Some Cleaning Ideas...

I was relaxing in the tub and reading my All You magazine the other day (All You is a couponing magazine and has lots of fun tricks and tips for doing things well for cheaper - LOVE it!) and I came across a couple of pages with some recipes for cleaners. I started reading them because is one of my new subjects that intrigue me. Guess what? They include ESSENTIAL OILS in them! Wahoo! I was so excited to find that! This year, my goal is to become natural in my cleaning products. This includes making my own laundry detergent and cleaners and whatnot. So these few pages really caught my eye. So just as an idea for some of the recipes, here are a couple of them. These recipes are word-for-word from the magazine, then beneath you will find my comments about them.

Antibacterial Spray

*Use this germ killer on sinks, vanities and toilet seats. White thyme oil (or in this case, doTERRA's Thyme oil) although expensive, inhabits bacterial growth. *

Prep: 2 minutes Cost: $11.57

Yield: Approximately 18 oz (a 2-3 month supply)

Ingredients- 2 cups water, 2 Tbsp liquid castile soap, 1 Tbsp white thyme essential oil, 10 drops lavender essential oil.

Instructions- Using a funnel, pour water, soap and oils into bottle. Shake. Spray and let sit for 20 minutes. Wipe down surfaces with damp cloth. 

Toilet Bowl Blaster!!

*This recipe harnesses baking soda's gentle abrasiveness, vinegar's acidity and the stain-lifting power of the fizz created by mixing the two, plus tea-tree oil's antibacterial capabilities.*

Prep: 2 minutes Cost: 48 cents Yield: 1 cup, enough for 1 use

Ingredients- 1/2 cup baking soda, 10 drops tea-tree essential oil, 1/2 cup distilled white vinegar.

Instructions- Pour baking soda directly into the toilet bowl, add oil, then vinegar- in that order. Let water effervesce for several minutes, then scrub bowl with brush. Flush. 

 *doTERRA's oil is Melaleuca, not tea-tree oil. They are same thing. Melaleuca is great for killing off bad germs and infections and stuff. I really like this REALLY EASY recipe! *

Furniture Polish

*Apply this formula to clean and restore luster to wood furniture. It also may be used to help remove superficial water rings on wood tables.* 

Prep: 1 1/2 minutes Cost: 34 cents Yield: Approximately 2 1/2 oz.

Ingredients- 2 Tbsp olive oil, 1/4 cup distilled white vinegar, 1/4 tsp lemon oil (or fresh lemon juice).

Instructions- Using a funnel, pour olive oil, vinegar and lemon oil into a 8 oz plastic squirt bottle. Shake well to emulsify. Squirt polish onto a microfiber cloth and rub onto finished-wood furniture. Always go with the grain and even distribute polish. Remove any excess polish with a clean cloth. 

*I do not use furniture polish because I don't have nice enough furniture to use it on. Ha ha! But it sounds like a GREAT recipe. If you use it, let me know how it works for ya!*

If you want more, I encourage you to check out this magazine. I know that our local library has this magazine to look at and I think even check out. Of you can try looking it up online at allyou.com If you are using natural cleaners, I WANT TO KNOW ABOUT IT! I am going to start myself a notebook soon and write all of these recipes down so I have them in one spot to quickly reference to them. So I'd love to hear your recipes. If you are using a natural cleaner, try adding some essential oils to them and I want to know what you think. I'd love to feature you on a post with your great information and experiences! 

 

Itchy, Red, Cracking, Bleeding and Dry

What do all of the words in the title have to do with each other?
They are all signs and symptoms of Eczema! Unfortunately, so many people are coming down with this dry-skin demon. So what can be done about it with the oils?
Well, after much research, here is my conclusion. Usually, when there is a problem on the outside, such as a skin issue, it is caused by a problem on the inside. In the case of eczema, it could be a candida problem on the inside. Candida is yeast. Yeast build-up or overgrowth is the cause of SO MANY health problems. Because of this, doTERRA has come up with a cleanse to help get rid of it. It is called the GX Assist and PB Assist. The GX Assist are pills you take daily for cleansing of the skin. You take those for only about 10 days and then you stop those and then take the PB Assist, which are probiotics. This helps your body rest and restore itself after the GX Assist. Now, cleansing candida can be quite the process and eating as raw as you can is always beneficial. You might have to do a couple rounds of the two pills, depending on your body and how bad the candida is. This is safe to do while you are pregnant, though if you are nursing, this is not recommended. The yucky yeast can come out in your milk and trust me, the yeast issue is not fun when you are nursing. Another great thing is to add the Lifelong Vitality pack that I talked about in the last post. That will help a lot too.
Now, if you don't want to do a cleanse, there are a couple of different things you can try for the eczema. With a carrier oil such as doTERRA's fractionated coconut oil, you can use some Geranium, Lavender, Melaleuca, Clear Skin, Oregano or Helichrysm.
For more information or to see some testimonials of what others have done with the oils and eczema, check out this site!
To look at the prices of all of these oils, go to www.mydoterra.com/corinnehoyt and look around! 

How Much Do YOU Like the Smell of Garlic?

First of all, I want to let you all know, my semester is over!!!! I don't have homework until January! Wahoo! I have to take advantage of this time and unfortunately there is so much on my list that I want to do. Lucky for all of you, this blog is high on that list! :)
Second of all, I want to give a shout-out to Jennifer, who commented on the previous post about using the Digest-Zen on her baby! I love hearing success stories like that and am so happy for you Jennifer that you found something that worked! 

Okay, I'm sure you are all wondering what my title has to do with this post. Before I go on any further, I want to begin by saying, this could end up being a long post. In addition to my blabbering on, it might seem a bit...personal type of information you are reading. I debated whether to put this on, but, this blog is dedicated to helping you all feel better, lead healthy lives, using essential oils and other products to help you do that - THE NATURAL WAY! So the following is an experience I have had recently, actually, am still currently having and I share in hopes that I am able to help someone else out there who might have the same problem. I am not intending to gross anyone out. If I do, please keep your comments to yourself and skip this post until the next one comes along! :) So, are you ready? Here we go! :)

I have a yeast problem. I have for about 7 1/2 years now. I used to eat so much sugar when I was little. I think that might have had something to do with it. I would get vaginal yeast infections all of the time! Pain in the butt! Then I started having kids. It would seem like I would have one the whole pregnancy. Then I'd breastfeed and get the thrush on my nipples and in my baby's mouth. Painful. If you have never had to deal with one, please count your blessings. They are uncomfortable and painful! Nothing good about them. I usually would just go get the Monistat cream and stuff and it would go away for the time being. Eventually though, it always came back. Then I heard somewhere that Monistat only takes away the symptoms and not necessarily the yeast problem. This made sense to me because it was always a short time later that I'd get another yeast infection.
I learned pretty quickly to drink cranberry juice, although I never saw it do too much for me. But, if I felt like one was coming, I'd start drinking (it isn't my favorite juice!). I'd get the prescriptions when I'd have it from nursing and we'd deal with the pain for a while but eventually it would go away. Then during my third pregnancy, I started to get the thrush in my own mouth. Believe me, if you think it is gross just reading this, try being the one who has the problem! 

Throughout this time that I have started going A Nat-ur-el, I have realized how much of what I eat effects this problem with yeast that I have. It is the sugar!  Not just the candy and the pop though. It is all of the white bread, potatoes, other starches, white rice, etc. that turns into sugar when it goes into your body. So for the last year, I've tried really hard to eat healthier, just in general. At the point in time, I don't typically eat white bread at all, only wheat and whole grain. I eat more vegetables. I do eat fruits, like with my green smoothies, but eating too much fruit can be bad for the yeast problem too because of the natural sugars in them. I just try to control the pop and candy and replace it with water. 

Since using the oils, I have had no yeast infections since my last baby was born, so back in April. That is quite a while for me and quite amazing actually. Nursing has been going great and I absolutely love it! She is a good eater and because of the LifeLong Vitality pack and a mega cranberry pill that I take everyday, my milk has been great. Basically cream is what I'm feeding my child, ha ha. Then I decided to add some oils to my teeth-brushing regiment and I think it started to somewhat detox and push out the yucky stuff. This is when I got thrush/yeast infection from breastfeeding. That was about two weeks ago. The oil that is necessary for this is Melaleuca. Just my luck, mine was gone! So I got it put on my next autoship, but that wasn't going to come for two weeks (I just got it yesterday, ha ha). I got on the doTERRA google group and started asking for help. It was starting to get really painful to nurse, to the point that I had to tense up my whole body and hold my breath cuz it hurt so bad. I was told to try taking Oregano and OnGuard in a pill everyday. So I did. Then I read the Oregano can make your milk decrease. Between that and just struggling with nursing cuz of the pain, I felt my milk decreasing. I am not ready to wean and so that was the last thing I wanted. so for about three days, 1-2x a day, I rubbed basil on my breasts hoping that it wasn't too late and that my milk was gone for good. I felt like maybe the yeast infection wasn't getting worse, but it certainly wasn't better. I noticed the thrush in Rory's mouth and thought, there has to be something else! So I got back on to the google group and asked more questions. I had one lady tell me about garlic and how good it is for killing off the yeast. Here is where my title comes into play. What I had to do is vaginally put a clove of garlic in me and change it about 3x a day and then give Rory some. 

So here is the update. I went and got my garlic this morning and started it. I was also told that Grapefruit seed extract is great, so I got that to give to Rory so that it would taste a little better for her. I put about 5 drops in a bottle of water and she just sips on it periodically. Because the pain has gotten so bad, just thinking about nursing made me cringe in pain. So I have been pumping bottles to give her so that we have a break and don't just keep passing the infection back and forth. Well it is 11:15pm. I have done the clove of garlic thing three times today, I have pumped bottles so that we have a little break, I have given Rory some of her special water, and I continue to wash with warm water and put a drop of Melaleuca on my nipples after every pumping/feeding. Here are my results: I FEEL 10 TIMES BETTER THAN I DID THIS MORNING!! Having the garlic in you puts it into your bloodstream and therefore you will smell like garlic. I could smell it and taste it in my mouth all day. It doesn't stink to me, but it sure gets old after a little while. But, the most important factor is that it is working! I am laying low on the sugar still (I think after two weeks of doing this I have even lost a pound or two!) and drinking a lot of water. I am still going to pump for probably another day but then I will start nursing again. I am thinking that after I am done nursing, I need to do a cleanse. Another problem with yeast is that stress can make it worse. Just my luck, it is the end of my semester and life has been VERY stressful for me the last couple weeks. But now that it is over and I can relax a little bit, I am confident that I will be doing so much better by the end of the week. Oh, and during this whole thing, when I have been pumping, I was only able to get about 2-4 oz of milk out (that is both breasts combined). Today, I pumped a 9oz bottle!! I feel like I have plenty now to keep going for a little while longer since my Rory loves to nurse so much.
Sometimes an oil won't be the answer. Just as in this case, I needed something stronger than Melaleuca. Garlic cloves are working wonderfully and will definitely not ever forget this experience so that I can keep this solution in my files.
I wanted to share this experience because I know a few of you moms out there are nursing or maybe there are some of you out there who might have the same problem I do. I have realized my body really cannot handle a ton of sugar, even more so since I have stopped eating so much. This blog is about being healthy and finding healthy ways to take care of yourself and those you love. 

I hope I didn't gross anyone out and I hope my message makes sense. My brain is kind of fried!