The Internet is a weird place and, every few months, we get hit with a new health craze. Sometimes, it's things like juice cleanses, other times it's coconut oils, and, the worst one right now, waist training. Usually, these are easy to ignore but when my aunt started using essential oils to get her three boys under seven to go to sleep - and it was actually working – I decided to give the oils a go.
For background, I have severe allergy problems and chronic nausea. My allergies have been knocking me off my feet for years and they're so bad, my doctor put me on Singulair last year to help relieve me a little bit. And it helps, but I don't like taking medicine. The chronic nausea is typical in girls in their 20's, mostly from stress and poor eating habits. But when you're spending all day, every day, actually wanting to throw up because it would be a relief from your stomach pain, you really start to get frustrated.
I've spent tons of time on Pinterest and the Young Living site looking up uses for different oils and how they can help me. Lavender, Melaleuca Alternifolia, and Thieves help to relieve allergies; while Peppermint is good for nausea. Cedarwood has lots of uses – put it in a diffuser with Lavender and Lemon and you'll go right to sleep; or use it as an acne spot treatment. Not to mention that many oils have therapeutic uses as well, like for reducing stress and anxiety.
I decided to test out my oils with my little mini- diffuser. What with the TV in my room and my phone (I'd say laptop but it's been out of commission for about a month) and overthinking, I have a hard time going to sleep. But when I plugged in the diffuser and let it spray my Cedarwood, Lavender, and Lemon mix towards my bed and before I knew it, I was drifting away. And I stayed asleep, which is a small caliber miracle for me. And then when my nausea started acting up again, I decided to try out the Peppermint. Everyone always tells me peppermint helps a stomachache and I was ready to test it out. I was even more skeptical about the “topical" uses than just diffusing in the air, so I was definitely thinking that rubbing it on my stomach would not help at all. You have to understand that I can barely walk around, let alone eat or drink anything, when my stomach hurts the way it does when my nausea starts to act up. So if Ursula (ya know, like The Little Mermaid) told me if I signed my voice away, my nausea would go away, I'd do it. She wouldn't actually want my voice, so the joke would be on her, but I'd still do it. Anyway…turns out, rubbing Peppermint oil on your stomach really does help. A lot. Within ten minutes, the oil created a cooling sensation on my stomach and just smelling the peppermint helped to settle my stomach a ton. I was able to keep down water and able to actually get up, move around, and write this article.
So if you're like me and pills aren't really your jam, I'd totally suggest looking into essential oils. Young Living is where I get mine, through my aunt, and they're completely organic, which is a plus for me. You can put them in your drinks, you can dab them on your pressure points, or you can diffuse them in the air. There are so many different uses and benefits, you might as well try at least one oil out and see what it can do for you.
