Holistic Living RN

WHAT ARE ESSENTIAL OILS?

Essential oils are all the rage right now.

But why?

Why are essential oils being seen everywhere from “The Doctors” tv show, to the shelves of stores like Whole Foods, Sprouts, and even Target and Wal-Mart?

Essential oils are the concentrated extracts of plants. Essential oils have been around for thousands of years, and are mentioned in The Bible!

Essential oils are contained in sacs on the leaves, bark, flowers, seeds and roots of plants. They protect the plant from predators, assist the plant in reproduction {by smelling great and attracting pollinators}.  They also help the plant repair itself when it is injured {think leaves eaten by insects, broken branches}.  Essential oils are released when the sacs they are contained in are broken open.  They are highly concentrated compared with dried herbs- 50-70x more potent! As an example, 1 drop of peppermint essential oil is equal to 28 cups of peppermint tea. What?!?!

Now you can start to see why they are so powerful, and have been sought after for centuries. Essential oils penetrate the cell wall and acts on a cellular level.

HOW DO I USE THEM?

Essential oils can be used aromatically, topically or internally. Aromatic use is when you put the essential oils in a diffuser {like a humidifier but it ionizes the water molecule so that it hangs in the air instead of falling to the floor}, topically is directly on your skin, and internally is self explanatory.

AROMATICALLY

Essential oils can be used in a diffuser. This allows the essential oil to hang in the air and have effects long after the diffuser is off. When diffused, essential oils clean the air, open airways, ease congestion, combat stress and tension, and make the room smell good without the toxicities that occur when burning candles or using a wall plug-in air freshener. You can also get the aromatic benefits by placing a couple drops of the essential oil in your cupped hands and inhaling deeply two or three times.

When essential oils are inhaled they travel up the nasal passageway and into the olfactory bulb, where they activate the limbic system. Now, this all sounds very “sciencey” for some of you- cause it is!  Essential oils have been used in research studies for 50 years, and today they are the #1 area of increasing research. doTERRA and Johns Hopkins are working together to research every oil doTERRA distills. Imagine what is coming down the pipeline in 1, 2,  or 5 years!!!!

So, what I was trying to say is that the limbic system is the system in charge of all the memories and emotions in your body. Essential oils when used aromatically have a direct effect on the chemicals {neurotransmitters} released in your brain. Those chemicals dictate whether you are happy, sad, frustrated, stressed or relaxed. Awesome, right?!?!

TOPICALLY

Essential oils can also be used topically. The best way to use them topically is to use them where the issue is, or on the areas where absorption is fastest and easiest.

If you have knee discomfort, put the oil that helps with that directly on your knee. Some oils may need a carrier oil {an oil such as coconut oil or almond oil or avocado oil} that helps slow down the absorption of the essential oil and thereby decreases skin discomfort. The best way to know what oils need a carrier oil is to ask your mentor or oil resource person.

Those areas where absorption is fastest are the bottom of the feet {I thought this was strange also when I started using oils but the pores on the bottom of the feet are very large and the area is not super sensitive}, or areas where you can get both the topical AND aromatic benefits {such as the back of the neck, behind the ears, on your chest, and on your inner wrists. Those are great areas for oils that support a balanced emotional system and help to combat stress. {I know I’m ALWAYS emotionally balanced- wink, wink}.

INTERNALLY

Essential oils can be taken internally, yes! But, I always caution people to research their essential oils to make sure they are tested by a 3rd party for purity. There are no regulations currently in place in the essential oil space, so companies are free to put anything on the label, and what is actually inside can be different. Even oils labeled ‘organic’ have been found to contain pesticides, as the ‘organic’ designation only refers to how it is grown. If a farm is organic, but the farm next door uses pesticides, those chemicals can blow into the organic farm and will be concentrated in the essential oil, as it is a concentration of the plants active chemicals.

I have chosen to use doTERRA essential oils because they are the #1 essential oil company in the world, and they are currently the only essential oil company to participate in a 9-step testing series to ensure there are no pesticides, additives, fillers or synthetic chemicals made in a lab rather than harvested from nature {all these are common in the essential oil space without regulations dictating standards}. On each bottle, the customer can scan the QR code and get immediate information about the place the oil was grown and harvested from, the distillation process to get the oil out of the plant and into the bottle, and packaging information.

Using essential oils internally is super powerful! Internal use is great for digestive support, detox and cleansing to support the body’s natural cleaning processes, and to support cellular health.