Good Evening!
As I type this post, it is Saturday evening. It has been a good day to take a breather from things, listen, read, and just be. What a blessing! Having time to rest and recharge is so very important! Of course, part of resting for me is using essential oils. The lymbic system of the brain that recognizes smell and memory is so very interconnected! When we smell a certain fragrance, our minds remember certain times, people, places and the circumstances involved around those memories and we experience pleasantness or disdain for those scents. When I want to relax, I usually use Stress Away (think "vacation in a bottle!"), Lavender, Copaiba, Peace & Calming or a new oil to me that I hadn't thought of before.
Now, on to the all important question:
What are essential oils?
Simply speaking, essential oils are distilled or cold pressed from plant juices. They come from herbs, flowers, stems, roots, leaves, bark, berries, and rines. They are the most aromatic part of the plant.
Why do I need to use essential oils?
Everyone needs Essential Oils. Each one of us has a variety of needs in our own lives that could use support from regular use of essential oils. They help with every system of your body--endocrine, circulatory, respiratory, skelletal and more! For me, I've decided to use essential oils to help with my various maladies first before going to the Dr. I work at getting good foods in to my body to help from the health perspective. From the breathing standpoint, I use Eucalyptus Globulus, Peppermint, and Breathe Again to help me. Why those 3? I vary the ones I use so that my body doesn't get use to one oil, but I mix it up so that the variety of oils meet with different receptors to help my body recouperate quicker.
What type of issue do you have to have to use essential oils? If you eat, breathe, or move, you could use essential oils. Oils for digestion, cuts and bruises, muscle sorness and a host of other things! When I bought my Premium Starter Kit in 2015, I also bought a Reference Guide for Essential Oils. I proceeded to put tabs on every single page to mark an oil that I knew someone in my family would benefit from. I loved researching and gradually building my oil supply to make sure I had the basics on hand to help whenever something came up.
What about the purity of the oils we get over-the-counter?
Well, your "Big Box Stores" have what they're calling essential oils on their shelves, but do you know where they come from? Do you know the growing practices of the farms where the plants were grown? Do you know if they use chemicals for fertilizers or chemical extenders? Can you visit the farms where the company's plants are grown? Can you see their distillation process?
Probabloy not. If you call their customer service number, you'll likely get someone who doesn't know the answers to these questions. If you do find a company who can answer all these questions, let me know! As far as I have experienced, only Young Living has farm tours Monday- Saturday. They welcome you to take a look at their fields, growing, fertilizing practices (they're the little white puffy dots in the fields!). They are transparent about everything, with 1 exception: the independent labs they use to test the oils. In years past, Young Living's founder Gary Young had trusted some of his closest friends with his practices and recipes, and they turned and formed their own company. Young Living is tight-lipped about their processes to make recipes which the labs have and rightly so.
All of the oils in the world fall into one of four categories:
1). Authentic--Authentic means the oils are 100 percent pure, with no added synthetics and no additives in the bottle. These are Young Living oils!
2). Manipulated--Manipulated means the final product has been made to smell more pleasing and less earthy. Some of the heavier molecules have been stripped out, or another additive has been introduced, to enhance the aroma.
3). Perfume--Perfume oils are not pure. They are mixed with synthetics to enhance the aroma. These oils have no therapeutic action. Frequently, solvents are used to extract the plant.
4). Synthetic--Synthetic oils are not true oils at all. They smell nothing like the original plant and are typically labeled “scented products.”
Authentic is the only true, pure oil.
Synthetic oils would be like opening your fridge, taking a glass of orange juice, and diluting it 95 percent with chemicals before you drank it! It wouldn’t have the same benefits of a full glass of pure orange juice. That’s why you want authentic oils. Before you purchase, check to see if the company grows their own plants, has Seed to Seal, and controls the entire process from the farm to the sealed bottle. Pesticides, pollution, previously farmed land… all of it can affect the quality of an oil.
Synthetic oils would be like opening your fridge, taking a glass of orange juice, and diluting it 95 percent with chemicals before you drank it! It wouldn’t have the same benefits of a full glass of pure orange juice. That’s why you want authentic oils. Before you purchase, check to see if the company grows their own plants, has Seed to Seal, and controls the entire process from the farm to the sealed bottle. Pesticides, pollution, previously farmed land… all of it can affect the quality of an oil.
Why go the extra step of using an oil to get away from a chemical, to use an oil laden with chemicals? It makes no sense.
(S.Harnisch)
Can I use oils safely? Yes!
There are 3 ways you can use oils:
1). Topical--Directly on your skin, with a carrier oil as needed--olive oil, coconut oil, grapeseed oil.
2). Aromatic--Place a couple drops in a diffuser with water and let the oils fill the air with a lovely scent that is non-toxic, supports your immune system, and helps your breathing.
3). Internal--Using the Young Livings Vitality line of essential oils is simple! You can being by using a drop of Digize Vitality and a drop of Peppermint Vitality in a Vegetable Capsule with a carrier oil to help with digestion. Once you get your Essential Oil Desk Reference and research different things these oils can do to help you, you're well on your way!
A word of caution: When using citrus oils--orange, tangerine, lemon, lime, bergamot, or any blend containing citrus oils--use them on your skin more than 12 hours before going outside. I usually apply citrus oils at night before going to bed so there is no chance of being in direct sun light with citrus oils on my skin.
Why?
Citrus oils are photosensitive which means that the sun concentrates greater on your skin in areas where you have applied them. If you've applied them under your clothes where the sun will not shine, then you'll be fine, but be very mindful of the possibility of a sunburn if you wear citrus oils in the sun. It is not a good idea!
Babies and Children--Young Living has a KidScents and Seedlings line that is completely formulated with children and babies' needs in mind. They are already pre-diluted, so in the KidScents Roll-ons you can just roll and go. It's super easy! There's also Feather the Owl diffuser that plays white noise, lullabies, and stays on as a nightlight, too. If you'd like further information about how to effectively dilute oils for babies and children, let me know and I can guide you how to do that.
One of the BEST things about Young Living is that they BLESS you with gifts when you purchase through their Loyalty Rewards Program! Just create an account, find any product you're looking for, click "add to Loyalty Order". When your order reaches 100PV, you get points or a free product. Additionally, when your order reaches 190-250-300-400 and sometimes 500PV they have additional "Gifts with Purchase" that they give you just for purchasing things you'll already use! It's a great way to increase your oil stock pile, but it also gives you opportunity to learn about new oils and products you haven't used before. It's a wonderful blessing!
If you don't know where to start, just send me a personal message on Instagram or Facebook, text, or call and I'll be happy to help you get the most bang for your hard earned bucks!
Love and God Bless,
Regina Graham
I am not a doctor. I cannot diagnose, prescribe, or treat anyone
for any disease or sickness.
I know everyone is susceptible to this very same thought, at some point or another in life, but what is our purpose in life?
If you have not taken a long hard look at your own life to ask this question, why not?
For me the answer came when I started focusing to a greater degree on teaching our kids from the catechism. Now for all intents and purposes, this particular document helped me to solidify the whole purpose of my life.
To glorify God in everything I say and everything I do.
Do I do this perfectly every day? No! But my heart is to know Christ and make Him known. It doesn’t matter which vocation I have, whether I’m nursing babies, changing diapers, doing dishes, digging ditches, sharing about the greatest essential oils on the planet, cleaning toilets, preaching a sermon, flying an airplane, or cleaning out sewage systems, the Lord has told us to do ALL as if we were working for Him and not for man. (Col 3:17, paraphrased)
It makes a HUGE difference when we focus our minds on who our employer is vs who we work for. When the Lord’s dishes are getting done, His baby is getting a fresh clean diaper, or the airline pilot does all he can do to get and give proper information to the control tower, it makes a difference when his employer is the Lord! Even if our employer is terrible, when our mindset is such that we work for the Lord, something different happens to our own attitudes.
Things change!
For me, I hope you understand dear reader, without a shadow of a doubt, that the Lord has brought me to this particular business. He alone has given me such a peace about sharing everything about this company, this business, and these products because they have been made in such a way that respects the Lord's creation--from the soil, to the animals used for fertilizing the soil, to the distilation process, to the bottle that arrives on your doorstep.
I could not, in good conscience, put forth false information from any company as a good thing.
That said, dear reader, you and you alone are in charge of your own research. You are the gatekeeper of your home and family. What you bring in and use, breathe in and put on your body is something you have to do the research on. I can give you classes and statistics, and like spaghetti thrown at the wall, hope they stick; but honestly, you'll need to check the ingredients lists of everything that comes over the threshold of your door to find for yourself the harmful ingredients that are plaguing the bodies of your family.
Is the research worth it? YES!
They're not supposed to put harmful ingredients in our products! True, but honestly, if it isn't banned in the US, the companies are going to use it because it's cheap and it's easy. Those items that cause cancer or disrupt your hormones, yup! They're in your lotion, laundry soap, fabric softener, and your pretty blue dish soap! Don't believe me?! Grab one of those bottles and look up "Dangers of ______" online and see what I'm talking about!
Once you've gone through your entire kitchen, laundry room, cleaning closet, and bathroom cabinets, let me know! I'll be right here to give you some suggstions based on your family's needs.
This is what I do!
This is my service to you and your loved ones--to show you a better way to get healthier with all the natural products I have at my fingertips.
Yes, I love you THAT much!!! You are worth every single phone call, text message, personal message, and video chat!
This work is not work for me, but serving you and serving my Lord and Savior with all that is within me. I believe in these products, I believe in this business model (ask me about the business income, too! ), and I believe without a shadow of a doubt that this information will be the biggest help you have been looking for!
Love & God Bless,
Regina Graham
I am not a doctor. I cannot diagnose, prescribe, or treat anyone
for any disease or sickness.
In Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, it says,
(1) To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
(2) A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
(3) A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
(4) A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
(5) A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
(6) A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
(7) A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
(8) A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.
For everything that we feel, there is an opposite on the pendulum. This is our life here on earth.
The past 18 days have been both mourning and dancing. On the 8th, I stayed on the phone with my brother who is in South Dakota, 1,600 miles from me, while the nurses and physicians assistant administered comfort medications, before taking my mother off the breathing machine. I was trying to stay with him until my mom passed, but my little grandson came dancing and bee-bopping through the room, not understanding the gravity of the time--through no fault of his own--and I needed to go because he needed something, to be heard, so I needed to tend to the little one. Were there others here who could take care of him, Yes! Did I still take care of him, Yes! I still messaged my brother through it all. Just moments later, my mother passed on to Jesus. I wished I could have stayed on the phone with him.
Being 1,600 miles away from my family for 39 years has really taken a toll on my emotions. For this time in my life, my heart shattered in to a million pieces not just because I couldn't be there, but because I couldn't help my sister clean out my mother's apartment. To be able to go through her things with my sister, laugh over some things, cry over others, and just work together and talk about how to honor our mother would have helped me in so many ways. But, unfortunately, life gets in the way and through no fault of anyone, we were unable to go.
The week after my mother's passing, I'd been preparing for our grandson's birthday party, so my time of mourning had been stuffed way down deep for a time. Sunday I rested, took many naps, took care of myself, and decided I was going to allow myself 3 days to mourn this week, going in to "hermit mode"--hiding in my room, letting all the emotions come, and just thinking about my Mom. I cried, wrote in my journal, then was needed to help my husband with our sweet baby grandson. My hubby's left arm isn't quite strong for long term types of things yet, so when he comes with a sweet little baby, I take him without hesitation and dance with him! So my time of mourning has been a pendulum between mourning and dancing within moments. I wonder if this is what the Lord meant in the verses above? I love the Lord's timing, because I truly needed it this season. He certainly has helped me by having these babies here in our house during this time of grief.
Unfortunately, we are unable to go to South Dakota until a later date for a variety of things to come together. We look forward to seeing family, hugging them, and spending time with them while we finish with our Mother's last wishes.
This morning, after only a few hours of sleep, I decided to take a bath with Epsom Salts and 10 drops of Valor essential oil blend. I love this blend! It has a woodsy maculine scent with the strength of Canadian black spruce. It has a blue color to it which comes from Blue Tansy. Go ahead and click the links to read about these wonderful oils! I added Valor to my bath because I felt like I needed strength. Of course my strength comes from the Lord, but the Lord has given us these wonderful plant juices to lean on, as it says in Eze 47:12,
"And by the river, upon its bank, on the one side and on the other, shall grow all trees for food, whose leaf shall not fade, nor their fruit fail: it shall bring forth new fruit every month, for its waters issue out of the sanctuary; and the fruit thereof shall be for food, and the leaf thereof for medicine."
If the Lord has given us wisdom to use the leaves for medicine, why not lean on His provision for us to help in every way we need?
Are oils for grief?
Yes! Absolutely!
I have a blend that I made when my Dad passed away in 2019 that I'm getting ready to put together again. Some of the oils I don't have on hand, but I do have alternates that I can use. That's the way these oils work. If there is one that doesn't work for you, there just might be one that helps you even more than the first one. The solution is to keep trying!
I appreciated the blend I was able to put together so much that when I came across friends who were grieving, I shared it with them, too. What a blessing to me to see that out of my own grief, I was able to help someone else who was in grief, too. I don't take that blessing lightly. If you're grieving and need me to make you a grief blend, please send me a message on Instagram or Facebook. I would be happy to make you a grief blend.
I hope you are blessed by the love of the Lord today and every day!
Love and God Bless,
Regina Graham
I am not a doctor. I cannot diagnose, prescribe, or treat anyone
for any disease or sickness.
As many of you know, I finished up 2021 with an overnight hospital stay for a dislocated shoulder. I've gone through Physical Therapy and was released in April, but my arm is still weak. The therapist tells me that it will take a year for it to completely heal.
My husband recently had a 4th shoulder surgery and will begin Physical Therapy soon. With our local therapy place, I can go with hubby and work on arm strengthening with the machines while he works on his therapy.
Did this come about by accident? No! It came about by thinking of the best possible way to help regain not just function, but strength in my own arm.
As far as my hubby is concerned, I am pretty sure he'll be in physical therapy for a while, so we can still go together.
What about the rest of our bodies? Do we have a plan for activity, keeping fit, and working toward continued health? We have a lose plan, so we need to get that a bit more solid...
...like a type of non-negotiable type of thing we do daily for movement. Sometimes just walking around the block isn't enough. So, we're needing to take a good, long, hard look at our goals, and take in to account our blood test results to see how everything looks. We'll make plans for activity according to how our blood work looks. Neither of us are interested in running a marathon or a tri-athelon, so realistically for us, walking here in southern Georgia works well in the 70º range. This is where it isn't too hot, and it isn't too cold. Then we can take our dogs with us, too.
We plan to do xy & z, but we need to also plan for the unplanned, spontaneous fly-by-the-seat-of-our-pants things too. Those fun all the sudden things. But, for now, we work on canning foods in season while he does PT, take walks when the temperatures are not "hotter than the surface of the sun", and work on muscle group exercises inside, at home and at the gym.
Now, under "every day" circumstances, I probably would have opted to do more manual exercises here at our home. However, as I type this post, the temperature is 81º at 10AM.
What about long-term goals? Everyone seems to be trying to push back the clock in an effort to look younger. However, we're taking things in stride by simply moving daily. For me, that means simply increasing my daily steps. I don't have a pedometer or an iwatch. I do have a phone that I try to keep in my pocket to count my steps and that's what I try to use as a reference. It helps me to know if I'm on target to reach my goal. What is my goal? I'm up to 5,000 steps per day, except Sundays which is my day of rest. Some days are way more than that, around 7,000, but usually end up between 4,800 to 7,000. I would like to get up to 10,000 each day, so that's my goal for the next 6 months.
What will this do? For me, it will help to bring my HDL levels up more. Once again, I'm not aspiring to a marathon, so I'm getting these steps in naturally by taking care of things, people, and critters around my house. I add in a couple blocks as needed, or at the gym, but it's mostly around my house.
The rest of those blood work numbers will naturally get healthier too with increased steps and a bit of an adjustment in our daily food intake here and there.
So the main goal is greater health so that we can enjoy our life, where ever we are. We also want to be able to move our bodies easier. Sometimes when things like arthritis steps in, we are sore and slow to get up and get moving. When we moved to Georgia in 2015, the drastic weather changes in Pennsylvania took a toll on our backs. The barometric pressure was terrible! But, as we acclimated to Georgia, we've gradually been able to move easier. Couple that with daily 2 ounces of NingXia Red which helps with inflammation and we're doing much better!
Do you have a chair DVD that you do daily? Great! When I had surgery on my knee in 2016, I couldn't walk a mile a day, so I had to do something else. That's what we need to do throughout all of life is just simply make adjustments. If you can do the P90X, then that's great! Every one of us is on a different level of ability. The important thing is that you are moving however your body can move.
What are you doing to move your body daily?
Love & God Bless,
What are you doing to move your body daily?
Love & God Bless,
Regina Graham
I am not a doctor. I cannot diagnose, prescribe, or treat anyone
for any disease or sickness.
When a loved one has surgery, it really causes you to rethink so many different things. Many times, you think, "Well, we're just going out of town for a couple days, I won't need to do this until I get back." But that thought is so different when you're going out of town for a surgery.
As I type this, hubby is currently in surgery having a reversal of the partial replacement he had done last year. I'm having the Asian entree for lunch while I wait for his Dr to call me and let me know how things went. 
As a caregiver, the cafeteria is such a blessing! I know many of you who read this are very adept at being in hospitals as the caregiver. This particular hospital has been one that I've become familiar with because it is our 2nd time here. I love the people here and find myself relaxing more than I'd thought I would, even for the 2nd time here.
For the past few weeks my mind has been on "what can I do to make things easier for my hubby once we get home." So, we rearranged the sectional in the blue room, cleaned everything up, made sure where he is recuperating is equipped with an outlet for charging his phone, a side table for his water, coffee, meal tray, and pain meds. I wanted to make sure everything was done, cleaned, and in place before we left so that once we got home, he could just get comfortable and rest.
The next day I'll run to town and get his medication filled, get whatever groceries we need, then come home. I won't leave him unless someone is with him with explicit instructions--if he falls, do not try to help him up, just call 911 to help. He is going to be in a lot of pain and to help him up may strain his shoulder and/or hurt him further.
I try to plan out the things that I need to get so that I am not away from him for too long. I plan for some of his favorite foods and making them nutrient dense, so the healing process is moved along at a good rate.
I usually don't leave him after surgery for 2 weeks or until I feel well enough that he can get himself some water, make a sandwich, or let the dogs out. He may be a little bit longer with the recoup this time though, so I need to mentally prepare for that.
With all this going on, we also have our grandbaby coming in mid-June some time, so his big brother will be under our care while our son and daughter-in-love are giving birth and recuperating in the hospital. What a blessedly busy time! Giving of ourselves, caring for others, and loving on them is one of those things we are called to as Christians. I take this call seriously and do all that I can within my own power to fulfill this calling. Caring for others does not mean you are weak, but to the contrary. You have to be strong for the work physically, spiritually, and mentally. It demands many things of you, so to take some time to yourself to rest, nap, read a book, or do something you enjoy is not selfish at all.
Our hearts are full, our plate is full, our arms are full, and God is so good!
(This was written 5/24 while hubby was in surgery.)
Today--June 2nd, 2022
It's been a little over a week since my husband's surgery. I've been working hard to balance caring for him, doing what I can at home, tending to appointments, driving, as well as trying to allow myself to rest as well. Isn't that just like many of us who just don't allow ourselves to rest, or nap?
When we came home from the hospital, I was focused most on making sure he had ice packs, meds, food, and enough pillows to rival the "Princess and the Pea." LOL
THEN...
When going to the Dr yesterday, he removed hubby's staples: 
Then he moved hubby's arm around in some pretty incredible ways and told me to "not baby him" and do this at home, too. So, I'm putting a lighthearted loving spin on it by having him put his arm up on my shoulder. It's not nearly as high as Dr lifted, but it helps. Tomorrow I'm going to add a sway to it and a smile. I think he needs that, too.
He'll start PT next week and I'll be driving him places he needs to go until he's no longer taking meds. He's had a pretty significant surgery, so he kind of needs those to help him with the pain at least for now.
So for now, I've been putting a couple drops of Frankincense on the top of his shoulder, not the incision yet, a couple times each day. I've also put Peppermint around the incision to help with swelling. These are the only two oils I've used with him so far. I plan to add Cedarwood, Lavender, and Cistus as well once the incision heals. I'm going to put them in a roller bottle for him to use more easily twice a day. I'm going to take a look at more oils in the Ancient Oils of Scripture Collection as well for their help with healing. I'm sure I'll be looking at Hyssop and Myrrh, but I want to research all of them more in-depth. Hence the reason I always say, "If I had 7 lifetimes to learn all there is to know about essential oils, that still wouldn't be enough time!" Whew!
As time goes on, I'll share more about the process and what we come up with.
In the meantime, have a wonderful day!
Love & God Bless,
A tired, but thankful...Regina Graham
I am not a doctor. I cannot diagnose, prescribe, or treat anyone
for any disease or sickness.
