Me: I guess that depends on the pet.
Son: Someone should tell my cat that between 4:30 and 6:00.
Me: AM, or PM?
Son: Yes.
Seriously, when my son and his cat play with the laser pointer, the cat tells HIM where to shine the laser.
Son: I read that pets are supposed to decrease stress
Me: I guess that depends on the pet. Son: Someone should tell my cat that between 4:30 and 6:00. Me: AM, or PM? Son: Yes. Seriously, when my son and his cat play with the laser pointer, the cat tells HIM where to shine the laser.
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I am afraid I’ve neglected my blog. So much to do, so little time! I have decided to be a do Terra Wellness Advocate! This was not an easy decision to make, as I am not a “salesperson”. However, I love the difference these oils are making in my family, I enjoy research and planning classes, and since I am done homeschooling I find I miss teaching. I will be teaching classes about Essential Oils, but first I have to get my materials organized. If you are local, please let me know if you would like to host or attend a class! If you would like to watch a short (less than 5 minutes) video about essential oils and why they are so beneficial, here you go! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBMc23ylQT8#t=31 So I made up some foaming hand soap a couple of weeks ago. I personally love this soap, but my daughter thinks it dries out her hands. Next time I make it I will add more Fractionated Coconut Oil. About the ingredients: I used Dr. Bronner’s liquid castile soap. A 32 oz. bottle was $13.49 at Kroger, which at first glance seems pricy, but it is very concentrated and I only needed 2 tablespoons for this recipe. A bottle lasts a long time. For essential oils, I used do Terra’s On Guard blend. Here is the official blurb about On Guard: On Guard is dōTERRA’s unique, proprietary blend formulated to support healthy immune function.* Wild orange essential oil, combined with clove, cinnamon, eucalyptus, and rosemary offer a fragrant, natural and effective alternative to synthetic options for immune support. OnGuard, with its unique aroma, is one of our most versatile blends. It is also safe to use on counter tops, as a non-toxic way to cleanse surfaces, or to clear the atmosphere by diffusing.
Now when we wash our hands, we are also strengthening our immune systems. Here’s the recipe, which is from the doterrablog.com: Foaming Hand Soap What You Need: 2 tablespoons liquid castile soap (unscented) 1/4 teaspoon Fractionated Coconut oil 10 drops essential oils of choice water Directions: 1. Pour castile soap and Fractionated Coconut Oil into bottle. 2. Add essential oils. 3. Slowly add water into bottle making sure to leave room for the foaming pump. 4. Add lid, shake, and you are good to go! When ready to use, just pump 1-2 times into hands and wash with warm water. I like using the pump because it seems to make the soap last longer. *These statements have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. dōTERRA products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease. Pregnant or lactating women and persons with known medical conditions should consult a physician prior to the use of any dōTERRA product. - See more at: http://doterrablog.com/diy-foaming-hand-soap#sthash.uunZogkm.dpuf Eye Cream I also tried a new (to me) eye cream recipe, which I found here: http://ramblingsofahappyhomemaker.blogspot.com/2011/11/skin-care-series-eye-cream.html. Although other people are raving about it, I have used it just around one eye for over a week, and I can’t see any difference. Vapor Rub This is one of my favorite items to make with essential oils. This is a wonderful alternative to Vicks. Ingredients: 1/2 cup olive oil, coconut oil or almond oil (I used coconut oil) 2 level tablespoons of Beeswax Pastilles doTerra Breathe blend Directions: Melt beeswax with oil of choice in a double boiler until just melted. OR melt in the glass container you are going to use, in a shallow pan of boiling water. This way you don’t have to clean out the double boiler. Add the essential oils. Stir until well mixed and pour into some type of glass container with a lid to store. Any small container will work well. Use as often as needed to help sooth coughing and congestion. If you are using this on a baby, you will need to be sure to dilute this recipe with coconut oil and be sure to use only as much as you need. This has worked great for me during cold and flu season and allergy season! You can apply it to your neck, chest, and the bottoms of your feet. Here is the official blurb on Breathe: Respiratory issues are prevalent in modern society. dōTERRA essential oils are a perfect way to ease breathing consistently for a sustained benefit. Breathe is a remarkable blend of CPTG® essential oils which combine to do just that—help you breathe easier. A proprietary blend including laurel leaf, peppermint, eucalyptus, melaleuca, lemon, and ravensara cleanses and soothes the airways, and can easily be applied topically to the chest, back, or bottom of feet. Its pleasant aroma is calming to the senses and perfect for nighttime diffusion allowing for restful sleep. I also use Breathe in a mist diffuser, and sometimes just open the bottle and breathe the Breathe! My next blog post was going to be about the hand soap I made, and I am going to post about that soon. But there is something else on my mind that I wanted to share.
More than 15 years ago I noticed that I often thought I heard a radio from another room, or outside, or something. I could hear either singing or talking, but it was never loud enough that I could tell exactly what the song was, or what the people were saying. When it first happened, I thought it might be a filling picking up radio signals. Life was busy with 3 kids, then with 4 kids, and I just tried to tune it out. But it was always there. I noticed it most when everything else was quiet. A year or two ago I discovered it had a name. Tinnitus. It can be caused by any number of things and there are a number of treatments to try, and frankly, I didn’t have time. I thought that next time I was at the doctor I might mention it, but I never did. A couple of weeks ago I noticed it was gone. After more than 15 years. And now, it is still gone. When I was thinking of names for this blog, one of the contenders was Detoxing My Life: My Search for Homeostasis. Both parts of that title are in use online already, and I wanted something different, so I went with No Jelly Donut Tree. Homeostasis basically means balance. If just one system in your body is out of whack, it can affect other systems in your body. I had a crash course in this when I had adenomyosis, which is a uterine disease. This problem in my reproductive system caused excessive and abnormal bleeding, which affected my circulatory system. This caused me to become severely anemic. The anemia caused a multitude of other problems, affecting my muscular system, my respiratory system, my nervous system, and my Integumentary system (skin, hair, and nails). The short term treatment for this, a prescription iron supplement, negatively affected my digestive system. The ultimate cure was a hysterectomy. After the adenomyosis was gone, I stopped falling down for no reason, my chest pains stopped, my skin, nails, and hair became healthier, I didn’t get winded going upstairs, I no longer had dizzy spells, I had more energy. . . well, I’m sure you get the picture. Prior to this I was prescribed medicine for dizziness. It didn’t do any good, and that may in part be because one of the side effects of the medicine was. . . dizziness. Anyway, I could have treated all the symptoms and not solved the problem. Now . . . I have been using doTerra oils now since December. doTerra oils work at the cellular level. I have been trying to bring my body into balance. I never did anything specifically to treat tinnitus. I looked up today what oils to use to treat tinnitus, and I don’t even have either of those oils. I haven’t changed the way I eat, and I am still taking the same 3 medicines I have taken for years (but which I hope at some point to stop taking). I did start taking COQ10 several months ago, for heart palpitations. I have just read that COQ10 can also be used for tinnitus. So, I can’t say for sure that it’s the oils (which have definitely helped in the areas I’ve used them for), or the COQ10. But the point was. . . I didn’t specifically treat the tinnitus. And it’s gone. So now, when it is quiet . . . it is also quiet in my head! Last night I made a bunch of different personal care products. Some were things I’d made before, and I will share those recipes now. Some were new, so I will wait until we’ve used them awhile so I can see if they are worth sharing.
BTW, you know those blogs where they show pictures, step by step, until the entire recipe would be 7 pages if you printed it out? I’m not going to do that. None of this will be so difficult that you will need pictures. SARAH’S SKIN LOTION I called it that because I made it for my daughter, but I use it too. Ingredients:
You will also need a quart mason jar or glass measuring cup, and 4 small baby food jars or mason jars, and a pot of water. Oh, and something to stir with that you can throw away, unless you have a lot of patience. It can be a hassle to totally clean beeswax off it things. I have found that the leftover craft sticks I have from when my kids were younger work great for this. Put the mason jar in the water, and turn the heat on. Put all the ingredients EXCEPT the essential oils in the jar, and stir while they are melting. The shea butter is what will take the longest to melt. After everything is melted, remove the jar or measuring cup from the pot and let cool just a little, but not enough for it to solidify. Then add the essential oils, stir well, and pour into the smaller jars. *frankincense, lavender, and melaleuca are all very good for the skin. I add the Serenity and Balance blends because my daughter has a lot of anxiety issues, and the Digestzen blend because she has digestive issues. Sarah loves the way this smells and feels, and she actually USES it, unlike the $1.58 an OUNCE lotion that made her skin hurt. More on that later. Your personal care products can be made entirely of natural, beneficial ingredients. No lab created synthetic chemicals that might be harsh on your body, or that are suspected of causing cancer or neurological damage.
Less waste. You can reuse your containers so you are not constantly throwing out or recycling containers. (This is also one of the reasons I make my own yogurt, and do not own a Keurig.) NO ANIMAL TESTING. No little dogs or cats (yes, they use dogs and cats) living their lives in cages, getting tumors and having multiple health problems so you can have shiny hair. You can save money. Lots of money, in some cases. WHY YOU MIGHT NOT WANT TO MAKE YOUR OWN PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS It’s too much work/I don’t have time. Just start with one product, something simple, and see how you like it. Make one change at a time. Some of those ingredients are expensive. It is true that coconut oil is not cheap. However, most of the expensive ingredients are very dense, and a little goes a long way. Some of the other ingredients, such as water or baking soda, are very inexpensive. Essential oils can seem expensive, but doTerra essential oils are extremely concentrated. You only need a few drops in each product and the 15 ml bottles contain 250 drops. I don’t know what I’m doing. Like everything else, there is a learning curve. You probably didn’t know what you were doing when you were first learning to drive, or when you first became a parent, but you figured it out. You can do this! Later I will be sharing some of the home made products we are using. I am saving a ton of money on hair care products, and my hair is better off for it. Plus, I replaced an expensive doctor recommended lotion that irritated my daughter's skin problem with a homemade lotion that she loves! Right now, though, I have some new recipes I want to try! I bought a top last year because it had pictures of butterflies and flowers and peacock feathers, and because it was on sale and I had a coupon. I love it when Kohl’s or Penney’s sends me a “$10 off any purchase of $10 or more including clearance merchandise” coupon and I can buy some $40 top for $2. So, this top is gray, and has pictures in blues and greens, which are my favorite colors, of butterflies, flowers, and peacock feathers. I've worn this shirt several times now, out in public, maybe even to church. Today my son said, "I can't believe you are wearing a shirt with a skull on it." A skull? What on earth was he talking about? There was no skull on my pretty shirt. He had me stand in front of a mirror, and then I saw the big picture. I guess I am going to have to look at my clothing purchases a little more carefully from now on.
In the 1980’s there was a wonderful man in my life who was a mentor, teacher, preacher, and encourager. Many things he shared with me have stuck with me all these years, and one of these is the following quote, which is a paraphrase (because I don’t remember exactly how he phrased it.)
God created us, and said it was good. He created our environment, and said it was good. He created our food supply, and said it was good. I’ve never seen a jelly donut tree. We are surrounded by toxic ingredients in our personal care products, in our cleaning products, in our medicines, and even in our food. Attitudes and relationships can be toxic. I plan to go into more detail on each of these in further blog posts. Suffice it to say, I am in what seems to be a lifelong process of naturalizing my life. It can be overwhelming, but I do what I can, when I can. Would you like to join me in my journey? |