natural personal care products Archives

Chronic Disease, Emotional health, Environmental Concerns, Essential Oils, Kids Health, Natural pain relief, Organic lifestyle, Toxin-free living, Women's health

Why Is Everyone So Excited About Essential Oils?

There was a time in American history when essential oils were only used by traditional healers, massage therapists, and subculture flower children. But now, we have modern families, business owners, and even medical doctors using them in their homes and professions. Why is everyone so excited about essential oils these days?

Here are 5 reasons why I believe essential oils are back to stay! After reading them, you may decide to incorporate them into your lifestyle too!

Why essential oils popular?

1. We need alternative healthcare

Essential oil knowledge was lost when modern medicine became popular in the United States. This is because people used to think Western medicine was more evolved, and therefore should have greater respect. Some innovations, like life-saving surgeries and fertility procedures are truly miraculous. However, this standard of care is only focused on palliative measures. It doesn’t address the root cause of health imbalances. We need and expect more.

We’re realizing that Western Medicine is not making us healthier. We are wising up and asking:

WHY is this happening to me?

WHAT does my body need to be healthier?

HOW can I maintain health?

Nature, traditional medicines, alternative health practitioners, and your own intuition are the best guides.

Essential oils are gifts from nature that help support physiological functions, improve mood, control infections, and thereby add to our health.

2. Essential oils are effective alternatives to toxic products

We are living in a toxic soup that triggers many health problems in our population. Visit EWG.org to learn more about pesticides, herbicides, antibacterial agents, and other threats in our environment. They’re still legal in the U.S., even they disrupt hormones, destroy gut flora, decrease immunity, and cause cancer. Therefore, it’s up to manufacturers to remove them from their products or up to consumers to stop buying them.

Essential oils can clean our homes and bodies. Many families make their own home and personal care products using essential oils. There’s also some trusted companies who provide ready-made products using essential oils. These are safe and effective replacements to toxic conventional products found on grocery store shelves.

3. Essential oils have been used effectively for thousands of years

Did you know essential oils have been used from the beginning of history? Ancient Chinese, Indian, Greek, and Egyptian civilizations prized them for their beauty enhancing, spiritual, and therapeutic value. So even though they are new to Americans, that’s not so in the rest of the world.

Our culture is starting to respect older modalities like my profession of Chinese Medicine, as well as using Essential Oils. I would not call it a trend. Americans are just now seeing what has always been around – an awakening of sorts!

4. People want to feel empowered & resourceful with health choices

Many people these days don’t believe that “doctors know best”. It’s important to have a health practitioner as a guide or for a different perspective. However, most people have the awareness to know when they’re well or not though, and whether it’s an emergency. They know how to research and experiment with natural remedies and determine if they’re working.

Moms in particular, want to trust their instincts more. They want to be resourceful and feel empowered with their choices, just as our ancestors were. They know their children better than anyone else! It’s easy for them to use essential oils and they’re accepted well by their children. Experience shows them that essential oils work well to manage illness in the family and to boost their health.

5. There’s tons of research to support essential oil efficacy

Each year, hundreds of research studies validate essential oil efficacy. Here are just a few that show essential oils can improve one’s health naturally:

Certainly, the excitement behind essential oil use is backed by a compelling need! Do you want to try them out too? Visit my natural products page for more information on the oils I recommend. With over 20+ years of experience using them, I can help answer any questions you have as well!

Essential Oils, Gut Health, Kids Health, Natural Remedies, Natural Sleep Support, Seasons, Summer, Supplements, Toxin-free living, Women's health

Essential Oils You’ll Need For A Naturally-Healthy Summer

Summer is a favorite season for many people, but it comes with certain challenges. Longer stretches of powerful sunlight, warm-weather pests, and eating unhealthy foods on family vacations are just some of things that can dampen one’s enthusiasm for summer fun. Be prepared with these essential oils for summer challenges to keep your family naturally healthy and happy all season long!

Essential Oil Remedies for Summer Challenges

This class is from a Facebook LIVE on my Falcon Healing Arts Essential Oil Lifestyle Group. Anyone interested in learning more about essential oils is welcome to join.

Safe and Effective Insect Repellent

Do you have a family member who is a mosquito magnet? That would be me, in my family. So believe me, plant power is safer and equally effective at keeping them at bay than DEET-containing concoctions!

The recipe below incorporates dōTERRA Terrashield, which actually works fabulously on it’s own. The additional oils kick the power up a few notches.

Here’s a chart that can help you make your own version of this natural insect repellent:

Essential Oils to repel bugs and insects

Insect Bites & Stings

If pests get past your defenses, try these essential oil remedies to soothe the pain, itch, and swelling (from Modern Essentials, 8th edition):

Bee/Wasp/Hornet stings – After removing stinger, apply a cold compress of Roman Chamomile to the area for as long as possible.

Mosquito bites – apply lavender (diluted as recommended in chart at bottom) to the bites every few hours.

Spider bites – Dilute basil as recommended and apply as a cold compress to the area.

Tick bites – Don’t add oils to remove the tick or they may inject their toxin into the wound! Pull out the whole tick out close to the mouth without twisting. It’s wise to save the tick to get it, and the person bitten, examined by your doctor. Apply 1 drop of lavender to the wound every 5 minutes.

Natural Sunburn Relief

For minor sunburns, fill a 2 oz. bottle halfway with fractionated coconut oil or other carrier oil. Add in 7 drops of Lavender, 7 drops Frankincense, and 7 drops Peppermint. Top off with aloe vera juice. Be sure to shake well before spraying over the affected area.

Poison Oak

Though the red color on the “leaves of three” makes this plant more recognizable in the summer, avoiding it can still be tricky when it comes to kids and pets.

Rose, lavender, and Roman chamomile are all indicated for helping to relieve the itch. However, with conditions like this that ooze blisters, sometimes adding oil alone can spread the rash. You may want to look into combining the power of essential oils with a drying calamine lotion, or see an acupuncturist/Chinese herbalist for a drying solution like this one.

Indigestion

Eating heavily processed, greasy, and low quality foods at amusement parks or on the road can lead to an upset stomachs, gas, bloating, constipation, and/or diarrhea. DōTerra’s DigestZen blend can help immensely with all of these symptoms! Ginger, Fennel and peppermint are the main oils in this blend that help ease discomfort and can regulate the bowels. These oils have also been reported to help relieve food poisoning, stomach bugs, or motion sickness.

You may also consider increasing your whole food supplements to fill in any nutrition gaps, keeping your gut flora happy and your immune system working well while away from home.

Cooling down

Combine 2-3 drops of peppermint with 1/4 cup pure aloe vera and 1/4 cup witch hazel in a spray bottle. Shake well and mist body as needed to cool down which might be especially helpful at night to prevent restless sleep. This solution can also help easy sunburn discomfort.

Do you have any ideas for using essential oils in the Summer? Please let us know in the comments! And if you enjoyed this article, please share it with your friends!

Summer home remedies using essential oils

Dilution chart:

Environmental Concerns, Essential Oils, Natural Remedies, Personal Development, Traditional Chinese Medicine

The 5 Reasons Why I’ve Chosen doTERRA As My New Business

In this article, I’m sharing the reasons why I chose doTERRA as my new business!

I know many friends (and maybe you too) are wondering “why is she prioritizing network marketing of essential oils over her main profession as a Licensed Acupuncturist?!”

Good question! It’s not because I have a failing acupuncture practice. I’m lucky to be in a place where I’m able to follow my passions and prioritize happiness. It turns out that my passion is not with building a big acupuncture practice, but with a business that helps me empower people to take charge of their own health.

Why I Chose doTERRA

I was introduced to dōTERRA 2 years ago by my friend Ashley who shares similar deep-rooted values with me. I love and trust her to the core, so I knew she was sharing something special with me. That first experience with dōTERRA essential oils at Ashley’s house turned my attention toward using their oils with my family at home and with clients in my practice.

I never intended to distribute the oils and natural products though. Obviously, I have changed my tune since then!

Here’s the main reasons why I took the plunge to start something new…

1. I love their purity and efficacy

I’ve used essential oils for over 20 years. However, it wasn’t until I started using dōTERRA that I realized the huge difference in quality among different brands. I had no idea that a label of 100% purity on oils at the health food store means nothing, and that they can still be diluted and adulterated.

DōTERRA created their own testing standards called Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade which go beyond the requirement for the Certified Organic label here in the U.S. This purity must be why the oils have been so effective for my family’s health issues. They work well for my acupuncture clients too, and are actually preferred over Chinese herbs to sustain the acupuncture effects in between treatments.

I’ve seen first hand how these oils help clear ear infections, relieve constipation, regulate menstruation, resolve pain, promote restful sleep, and much more.

2. I love their sustainability efforts

Essential oils are highly concentrated aromatic compounds derived from plant parts. For just one 15 mL bottle of lavender, about 3 pounds of lavender flowers are needed. You can see that if we’re not careful, producing essential oils can threaten plant populations.

This concern was brought the magazine, Mother Earth Living in Sourcing Sustainable Essential Oils (May/June 2018). The author talked about spikenard, sandalwood, rosewood, atlas cedarwood, and frankincense, which are all endangered species. Then, she suggested one choose brands wisely to ensure they’re using sustainable farming practices. But to my horror recommended that everyone avoid all Multi-Level Marketing oil companies (like the model dōTERRA uses).

Setting the Story Straight

I was really upset with their blanket statement to avoid MLMs because dōTERRA’s sustainable farming practices is one of the major reasons I love them so! Immediately after reading the article, I wrote to the editor, expressing my concerns and how I feel they did not do enough research. I shared the video below on how dōTERRA is managing spikenard production very well and are completely transparent with their farming practices.

</p><br /> <div>I was pleased to get a response just a few days later from the Editor-in-chief, Hannah Kincaid. This is what she had to say:</div><br /> <div>Hi Brandy,</div><br /> <div>Thank you for sharing your perspective with us.</div><br /> <div>Our intention with this article is to bring awareness around the environmental impact of essential oil production and to encourage our readers to research essential oils thoroughly before purchasing – rather through traditional avenues, MLMs, or otherwise. Young Living is the MLM that we called out by name in the article because of their direct and documented abuse of endangered plant material for profit. I agree with you that doTERRA is world’s better in their policies.</div><br /> <div>It’s always a pleasure to hear from readers like yourself who are researching their products and the companies they support and are able to bring additional, interesting information to the conversation.</div><br /> <div>I remain secure that dōTERRA has the Earth’s back.</div><br /> <div>3. I love the impact they’re making globally</div><br /> <div>Related to the sustainability effort is dōTERRA’s commitment to Co-Impact Sourcing and their global humanitarian efforts. They build communities; providing them with clean water, schools, medical needs, jobs, fair wages, and more. Much of this is done through their <a href=”https://www.doterra.com/US/en/healing-hands-main”>Healing Hands charity</a> which partners with other organizations such as those providing feminine hygiene, micro-credit lending, and combating sex trafficking. </div><br /> <p><iframe src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/Jbiu-Duwo2k”/></p><br /> <div>4. I love how they’re changing U.S. healthcare </div><br /> <div>The harsh reality that no one can deny is that the U.S. healthcare system is broken. Of all the wealthiest nations in the world, <a href=”http://www.newsweek.com/united-states-health-care-rated-worst-637114″>the healthcare in the U.S. is the worst.</a></div><br /> <div>Beginning in 2019, dōTERRA will be opening several medical centers across the country with an emphasis on integrative medicine, individualized care, and wellness treatments. I’m 100% behind this initiative, as I see that these are the missing links in our current approach to health. Over 41,000 people have pre-registered for care at this point. You can do so as well <a href=”https://healthcare.doterra.com/#intro”>here</a>.</div><br /> <div>5. I love the business model </div><br /> <div>You probably see by now why I’m so passionate about dōTERRA’s essential oils. But why am I doing the business? </div><br /> <div>My #1 priority in life right now is raising my son. As a homeschooling mom, I need a business that is adaptable, allows me to work flexible hours, that has zero overhead, and that offers prosperity if I put in the work. DōTERRA provides all of that, and also offers great-yet-rewarding challenges.</div><br /> <div>I have undergone tremendous personal growth since embarking on this journey. I’ve learned how to communicate better, to be gently persistent with those who really need these oils in their lives, and to let go of my fear of judgement. I am really proud of this company and it’s message. I am doing something that I’m passionate about and that is aligned with my values.</div><br /> <div>This approach to selling relies on Wellness Advocates like me to educate customers and empower them to make healthy choices for their family. We also offer mentoring and training to other Wellness Advocates who sign on with us as business partners. You actually get to choose who you want to work with! I love my team!</div><br /> <div>DōTERRA also has a very generous compensation plan and there is an <a href=”http://media.doterra.com/us/en/flyers/opportunity-and-earning-disclosure-summary.pdf”>opportunity to earn</a> much more than what I’m making as an acupuncturist.</div><br /> <div>DōTERRA is the perfect fit for me! </div><br /> <div>I bet it’s the perfect fit for many of you too. Please feel free to reach out if you’re interested in hearing more about using the oilsor the business opportunity. We should all be doing what lights us up in life. I can help guide you!</div><br /> <div>You’re welcome to <a href=”https://www.facebook.com/groups/falconhealingartsessentialoils/?source_id=748758971948329″>join my Facebook essential oil group</a> where you can learn more.</div><br /> <p><img src=”https://falconhealingarts.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/17cf16_96f5a03f01e749dfb862721d057b4fd5mv2.png”/></div>

I was pleased to get a response just a few days later from the Editor-in-chief, Hannah Kincaid. This is what she had to say:

“Hi Brandy,

Thank you for sharing your perspective with us.

Our intention with this article is to bring awareness around the environmental impact of essential oil production and to encourage our readers to research essential oils thoroughly before purchasing – rather through traditional avenues, MLMs, or otherwise. Young Living is the MLM that we called out by name in the article because of their direct and documented abuse of endangered plant material for profit. I agree with you that doTERRA is world’s better in their policies.

It’s always a pleasure to hear from readers like yourself who are researching their products and the companies they support and are able to bring additional, interesting information to the conversation.”

I remain secure that dōTERRA has the Earth’s back.

3. I love the impact they’re making globally

DōTERRA’s is also committed to Co-Impact Sourcing and their global humanitarian efforts. They build up impoverished communities; provide them with clean water, schools, medical needs, jobs, fair wages, and whatever they need. Much of this is done through their Healing Hands charity which partners with other organizations such as those providing feminine hygiene, micro-credit lending, and combating sex trafficking.

4. I love how they’re changing U.S. healthcare

Of all the wealthiest nations in the world, the healthcare in the U.S. is the worst. It’s a fact that no one can deny.

Beginning in 2019, dōTERRA is opening several integrative health centers across the country. They’re providing patients with individualized, proactive care, bridging the gap between modern and alternative medicine. I’m behind this initiative 100%, as I see that these are the missing links in our current approach to health. Over 41,000 people have pre-registered for care at this point. You can register here.

5. I love the business model

You probably see by now why I chose to use doTERRA’s essential oils. But why am I doing the business?

My #1 priority in life right now is raising my son. As a homeschooling mom, I need a business that is adaptable. I want to work flexible hours, have zero overhead, and the potential to make more than what I was in the acupuncture clinic.

DōTERRA provides all of that, in addition to training us how to lead a team of Wellness Advocates who sign on with us as business partners. We actually get to choose who we want to work with!

I have grown tremendously since embarking on this journey. I learned how to communicate better, to be gently persistent with those who really need these oils in their lives, and to let go of my fear of judgement.

I’m still doing acupuncture on a very part-time basis and teaching yoga, but dōTERRA is my main focus. And with both acupuncture and yoga, I integrate the oils for the client’s/student’s experiences as well.

This business fell in my lap and I’m so grateful for the opportunity!

DōTERRA is the best business for me right now! It might fit you well too! Feel free to reach out to me if you’d like to learn about using the oils or the business opportunity. We should all be doing hat lights us up in life. I can help guide you!