked to brain damage and liver changes in animals.
Diazolidinyl Urea: this chemical releases formaldehyde into your body. Mayo Clinic says formaldehyde can irritate the respiratory system, cause skin reactions, trigger heart palpations, immune system toxicity, and cancer in humans. Exposure may cause joint pain, depression, headaches, dizziness, loss of sleep, chronic fatigue, ear infections, allergies, and chest pains. It can also trigger asthma and aggravate colds. Formaldehyde is a known carcinogen found in Johnson and Johnson baby care products, skincare, antiperspirants, and hair dyes.
Methylparaben and Propylparaben: directly linked to breast cancer. In mice it had weak estrogenic effects which caused damage to the sperm formation in the testes. It may contribute to sterility in males, hormone imbalances in females, and cause early puberty. A relative of methylparaben, sodium methylparaben has been banned in the E.U. Some other common names for paraben’s are ethyl-, butyl-, and isobutyl- all ending with paraben. These do not have to be labeled, so sometimes companies will not list within ingredients panel.
Ceterareth-20: ENHANCES the absorption of ALL above chemicalsNot Sure About Your Products?
You can download an app called Healthy Living by Environmental Working Group that can help you assess the products in your home right now! These ingredients are hiding under fragrances you may have come to love. But once you stop using them, your body will be able to gradually clear out and repair the damage they have caused. I promise you won’t miss them, they’ll actually start smelling bad to you.
It's crazy that harmful products are allowed on our store shelves, but the power of choice has been left up to us.
Let's vote for health, people and planet with our dollars!
Let's vote for health, people and planet with our dollars!
For those of you that just can't get enough of this topic, check out a few more blog posts here:
Reach out to join my Facebook group 'Thrive with Essential Oils' or go to my homepage and sign up for weekly email tips or follow the prompts to create your own customized wellness routine.
