My tips on managing stress

 

Photo by Gabriel Matula on Unsplash

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When I was at the beginning of my healing journey, I had to first acknowledge the state of my wellness or at that time, my sickness. After being in denial for a period of time, I accepted that I wasn't able to bounce back without some serious work. Hitting rock bottom motivated me to shape up or ship out. I recommend paying attention to Self-care and self-love as the first step to wellness. Ironically, these basic human needs are what people find most challenging to practice. It's all good, here are some suggestions you can try and see what resonates.

Breathing exercise
Most people take out breathes for granted. By simply focusing on our breathing can make a difference in our wellness.  Try some slow and long breathes to start and lengthen each inhale and exhale to feel the calming effects.

Being in Nature
Remember that last time you watched the sun rise or sun set? How did that feel? Stop during the hustle and bustle lifestyle for a moment of serenity. If you are more mobile, try escaping in nature for a walk, it can do wonders to reconnect us to the core.

Journalling
Journalling helps clear my mind. There are different ways to journal, some people like to journal online, others like the old fashion pen and paper route, check out The Ultimate Health Journal by A Clean Plate for a unique combination to " Logging your diet, exercise, sleep habits, stress management, social life, time outdoors, and illnesses and symptoms" so you can stay on track of your progress

Essential Oils
I use Young Living Essential oils to support my wellness in multiple ways, my emotions are number one on the list. There're many emotional blends that have helped me relax, set intentions, feel more uplifted, see things in better perspectives. Some of my favourite blends include Acceptance,  Surrender, Forgiveness and Believe, just to name a few. If you want to learn why I chose Young Living over other brands, click here.

There's also a specific technique that has help many people to dig deeper into their past and release trapped emtions.

Aroma Freedom Technique with Essential Oils

Focus on gratitude

Anthony Robbins Quotes "The antidote to fear is gratitude. The antidote to anger is gratitude. You can't feel fear or anger while feeling gratitude at the same time."

Reprogram your thoughts
This is one of my current favourite, it's like a game to me. I'm consciously choosing only positive words as I write and speak. Swap out "I hope" to "I will" to create more certainty. Convince your mind that something good is already happening.

Using Essential oils while taking homeopathy

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This topic comes up from time to time.... can I use essential oils while taking homeopathy?

I've searched high and low for resources online before but found little info to guide me. Yesterday morning my friend messaged me and ask the same question for her client, she's a wellness coach. So I thought if I post my experience, it might help others.

Here's my take

First, everyone on a healing journey should figure out their baseline, in short how their body reacts to things, their "normal" so to speak. I've had to really learn to listen to my body to help figure out how new things or reintros affect me. I found documenting in journals, apps on phone or online great to/ track my symptoms, progress, emotions, even dreams.

Keep in mind that my experience with essential oils is all from Young Living, I cannot speak for other brands as I do not know their quality and standards. If you want to learn why I chose Young Living over other brands, click here.

Find your constitutional remedy

Start by figuring out your constitutional remedy and a dose that supports you well. Then I kept my remedy dose away from myessential oils use, for some really sensitive people on homeopathy, they might even need to look for toothpaste with nothing from the mint family.
I remember earlier on my essential oils journey, I started testing out the mint family first, like Peppermint, Spearmint, then I moved onto Eucalyptus and felt some cancelling effects, like feeling out of sort, unsupport, more fatigued, the biggest effect I felt was definitely from Wintergreen.

But as my body became stronger and stronger, less likely to be triggered, I was less dependant on my remedy,  which is really the hopes and plan right...to become more independent and self-sufficient? Now, I can tolerate blends with some wintergreen in it like Deep Relief without feeling completely wiped out after (cancelling)

Here are some of the Young Living oils I felt comfortable to test with first

Lemon    |   Frankincense    |    Lavender    |    Northern Light Black Spruce

I'm grateful to be in a happy place on my wellness journey, found the fine balance between homeopathy and EO because I'm leaning more towards essential oils, hardcore oiler now, even though the remedy still provides support in the background.

If you want to learn more about how I use Young Living Essential oils with my remedy to support my wellness, please reach out.

Can everyone benefit from the use of Essential oils?

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Through my health reset, my way of eating is now at a happy place with a Paleo Autoimmune/ Nutritional Ketosis approach,  so now I am exploring other useful tools to support my wellness. 

In this post,  I will be telling you why I chose Young Living Essential Oils amongst all the other companies out there and how I support my body's major systems with them. 

I know,  I am probably only one of millions of people using essential oils to support their health, so why should my post be any different?  Because,  as an IBD ( Inflammatory Bowel Disease ) warrior who is currently in remission,  I humbly remember what rock bottom means.  I still recall the windy curvy road to recovery and I know the fear of never being able to live a normal life is real.  For these reasons,   I will continue to do everything in my power to prevent myself from getting back to that dark and scary place and spread encouraging words to anyone trying to discover their wellness. 

A month ago,  I was honoured for being one of 19 most uplifting IBD bloggers for 2017 picked by mytherapyapp,  I am SO grateful for this recognition and THANK YOU all from the bottom of my heart for your support.  Knowing that my blog is reaching out to people on a similar journey, I am motivated to break out of my comfort zone and open up to share more of my beyond food resources.

I am passionate about encouraging people to conduct their own research so that they can find the right resource they truly need

How I got started with Essential oils

Let start by going back to my 20s. Like many young adults, I was going to school full-time, enrolled in an exciting but demanding arts and design program, working early opening shifts at a fast pace, well know coffee shop, and hanging out with friends in between it all. Sleep wasn't a priority, my diet was better than most students because I was living at home but I often indulged on the free flowing coffee and staff priced pastries from work and always kept a bottle of Pepto Bismol in my bag. Eventually, my body had enough, I started having excruciating stomach pains and knew that something was not right. After visiting a naturopath,  I started on an elimination diet. This diet consisted of white rice, chicken, zucchinis, pears, salt, pepper and thyme for seasoning. I used to carry a little rice cooker to school with my pre-cooked meals in them. Needless to say, my taste buds were very deprived.  Around that time,  one of my friends got a job at a new little aromatherapy shop in town. She introduced me to essential oils which filled the void my senses were missing from a restrictive diet. So I have been using essential oils on and off since then for emotional support but never imagined I would experience the supportive effects I do now with the highest quality essential oils on the market. 

A couple years ago,  a friend of mine told me about a really high-quality essential oil she is using,  Young Living.  She says that they are of highest therapeutic grade and I should try them out.  Since I already had a pretty good stash of essential oils from years of collecting them,  I tucked her offer way in the back of my mind. 

Through my friend's unwavering stand towards this brand of essential oils,  I was intrigued and finally bought myself a Premium Starter Kit.  It took me over a year to be convinced that the Young Living brand is unlike any other brands I have come across before but I had no idea how the simple kit of 11 oils,  a diffuser and a few of their other product samples can open a world of wellness tools I wish I have discovered earlier.

Why Young Living?

Not all essential oils are created equal

Through my on the fence time about Young Living,  I did some investigating on the company and their products.   I learned that they are one of the pioneers in the field and have been in business distilling essential oils for over 20 years.  Some of the factors that set them aside from the rest are owning their farms and running vigorous in-house and third party testings on all their products.  Their Seed to Seal promise is what sold me.  Starting with heirloom seeds collected from previous premium crops,  Young Living only plant on virgin soil,  never been touched by any pesticide.  To top it all, all their fields are hand weeded.  Basically, they take what they do VERY seriously while keeping a transparent profile for anyone who wants to learn more about their passion.

Beyond Food

Increasingly,  people are definitely paying attention to what they put in their mouths,  but why are most of them still turning a blind eye when it comes to what they put on their skin, the largest organ of the body, and what they allow to circulate in the air of their homes?

A Simple System

Removing as many synthetic chemicals as possible out of your home is the first step in reducing the toxic load in your everyday lives.

If you are like me, you must have been bombarded by too much information telling us what are the "safer" alternative products to use.  There are lots of " green " products from cleaning to personal care that toots a "safe" label on them,  but if you read the ingredients on these high price products,  they may include many chemicals the average person cannot pronounce.  It sure makes you think twice before buying them.  Once I dug deeper into the Young Living line of products,  I found that they already have ALL NATURAL plant derived products formulated for household cleaning.  My favourite is the THIEVES ALL PURPOSED CLEANER. It is in a concentrated form and can be diluted 1:15/ 1:30/ 1:50  to make a whole lot more cleaners.  For personal care,  you will love to hear that I make my own amazing and cost effective skin serums and shaving oils simply by adding my favourite essential oils to a carrier oil.  That's it!  No more super long and complicated chemical names.  Just two main ingredients - plants and oils. 

Click HERE to learn how to open your personal Wholesale Account and get some THANKYOU goodies from me 

Supporting MY body

I am still exploring the over 300 oils Young Living has to offer,  amongst the many I have tried, here are a few examples of ways I use my oils to support my wellness. 

Digestion

Digize is one of the top oil blends for supporting the digestive system.  It contains Tarragon, Ginger, Peppermint and Fennel as the main ingredients.  I like to inhale from putting some in the cup of my hand or to rub diluted with a carrier oil on my stomach for a soothing experience especially when I encounter questionable foods while eating out.

Essential Oils for Digestion support from Astrid Fox on Vimeo.

Mood

As a pick me up mood enhancer,  I turn to my citrus oils for their uplifting properties.  Tangerine, Grapefruit, and Bergamot,  to name a few are in my "happy" collection.  JOY is a blend that does exactly what the name says.  It contains citrus and floral essential oil that bring smiles to my face everytime I smell it.  I like to add these oils to my diffuser earrings so I can smell them when my earrings sway around. 

My Happy oils

Hormonal Support

Ah,  this is a big one!  Many women in my age group maybe experiencing unpleasant symptoms from Hormonal changes,  I am pleased to add Essential oils as one of my tools to support this natural transitional phase in life.  I use Progessence Phyto Plus, which was formulated to support women's health for a grounding yet uplifting effect.  This blend has White Yam Extract, Vitamin E,  Frankincense,  Rosewood,  and Bergamot. 

Clary Sage is another great hormone support oil.  I use to make my own skin serum and my latest favourite is a blend of Clary Sage, Grapefruit and a carrier oil for a no nick shaving oil. 

Before I wrap up on my experience with Young Living Essential oils,  I want to point out that 
my goal is to encourage people to conduct their own research so they can find the right resource they truly need.  Essential oils have transformed my entire wellbeing to a whole new level by supporting the major systems in my body, specifically my emotions, digestive and endocrine system.  Even if you are not interested in the support essential oils can provide the human body, SERIOUSLY consider reducing the toxic load in your everyday lives by swapping out your cleaning products. 

Why is it important for me to share my experience?  The more I learn about essential oil,  the more I realize there are still a lot of myths and resistance in using these potent plant products.  As an IBDer and a wellness advocate,  I want people to know their options on how to support their health.  Can everyone benefit from Essential oils?  My answer is YES.  Everyone can benefit from the fundamental and straightforward practice of using essential oil as a powerful wellness tool that is as simple as the life blood of plants. 

Are you ready to get your hands on this Simple Tool to support yours and your family's wellness? 

If your answer is YES, Click HERE 

Please reach out if you want to learn more about Young Living Essential Oils.