Stress Less

Green Lake on St. Patrick's Day

This has been a busy St. Patrick's Day morning. Actually, the whole weekend was unbelievably crazy. It's barely 10 AM and I've been up since before 6 getting children where they needed to go with all their required accoutrement. I've already visited the dentist and the elementary school today and will have to return to the elementary school and then attend yet another band concert at the high school later today. I took advantage of the unseasonably lovely weather to visit the lake. You might remember my last post saw us snowed in. Well, yesterday the temperature soared to 81 degrees and today will be more of the same. The sun is beaming and the lake is so green it looks as if it's been dyed for the holiday.

I need a bit of relaxation. My parents were visiting all weekend and my children had a play to attend Friday night. Then my daughter had Cotillion in Lincolnton, a town about 30 minutes from here, on Saturday and a Mother/Daughter Girl Scouts Tea there on Sunday. My mother was able to attend the tea with us, which was nice, but on the way home my daughter said, "Something just fell out of  my mouth. I think it's my filling." Sure enough, that only six month old filling is gone and part of her tooth is broken. Luckily it's a baby tooth and the new tooth is close to erupting. But it was just a bit more stress on top of many other stresses. My mother spent much of the weekend informing me that I don't have anything to feel stressed about since I don't have a job (my eBay and Young Living stores don't count in her mind) while at the same time reminiscing about how terribly difficult her life was when she had three children in school with a high school student among them and a job. Yeah. Well. Whatever.

A stress-relieving oil blend

Luckily for me, I have my oils. Last week, while trying to clean the house for company and ship packages and cook dinner and drive people to and from chorus/band/school/Girl Scouts/track/dentist (because we were just there getting cleanings which I think dislodged the aforementioned filling) and while knee-deep (literally) in my office reorganization, I certainly would not agree that I don't have any stressors in my life. I will admit, however, that my husband's job is much more stressful, and he absolutely refuses to get enough sleep or food to deal adequately with it. I decided to make him a stress-relieving roll-on to use at work. It smells so good, I wanted to steal it, but he took it anyway. This is a good sign, as he's usually a skeptic. I would make another for myself but now I'm out of the ingredients. I hope my Essential Rewards order arrives soon!

I used Joy, Stress Away, and Valor Young Living blends. I've talked a lot about Joy recently, so I won't dwell on it, but that blend contains uplifting and stimulating floral and citrus oils like ylang ylang and orange. Stress Away is probably my favorite scent in oil blends, with soothing vanilla and energizing lime. Valor is a unique blend in that the combination of rosewood, blue tansy, and frankincense both motivates and soothes. Valor can be used alone before a difficult workout to help increase stamina, and Stress Away can be used after to help relax sore and overworked muscles. This particular recipe can be rolled on muscles before and after difficult exercise regimens, applied to pulse points whenever a stressful situation arises, and even rolled on the jaw and sides of the face to curb stress-related tooth grinding. I think it smells good enough to wear as a perfume as well!

Stress Less Roll-On

5-8 drops each Young Living Stress Away, Joy, and Valor oil blends

5 ml (.17 oz) grapeseed oil

Young Living 5 ml bottle and roller ball fitment

If your bottle has a dropper insert remove that and add the essential oils until the scent is as strong as you prefer. Top off the bottle with grapeseed oil. Apply the roller ball fitment and shake to blend. Apply as needed.

Besides the roll-on for my husband, I made several samples for a friend who suffers terribly from migraines. She's been in so much pain lately she's thinking of buying a $300 device that delivers electrical pulses directly into the vein in her forehead. That's alarming as well as expensive, so first I suggested some oil recipes that have helped me with my migraines and made some samples for her to try. Most of the recipes for these are on my Naturally Amanda Facebook page and also in past posts of this blog.

Oil blends for migraine

The only new recipe I haven't shared yet is my Dragon Time pain relief roll-on. Dragon Time is Young Living's oil blend for women's monthly issues. Not to get too graphic, but since the birth of my first child I have seen PMS and other symptoms increase to the point that I was basically losing a week of every month to migraines, cramps, and digestive issues. The lovely ladies in my oils forum informed me these symptoms are due to a drop in estrogen levels and can be alleviated with Clary Sage, a main ingredient in Dragon Time. Two months ago I started using Dragon Time diluted 50/50 with grapeseed oil as an oil rub on my stomach once per night at bedtime starting about 2 weeks before and throughout my cycle. For cramps and if I feel the onset of a migraine during that time I use Dragon Time and PanAway again diluted 50/50 with grapeseed oil in a roller ball applied to my stomach, lower back, forehead, temples, and the bridge of my nose. I have not had one migraine in the past two months, I no longer have insomnia before my cycle, and I've had much shorter and easier cycles since I started with Dragon Time!

Between the weight loss I've experienced with Slique essence and Grapefruit oil and the Dragon Time and the stress-relief, I feel like I'm finally getting back the person I was before I became a mother! I adore my children and I'd have 10 more if I could, but that doesn't mean I won't welcome a thinner, healthier, calmer self and I'm sure my children will benefit from a better me as well. Here is where to find out more about Young Living, order the products used in these recipes, or sign up as a wholesale member.