"Back to Basics" - Top Ten doTERRA Oil Blends - Elevation

Today is day 17 of my "Back to Basics" series and the fourth and final post on doTERRA's mood oils.



Elevation (Joyful) Blend

Ever have a "blah" day? Who doesn't?! Elevation, also known as the Joyful blend, can take your mood from blah and to vibrant in no time! This blend contains Lavandin, Lavender, Hawaiian Sandlewood, Tangerine, Melissa, Ylang Ylang, Elemi, Osmanthis, and Lemon Myrtle. It has a floral, sweet, and citrus aroma that is uniquely blended to elevate you mood, increase vitality, and provide an energizing fragrance.

The most common way that I use this oil is in a diffuser. It completely changes the ambiance of the room and truly uplifts our moods. Mornings are hectic around here and not everyone wakes up in the best of moods, but when I diffuse this in the kitchen or living room first thing in the morning we can create a positive environment and lessen the feelings of stress. I also carry a roller bottle that contains the blend and fractionated coconut oil so that I can manipulate my mood throughout the day as needed. I will apply it to my temples, wrists, and/or over my heart to elevate my mood. This is my favorite destressing oil blend!

This blend can be used aromatically and topically, but NEVER internally. It can also be applied beat, but may need to be diluted for individuals with sensitive skin. This blend contains oils that are sensitive to UV rays. See disclaimer below.

Links:
doTERRA Product Page: Elevation
doTERRA Blog Article: Make Over Your Mood with doTERRA Essential Oils
Buy Elevation here

CAUTIONS: Possible skin sensitivity. Keep out of reach of children. If you are pregnant, nursing, or under a doctor’s care, consult your physician. Avoid contact with eyes, inner ears, and sensitive areas. Avoid sunlight or UV rays for up to 12 hours after applying product.

"Back to Basics" - Top Ten doTERRA Oil Blends - Citrus Bliss

This is day 16 of my "Back to Basics" series and the third post on mood oils.

Citrus Bliss (Invigorating) Blend

This is such a great mood lifting blend! I love the combination of oils included in this blend, which are wild orange, lemon, grapefruit, mandarin, bergamot, tangerine, clementine, and vanilla. Whenever you feel down, unmotivated, or mentally sluggish, this is the oil blend to reach for. Not only does it cleanse and purify the air, it also reduces stress, and positively affects your mood! You can read more about how to make over your mood with essential oils in the doTERRA article that is linked below.

My favorite way to use this oil is in a diffuser (sometimes with peppermint). You can also use this oil as a perfume by applying to wrists and neck. To freshen laundry, add a couple of drops of oil to dryer balls (I buy mine on Amazon) and add to laundry in the dry cycle. This is really a life saver oil when I am feeling down, depressed, unmotivated, or lonely. I find it extremely helpful to diffuser this oil in my bathroom in the morning when I am getting ready for the day. It puts me in a great mood and changes my outlook.

This blend can be used aromatically and topically, but NEVER internally. It can also be applied beat, but may need to be diluted for individuals with sensitive skin. This blend contains oils that are sensitive to UV rays. See disclaimer below.

Links:
doTERRA Product Page: Citrus Bliss
doTERRA Blog: Make Over Your Mood with doTERRA Essential Oils
Buy Citrus Bliss here

CAUTIONS: Possible skin sensitivity. Keep out of reach of children. If you are pregnant, nursing, or under a doctor’s care, consult your physician. Avoid contact with eyes, inner ears, and sensitive areas. Avoid sunlight or UV rays for up to 12 hours after applying product.

"Back to Basics" - Top Ten doTERRA Oil Blends - Serenity

Today is day 15 of my "Back to Basics" series and the second post highlighting doTERRA's mood oils.

Serenity (Calming) Blend

We live in a GO, GO, GO kind of world and even when we have a few minutes to relax and unwind it seems impossible to really relax. Serenity is a blend that contains many different oils that all promote relaxation and peace. These oils include lavender, sweet marjoram, roman chamomile, ylang ylang, hawaiian sandlewood, and vanilla. Together they work to create a calming fragrance, promote relaxation and restful sleep, and less tension. Again, to learn about how to make over your mood with essential oils, read the article posted below.

I use this oil every night in my diffuser (along with Breathe). The aromatic properties help me to relax and de-stress before drifting off to sleep. Lavender is the most abundant oil in this blend and therefore also helps to relieve anxious feelings, which makes it a great blend to use before bed. I also apply it to the bottoms of my feet to help promote sleep. Lastly, it is great to add to a warm bath (recipe for serenity bath salts below).

This blend can be use aromatically and topically, but NEVER internally.

Links:

doTERRA Product Page: Serenity

doTERRA Blog: Soak Your Stress Away With Serenity Moisturizing Bath Salt
doTERRA Blog: Make Over Your Mood With Essential Oils
Buy Serenity here

CAUTIONS: Possible skin sensitivity. Keep out of reach of children. If you are pregnant, nursing, or under a doctor’s care, consult your physician. Avoid contact with eyes, inner ears, and sensitive areas. 

"Back to Basics" - Top Ten doTERRA Oil Blends - Balance

This is day 14 of my "Back to Basics" series. The next four posts will highlight doTERRA's mood oils. 

Balance (Grounding) Blend

With advancements in technology, especially personal electronic devices, we are inundated with information and have created a new phenomenon called "The Fear of Missing Out". I think this has contributed to the increasing number of cases of anxiety and depression. A team from the America Journal for Public Health also recently published a study that found that the number of Americans taking anxiety medication tripled over the last 17 years and the number of overdoses has quadrupled (see article link below). It doesn't have to be that way.

Enters Balance, also known as the Grounding Blend. This blend contains spruce, ho wood, frankincense, blue tansy, and blue chamomile. The aroma of this blend promotes tranquility and relaxation and it is one of doTERRA's FOUR mood oils. Be sure to read doTERRA's article about how to manage your mood with essential oils.

Spruce: Grounding
Ho Wood: Ease Tension and Anxious Feelings
Blue Chamomile: Soothing and Relaxing
Blue Tansy (Moroccan Chamomile): Soothing and Relaxing
Frankincense: Balances Emotions

My favorite way to oil this oil is in a diffuser, but you can use it topically as well. Apply it to the bottoms of your feet in the morning to promote calmness throughout the day or apply it to your wrists when you feel anxious. I also have a "to-go" roller bottle of Balance and fractionated coconut oil that I apply to my wrists and neck when I feel anxious. 

This blend can be used aromatically and topically, but NEVER internally.

Links:

doTERRA Product Page: Balance

doTERRA Blog Article: Make Over Your Mood with doTERRA Essential Oils

Buy Balance and Fractionated Coconut Oil here

NBC News Article on anxiety study: Anxiety Drug Overdoses Have Quadrupled Over Last Two Decades, Study Shows

CAUTIONS: Possible skin sensitivity. Keep out of reach of children. If you are pregnant, nursing, or under a doctor’s care, consult your physician. Avoid contact with eyes, inner ears, and sensitive areas. 

"Back to Basics" - Top Ten Single Oils - Wild Orange

This is day 7 of my "Back to Basics" series.



Wild Orange

This is one of my favorite single oils. The main chemical component in orange is Limonene. It is also very high in monoterpenes, which gives this oil an energizing aroma. doTERRA's oranges are sourced from the Dominican Republic and the oil is extracted from the rinds (peel) through the cold press technique. The scientific name for wild orange is Citrus sinensis.

Wild orange is a power cleaning and purifying oil that provides protection from seasonal and environment threats and is very high in antioxidants.* Like most citrus oils, orange is also incredibly effective at uplifting one's mood.* This oil is commonly used in cleaning recipes, as a flavor enhancer in water and foods, in a diffuser to uplift moods and purify air, and when combined with other oils, it can provide a mid-day mental pick me up.

I use this oil in my house every day. Here is a list of ways we use it:

1. Diffuse with lavender at night to promote relaxation and reduce anxiety.*
2. Add to a roller bottle with lavender and fractioned coconut oil (FCO) and apply to bottoms of feet, wrists, and back of neck for relaxation and reduced anxiety* before bed or as needed throughout the day.
3. Combine with peppermint oil either in a diffuser or in your hands (rub palms together and inhale aroma and rub on the back of your neck) for a mid-day mental pick me up.
4. In my homemade lip balm recipe from doTERRA (link below).

Health concerns:*

Anxiety: Healthy male subjects displayed reduced anxiety after five minutes of inhalation of orange essential oil compared to the inhalation of melaleuca essential oil or distilled water when submitted to an anxiety inducing situations (Goes et al., 2012).

Links:
doTERRA Product Page: Wild Orange
doTERRA Blog: Orange Creamsicle Lip Balm
Buy Wild Orange: here

Research:
Aroma Tools. (2015). Modern essentials: A contemporary guide to the therapeutic use of essential oils (7th ed.). Pleasant Grove, UT: AromaTools.

Dornelas, M. C., & Massafera, P. (2007). A genomic approach to characterization of the Citrus terpene synthase gene family. Genetics and Molecular Biology, 30(3), 832 - 840. doi:10.1590/S1415-4757200700005000011

Goes, T. C., Antunes, F. D., Alves, P. B., & Teixeira-Silva, F. (2012). Effect of sweet orange aroma on experimental anxiety in humans. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 18(8), 798 - 804. doi:10.1089/acm.2011.0551

Kamal, G. M., Ashraf, M. Y., Hussain A. I., Shahzadi, A., & Chughtai, M. I. (2013). Antioxidant potential of peel essential oils of three Pakistani citrus species: Citrus reticulata, Citrus sinensis and Citrus paradisii. Pakistan Journal of Botany, 45(4), 1449 - 1454. Retrieved from http://www.pakbs.org/pjbot/PDFs/45(4)/48.pdf

Zhang, Z., Chen, H., Chan, K. K., Budd, T., & Ganapathi, R. (1999). Gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric analysis of perillyl alcohol and metabolites in plasma. Journal of Chromatography B: Biomedical Sciences and Applications, 728(1), 85 -95. doi:10.1016/S0378-4347(99)00065-1

CAUTIONS: Possible skin sensitivity. Keep out of reach of children. If you are pregnant, nursing, or under a doctor’s care, consult your physician. Avoid contact with eyes, inner ears, and sensitive areas. Avoid sunlight or UV rays for up to 12 hours after applying product.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

Linalool and beta pinene help to reduce feelings of anxiety and depression

You may be able to see the trend over the last week. I am shining a light on mental health issues because so many people suffer in silence and without support. Understand, there is no simple answer when it comes to how to treat of these conditions. Successful treatment for me requires a combination of techniques. I take medication, like millions of other Americans, but I also schedule in exercise every day and incorporate oils in my daily routine.

My favorite oil combination is lavender and wild orange. The effectiveness of these oils come from two chemical compounds, Linalool (found in Lavender and Clary Sage) and beta-pinene (found in citrus oils like Orange, Lemon, and Lime as well as White Fir). Both compounds are monoterepenes, which have antidepressant properties and can cross the blood-barrier. Linalool and beta-pinene works through the monoaminergic system to secrete the neurotransmitters (dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin) that increase the feelings happiness and reduces anxiety.

Essential oils have made my anxiety more manageable, but only if I use them in combination with eating right, exercising, and getting enough rest. Everything has to work in sync. If I slack in any category, I find my anxiety increasing and day-to-day stressors are difficult to manage.

Just know that if you suffer from anxiety, depression, or any other mental health issue, you are not alone. Millions of people suffer every day. The hardest thing to do is ask for help, but you have to take control of your well being, for yourself and your family.

Links:
Buy Essential Oils

References:

doTERRAScience. (2015, October 15). Reduce sad feelings with Linalool and beta-pinene. Retrieve from http://www.doterrascienceblog.com/reduce-sad-feelings-with-linalool-and-beta-pinene/

Guzman-Gutiérrez, S. L., Bonilla-Jamie, H., Gomez-Cantina, R., & Reyes-Chilpa, R. (2015). Linalool and beta-pinene exert their antidepressant-like activity through the monoaminergic pathway. Life Sciences, 128, 24 - 29. doi:10.1016/j.lfs.2015.02.021