I don't know how my guys can walk out the door without breakfast. I have a morning routine that I will wake early to make time for!
Part of that routine is a morning reflection, protein smoothie, supplements and oils. With an autoimmune disorder, I have to think about health and wellness every day. But I do think it is smart as a preventative care measure for anyone.
I'll break it down for those who are curious. The links will have more information for those who want to know more!
Morning Reflection:
I often choose the Lectio 365 app to fuel prayer and reflection.
Protein Smoothie Recipe:
I often double this to hand a smoothie to Lance before he heads to work.
1/4 Frozen Avocado (I like how frozen are always the perfect ripeness)
1/2 cup strawberries
Water to top up to 2 cups.
A Variety of Options for Different Flavours:
Berries (Fresh or Frozen)
Banana (I like to peel and freeze mine in chunks or halves)
Stevia if you want to sweeten it a little.
Peppermint Essential Oil (1 drop with a Chocolate shake is awesome)
Cinnamon Essential Oil (1 drop can work well with berry vanilla combinations with lots of benefits)
Supplements:
I went to a naturopath to set up my supplement routine but if you want an easy button, there is an awesome multivitamin called Master Formula for adults with whole food ingredients that cover all the bases for mineral and vitamin support. I use it when I travel since it is organized in sachets for daily use. https://m.lfstps.com/xm51W/fwQ
When I don't use Master Formula I take:
+Magnesium Citrate (Bisglycinate works better for some people)
+Super Cal - Calcium supplement for bone health infused with essential oils for increased absorption - important for me since I had kidney stones years ago and don't want a repeat!) https://m.lfstps.com/3Iz/fwQ
+Super B - B complex supplement that is great for maintaining healthy energy levels, supporting mood and cardiovascular and cognitive function. https://m.lfstps.com/XwS/fwQ
+Vitamin D & K - For bone, and immune health. I love this one from Goodness Me https://goodnessme.ca/products/vitamin-d3-k2-1...
and a dose of Carlson's Cod Liver Oil - the lemon version makes it go down easily! Or there are capsules.
For Oils:
I make up rollers or put a roller top on the bottle for easy application!
Hormone Rollers:
+Progessence Phyto Plus - to support healthy progesterone and estrogen balance as I age. I apply a swipe under each arm or inner thigh. https://m.lfstps.com/pUJE/fwQ
+Endoflex - over the thyroid. https://m.lfstps.com/OjT5f/fwQ
+Nutmeg/Rosemary/Clove in coconut oil - Adrenal Care over adrenals. https://m.lfstps.com/obC/fwQ
+EnRGee - on feet each morning before I put on my socks to signal my body to get moving. https://m.lfstps.com/9WWB/fwQ
+Clary Sage - with Coconut oil on my ankle before I put on my socks to support healthy estrogen balance. https://m.lfstps.com/0uwv/fwQ
Immune Rollers:
With autoimmune, it is important to help my body with real challenges to train my immune system to focus on the right things.
+Thieves - on the bottom of the feet before I put on my socks.
+Raindrop Roller on spine
+Digize/Peppermint Roller over the abdomen for gut support
Emotional Support:
+Valor on wrists like a perfume - deep breaths as I say the day's affirmation. https://m.lfstps.com/wSCMG/fwQ
+Joy/ Frankincense/ Orange over heart as I think about joy bringing strength for the day. https://m.lfstps.com/wTG7/fwQ
+ White Angelica - across the shoulders to help me not wear other people's stress and negative emotions. https://m.lfstps.com/WjSd/fwQ
Ningxia Red Superfood Drink: I take this to my workspace in a large glass of water with a drop of citrus oil to enhance the flavour and benefits. It helps my energy and focus as it works at a cellular level to repair damage and help my body stay in healing mode. If I'm heading out the door, I put this in my stainless steel or glass water bottle.
This looks like a lot when I write it out, but I just keep four rollers in my bedroom and apply them while I'm getting dressed. Supplements go down with my morning protein smoothie and are pre-organized in a pill box for each day. And the morning rollers are pre-made and ready to roll on - it takes me a minute unless I want to linger with the emotional support stage for five minutes.
Ningxia is just part of my water drinking habit but with amazing benefits to keep my body handling stress well and providing the nourishment to keep all body systems repairing and working well.
This routine supports my wellness goals and keeps me feeling well for the challenges of the day to be flexible, love well, be fully present to people, and focus on tasks and priorities. I really notice when I miss my oils or supplements. I also really feel scattered when I don't take time to be still for a few minutes to reflect and pray.
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 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.
“If you have to do it, decide to do it!”
I heard this quote from a speaker over 20 years ago. It stuck because it was the attitude adjustment I needed!
I had an overactive 'should' streak in me that led me to burn out. So I made my life quiet for a few years and practiced saying 'no' to people and commitments.
But as my health improved, I had to find rhythms of responsibility that allowed me to become a trustworthy friend, parent, homeowner and partner again.
There are a lot of things in everyday that aren't glamorous or fun - doing dishes, cleaning bathrooms, flossing teeth, making grocery lists, chopping veggies, doing the 4th dog walk of the day or going one last time to meet a need when you're already tired.
But I have found it true that if I make the shift in my head to want to care for that need or see that sink sparkle or find the surface of my desk again - it can be incredibly satisfying! It was a small mental shift I have used repeatedly through the years that takes me from resentment to singing through the task - which made all the difference to my sense of joy and satisfaction.
I also like to savor the moments after the task is done and reward myself with a pleasure like a snuggle, a good book, an episode from Netflix, time at the piano or a warm tea! The photo below was a family holiday!
What mental shifts help make your tasks lighter?
When I look back on my early parenting years, I am so thankful for the unscheduled unhurried days! I loved having time to snuggle up with a book and read aloud to my boys or watch how they gravitated to sports and board games with their Dad while I read by myself!
I wanted to share this awesome perspective from my friend, Courtney Critz who is a top leader in my Young Living team but keeps such a great perspective on life, parenting and what matters!
"In case no one’s told you lately, you are no more worthy because your house is clean, or your kids are behaving, or your meals are home cooked, or your spaces are decorated, or you’re ready for the most epic holidays, or you all read together for an hour today. You are no less worthy if nothing happened except everyone ate something, and had some conversations, and stayed in one piece.
It’s also okay to want all of those goal things. You desire them because they are sweet, good things, and it’s OKAY to really want them and to find the space and the energy to create as many beautiful moments as you can, to be active and productive for and with your people. As long as the activities and the goals don’t become more important than the people we’re doing them for. That imbalance comes when the decorating is to prove we have value. Or the cooking is how we show we’re important. Or the cleaning is how we measure up to our impossible standard. Or the business is how we show women are valuable."
Know that whether this is an errand day, a baking day, or a rest day - you are seen and known and loved by the One who made your value a done deal.
I'm going to go do nothing with my guys for awhile!
Happy Saturday!
Throwback picture of Andrew hanging out with his Dad doing nothing in particular!
I wanted to share this awesome perspective from my friend, Courtney Critz who is a top leader in my Young Living team but keeps such a great perspective on life, parenting and what matters!
"In case no one’s told you lately, you are no more worthy because your house is clean, or your kids are behaving, or your meals are home cooked, or your spaces are decorated, or you’re ready for the most epic holidays, or you all read together for an hour today. You are no less worthy if nothing happened except everyone ate something, and had some conversations, and stayed in one piece.
It’s also okay to want all of those goal things. You desire them because they are sweet, good things, and it’s OKAY to really want them and to find the space and the energy to create as many beautiful moments as you can, to be active and productive for and with your people. As long as the activities and the goals don’t become more important than the people we’re doing them for. That imbalance comes when the decorating is to prove we have value. Or the cooking is how we show we’re important. Or the cleaning is how we measure up to our impossible standard. Or the business is how we show women are valuable."
Know that whether this is an errand day, a baking day, or a rest day - you are seen and known and loved by the One who made your value a done deal.
I'm going to go do nothing with my guys for awhile!
Happy Saturday!
Throwback picture of Andrew hanging out with his Dad doing nothing in particular!
