Oils - an introduction to my introduction to oils

So, you all know me. I'm a fad-follower. I dive into the deep end as soon as each new fad makes its appearance.  I was the first one with a cell phone.  I was the first one wearing skinny jeans when they made their comeback. I was the first one dying their hair when it became popular back in junior high. I was first in line to buy a CD player, MP3 player and then iPod when tapes started going out of style.

Ok, if anyone is fooled, let me tell you, this is so far from who I am. I'm usually the one who sits back and watches to see if the latest craze is sticking around long enough for me to buy into it. I didn't have a cell phone until two years ago. I didn't dye my hair until grade 9 (everyone else started in grade 7!). And I didn't buy a pair of skinny jeans until a few years in, once I made sure I wouldn't look like a geek the next time I stepped out the door, lest the style change while I was sleeping. 

The latest "thing" in our area is essential oils. These are therapeutic grade oils that one uses for an endless number of things. (Young Living is the company everyone uses around here.) These oils are used for everything from the common cold to headaches to cleaning the kitchen sink to brushing your teeth to emotional healing to mosquito repellant. Seriously, people use them for everything. After hearing people talk about them and rave about the difference they have made in their families' health (and after talking with a friend who encouraged me to give them a try), I broke down and bought a basic "starter kit". It contains all the most basic, often-used oils to get you started. To convince you. To lure you into their depths. 

I will admit, I am quite skeptical. But they promise the world (well not quite, but close!) so I figure I'll share a bit of my experience with them here. I've had a number of people interested in hearing about them so if you're one of those people, this is the place to follow along while I experiment with Young Living essential oils!

First off, you're all probably wonder how they smell. Well...one of my greatest fears in starting down this essential oil road is that my house will begin to smell like the oils. I'll admit, I'm not a fan of most of the oils I've smelled. Lemon smells amazing.  Peppermint is pretty good.  But some of the other ones...I'm just not loving it.  I hear that they grow on you...or don't.  We shall see.  I also fear that my kids will smell like them when they go to school and will be made fun of because of it.  (I remember a boy in my class in grade 3 who was basically shunned because he smelled different...kids can be so cruel!)  Aside from those two things, I have nothing to lose!

You're probably also wondering what I've used them for so far.  Well, I only got them 3 days ago but so far I've used:

- Peppermint for a headache - I rubbed a drop of peppermint oil into some coconut oil (aka carrier oil) and applied it to my temples and back of my neck.  Those are the spots where the headache was.  Did it work?  Well, I'd say the pain in my head indeed felt less almost immediately.  Unfortunately I think it was due to the burning of my eyes from having the oil so close to them (temples).  I'm going to double-check whether or not that was the correct way to apply the oil in this situation.

- Peace and Calming for putting kids to bed - I've used a drop of this oil on the bottoms of Levi's feet for two nights so far.  He usually goes to bed pretty well so I wouldn't say I've seen a huge difference.  He was pretty hyper one night before bed and settled really well but he might have done that anyway.  It's hard to tell.  This morning, Kayden was wide awake at 5am (three hours early according to our routine) so I used a drop of this oil on her feet.  I was really hoping that she would calm right down and go back to sleep but she just kept crying like nothing had happened.  *sigh*  So much for a miracle-worker.

- Peace and Calming AND Valor for having house-guests - I'm usually pretty laid-back when we have people over but every once in a while the lack of sleep from having two young kids mixes with people coming over mixes with LIFE and I feel a bit on edge when we're supposed to have people in our home.  I started the day with a drop of Valor on the bottom of each of my feet.  Throughout the day, if I ever felt myself getting anxious, I would just go into the bathroom and take a deep whif of one of those oils.  I've gotta say, it was quite a relaxing day!  Completely not what I expected, to be honest with you.  I'm still not convinced that it was due to the oils alone, but hey, I'll give them another chance :)

- PanAway for hubby's sore knee - Nathan has a knee that bothers him from time to time.  So, when he mentioned that his knee was bothering him, I pretty much tackled him with oil in my hand, ready to rub it into his aching knee.  haha.  I asked him a couple hours later if his knee still hurt.  It didn't.  Was it the oils?  Could be.  I'll need more to convince me that it was!

- Thieves for sore throat - they suggest putting one drop of Thieves oil into four cups of water, then drinking it if you have a sore throat.  I am game to try anything so I mixed it up and took a big swig.  You know how something can be so bad that you involuntarily shudder after ingesting it?  Like Buckley's?  That was me and Thieves.  Gross.  And the worst part is, because you're drinking water mixed with oil, the oil coats your mouth and throat so you can't get rid of the taste.  It's just...there.  Ick.  NOT doing that again.

I look forward to learning more about these oils and sharing what I find.  I think they have potential to be better for some things than for others, but we'll see.  I'll try to post regularly about what I'm learning and finding.  Follow along!