First, let me tell you one of the worst ways to use essential oils. This is applying them to your skin, straight from the bottle.
Here’s another dangerous practice. Ingesting oils on the advice of well-meaning people, who pass along their bad recommendations.
These highly concentrated plant extracts are much more potent than medicinal herbs. So a little goes a very long way. Although these oils are very safe, too much of a good thing can backfire. It’s possible to develop a sensitivity or even an allergic reaction to a particular oil. This would be most unfortunate, because then you wouldn’t be able to use it again.
How Do People Use Essential Oils?
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A growing number of people now use essential oils as an alternative to pharmaceuticals. Even with common over-the-counter drugs, potentially dangerous side effects are also a possibility.
Essential oils, on the other hand, seem work well with our bodies. They also contain natural analgesic compounds, as well as substances to fight inflammation.
How to Dilute Essential Oils in a Carrier Oil
I suffer from chronic nerve inflammation. Instead of NSAIDs, I use essential oils to dull the pain. However, since I’ve overhauled my lifestyle (organic food and elimination of toxins) I hardly have any pain. My body is healing. I’m so thankful for these wonderful natural aromatics that I believe are a gift from God. I believe they’ve played a role in my recovery.
Essential oils, apparently, are good for us. But we still shouldn’t apply them directly to our skin. Professional aromatherapists who work with these oils recommend we first dilute them in a non-irritating carrier oil, such as jojoba oil or fractionated coconut oil. Actually, 2 or 3 drops of an aromatic oil to a teaspoon of carrier oil is usually all you need.
Essential Oils on Your Feet
I need to make it clear that I’m not a healthcare professional. So I can’t give medical advice or make any claims. Anything you read here is presented for discussion and informational purposes only. All I’m doing is sharing my personal experience with essential oils.
Essential oils seem to work very well on the bottoms of your feet, for two reasons. One is that the soles of your feet have a rich blood supply. So the oil is readily absorbed, and will travel throughout your system. Also, it’s believed various reflexology points on your feet correspond to different organs. Applying oils on these points may help support your various organs, which seem to be connected to various points on the bottom of your feet.
What Do I Do With Essential Oils?
Last year, cold and flu season seemed to affect nearly everyone around me. But I stayed healthy. Although I certainly can’t prove this, or imply it will do the same for anyone else, I like to think it’s because I placed a diffuser on my kitchen counter, filled with a popular germ-buster blend. At night, as I prepared dinner, I inhaled the mist.
Because essential oils are so strong, even small amounts appear to be effective. Breathing these aromatic molecules delivers them to your lungs. Then, they travel to your bloodstream.
Essential Oils for Your Diffuser
A few winters ago, it was a rare evening that I didn’t have my diffuser running. Oftentimes, it was filled with water and about 10 drops of Four Thieves oil by Fabulous Frannie. This California-based company sells good oils. (Recently, it changed the name of this formula to Protect.) I really like this particular germ-fighting blend. I use it for general infection fighting and for household cleaning projects. It contains rosemary, lemon, cinnamon, clove and eucalyptus. These are the same oils found in better-known four thieves-type brands.
Fabulous Frannie Protect Blend
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Four thieves type oils are named after a story of four thieves, possibly living in Medieval France, who robbed the sick and dying during the Black Death. It’s said they escaped this plague. That’s because they had protective aromatics. But I need to stress that the original “Thieves” oil is a proprietary blend, sold by the Young Living Company. That’s why I like to refer to the rest of them, including Protect, as “germ-fighting oils.” Young Living has the original. However, I feel comfortable using the other products as well.
Putting Essential Oils on Your Pillowcase
I saved my most favorite way of using essential oils for last. As I’ve reached adulthood, I noticed that the easy sleep of my teenage years became more elusive. In the past, I’d have trouble falling asleep. Other times I’d wake up at 3 am and would not be able to sleep again.
I’ve tried many things, but nothing seems to work as well as essential oils. Lavender, geranium and clary sage essential oil are some of the types I own. I use these separately, or sometimes I mix two or more together.
Best Essential Oils for Insomnia
One thing I’ve noticed is that essential oils seem to work better if I rotate them. That’s why I can’t say any one essential oil is the best for helping you get to sleep. Sometimes, I’ll use lavender essential oil and it seems to work really well. But then it stops working for me. This is when I switch to geranium essential oil or another type of aromatic. Later, I’ll use lavender again which then seems to work as well as it did initially.
If you own a relaxing essential oil such as lavender or patchouli essential oil, sprinkle a few drops on a tissue or a cloth and place it by your pillow. This should help you relax. Now, if I wake up during the night, I add more oil to my pillowcase and quickly fall back to sleep. Some people also like to put soothing essential oils in a cold air diffuser, which they keep in their bedroom.
How to Use Essential Oils in a Salve
Another great way to use essential oils is to put them in a DIY body butter recipe. This is what I did as I started making my own all natural face creams. You can learn how to make body butter here.
Later, I ordered some beeswax and started to make healing salves. The difference between body butter and salve lies in how much beeswax you add. If you don’t use beeswax, and make a body butter with just coconut oil and shea butter, it will have a creamy consistency. If you add an equal measure of beeswax, it becomes a salve. I’ve found that salves are very easy to work with. Their portable and they don’t melt in warm weather. Here’s a very easy salve recipe:
Really Easy DIY Healing Salve Recipe
1/4 cup of pure organic coconut oil (You can order it here)
1/4 cup of organic shea butter. I like the Now Foods brand. (You can order it here)
1/4 cup of organic beeswax pellets (You can order them here)
Melt these ingredients in a pan over very low heat. Watch it constantly, so it doesn’t smoke. Then, remove from heat and add your essential oils. A good choice is lavender essential oil because it’s so soothing, for the mind body and skin.
Disclaimer
These statements have not been approved by the FDA. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. People with health concerns should discuss them with a doctor. Women who are pregnant or nursing should not use essential oils, unless directed to do so by a healthcare professional.
I’m not a healthcare professional, so all of the above statements are my personal opinion, and are not intended as medical advice.
