You’ve seen them on store shelves, you’ve smelled them on the person sitting next to you on the airplane, or maybe you even have a few bottles sitting on your bedside table—but what are essential oils exactly? Are they simply a fancy beauty product? Are they a new fad that’ll soon pass?

If you’ve never used essential oils, or if just have limited experience with them, they might seem like a complete mystery.

The truth is, millions of people use essential oils every single day for things like cooking, cleaning, personal hygiene, fitness, sleep, overall health, and more.

What is an essential oil?

So, what are essential oils? Scientifically speaking, essential oils are volatile aromatic compounds.

In less scientific terms, they are the essence of plants, taken from roots, bark, flowers, seeds, and other plant parts.

Did you know that an essential oil is what gives a plant its scent? Essential oils can also protect a plant from predators or environmental conditions.

Not only do millions around the world enjoy essential oils today, but they’ve been utilized by dozens of cultures throughout history.

Though it might seem like you only started hearing about essential oils within the last few years, they’ve actually been in use for hundreds of years.

Ancient civilizations used plant extracts for things like healthcare, aromatherapy, beauty treatments, food preparation—the list goes on.

In modern times, we’ve perfected the use of plants in everyday life, and finally have the technology to truly harness the power of the earth.

Those who are new to essential oils might be wondering, “What do I use them for?”

If you’ve had a bottle of essential oil on your kitchen counter or in your closet for a while and aren’t exactly sure how to use it, you’re not alone.

The good news? Learning how to use essential oils is easy.

Like the peoples of the ancient world, we too have dozens of practical applications for essential oils today.

For example, essential oils can be used to:

• Promote healthy-looking skin.
• Cleanse the air and eliminate odors.
• Help maintain a healthy respiratory system and feelings of clear breathing.*
• Support good oral hygiene.*
• Promote healthy digestion.*
• Create an uplifting atmosphere.
• And more!

As you can see, there are plenty of applications for essential oils in our daily lives.

Here are a few examples of ways you can use essential oils if you’re just starting out.

• Diffuse a few drops of essential oil using a diffuser.
• Place a drop of oil in your hands, rub your palms together, and inhale deeply.
• Apply essential oils to the wrists and wear as a personal fragrance.
• Add a drop of oil to your moisturizer or face cleanser to promote healthy-looking skin (try essential oils like Lavender oil or Frankincense oil for this). · Put a few drops in a glass of water for internal benefits (Lemon oil and Grapefruit oil work well for this).

Don’t wait another day to experience the amazing benefits of essential oils.

Still wondering how to use essential oils? It’s easier than you might think. Leave a comment below and I’ll answer your essential oil questions!

A good night's sleep is essential, but it isn't always easy to get one. 
Busy schedules and stressful lives can keep us from getting the sleep our bodies need. 
As I've been thinking about sleep, I realize that we need to do more than just plug in a diffuser next to our bed and hope sleep will come. 
We need to be mindful of how our days go, show ourselves grace, and unplug before going to bed. 
That said, establishing a bedtime routine, one that includes essential oils, is very beneficial. 
I'm so attached to my diffuser that I take it with me when I travel. :-)
First I'll tell you my routine, then I'll tell you a few tips I learned on a expert website dedicated to helping us all get a good night's sleep. 

It would be hard to say whether I like doTERRA's products or their essential oils better.

I really love both and wouldn't want to live without either. 

However, as I was finishing up a shower this morning and using one of my favorite products, I realized I don't share about the products often enough. (Really, I don't share often enough at all! I hope to change that.)

So here's the list in no particular order (because I can't pick a favorite of my favorites) of my top 5 favorite doTERRA products. 

My cousin asked what to do if she feels like she's coming down with something. I texted back a quick reply, but thought I'd give a fuller reply here.

Basically, I recommend the following:

• Take Lifelong Vitality vitamins every day to improve overall health and immunity
  
• Take one On Guard + gel cap every day during the winter months
  
• Take two On Guard + gel caps as soon as you feel you might be coming down with something
  
• Use On Guard, Melaleuca, and Oregano on your feet. The Touch roller bottles are a great way to do this.
  
• Gargle a little water with two drops of Melaleuca
  
• Make a hot little drink by mixing 1-2 drops of Lemon and On Guard in a bit of honey. Add hot water, stir, and sip.
  
• Use the On Guard foaming hand soap to keep hands clean. TIP: Use 2/3 soap and 1/3 water to stretch the soap out
  
• Use the On Guard hand sanitizing spray on door knobs, toilet handles, sinks, etc. to kill germs
  

On top of all that, REST! If I start to feel under the weather, I do much of the above, plus make a cup of chamomile tea with honey and stop whatever else I'm doing and rest. It's worked so far!

What tips do you have? Leave a comment below and let me know.

I'm sure you've heard one of the powers of aromatherapy are positive (or negative) associations with certain smells.

The smell of Rose essential oil holds a powerful memory of my grandmother, who used to put Rose Milk lotion on every day. She smelled like roses! Though my grandmother died when I was only 12, when I smell doTERRA's Rose Lotion, I am comforted with the feeling I had when I was with my her.

So I know there is power in scent associations, but I hadn't thought of how we could really use this to our advantage until I read a magazine article last night.

In the December 2016 issue of livehappy magazine (and it is such a HAPPY magazine!), I stumbled across an article titled, "Try using mint, eucalyptus, and citrus scents to energize and uplift you." That got this doTERRA girl interested!

The article talks about how the 5-6 million cells we have in our nasal passages exist to detect odor. The moment an odor is detected, "our brain processes it for taste and memory."

It continues, "before your brain can even process the name of the scent, it has triggered our limbic system, which is responsible for our basic emotions. If there's a strong memory associated with the smell, the effects are even more dramatic."

That's what caught my attention. What if we CREATE strong memories and attach them to a scent?

The article quotes Joseph Cardillo, Ph.D. He says, "As you get used to using scent to ramp up or calm down, it will work faster each time, because of the memory component. You're creating new circuits in the brain and literally changing the way your brain operates in those situations."

Don't you see the possibilities?

I already have a taste of this. I diffuse Serenity and Eucalyptus every night, so as soon as I start the diffuser, I immediately calm down. I associate those scents with bedtime. They send a powerful signal to my brain that the day is done and I can lay my head down on my pillow and fall asleep.

Here are a few ideas for you to try to create your own scent memories:

• Pick a calming scent like Bergamot, Lavender, Serenity, Peace, Cedarwood, etc. Get in a comfy chair and put your feet on the ground. Start to quiet your mind. Put a drop of the chosen oil on your hands and cup your hands over your nose and mouth and breathe in deeply. Sit quietly breathing in the aroma for 5 minutes. Repeat this every day for a week. My guess is that the next time you are stressed, smelling in the oil that you've associated with this calming exercise will bring your stress level down fast.
• Try using the same oils in your diffuser every night. About 30 minutes before bedtime, start your diffuser. When you come to bed, the scent will envelop you and hopefully bring you into dreamland quickly.
• The article has another suggestion: "Use scent to boost your learning power for work or school by diffusing a certain smell...then smelling it again immediately before making your presentation or taking a test."
• Before having lunch with a favorite friend or before sitting down to watch a favorite movie, rub a cheerful scent on your wrists (some ideas are Cheer, Motivate, Citrus Bliss, Wild Orange, Lemon, etc.). Smell throughout your visit or the movie. See if you can link a scent to a cheerful situation, so the next time you're down in the dumps, you can use that scent to lift you up.

What ideas do you have? I'd love to start a conversation about this topic. Please leave a comment below.

A leader on the team I'm on posted something in our Facebook group that I found so interesting. I've thought you couldn't take Oregano every day, but I was wrong! Here's what she wrote:

Today I discovered that I had learned something wrong and I've taught it wrong. Like many of us, my understanding was that we should not take Oregano for more than about 2 weeks consecutively so as not to disrupt our gut's good bacteria.

MYTH!!! I had no idea. While this concept makes perfect sense, science shows us something completely different. In an online discussion today, our VP Emily Wright chimed in to clarify this issue to us:

"I am traveling and don't have access to the research handy, but this is exactly with Jennifer Edens, PhD, conducted her research on. She was able to prove that essential oils do not attack the friendly bacteria in the gut. This is one of those things that leave scientists scratching their head because they can't explain it. I trump it up to the oils having an intelligence that we cannot fully comprehend and will never be able to mimic. That's the beauty of nature's perfection!"

Pretty amazing!

Years ago when I was first buying essential oils, you had to go to a health food store to get them. They weren't mainstream at all. 

Now you can buy essential oils in big discount stores. Here's a news flash...

The oils you buy in those stores aren't REAL essential oils. They're synthetic. Sometimes 100% synthetic in fact (as shown by the guy at Essential Oil University).

doTERRA started eight years ago because the owners knew that for an essential oil to have the power to improve your health and well-being it needed to be pure, natural, and potent. They also knew that much of what was sold in the marketplace was none of those things.

Is Purity Enough?

Many oil labels claim that their oil is 100% pure. And it might be! But that doesn't mean that it has the chemistry it needs to get the job done.

Lavender grown in Utah has a different chemical makeup than lavender grown in Bulgaria.

Different parts of a plant contain essential oils with a differing chemical composition. While most parts of the cedar tree have essential oils, the heartwood has the highest concentration of cedrol, the chemical constituent that gives Cedarwood its calming effect. Some companies produce Cedarwood by distilling all parts of the tree, giving them a higher yield of essential oil, then adding synthetic cedrol to make up the difference. doTERRA distills only the heartwood so that our Cedarwood is naturally high in cedrol (and doTERRA never, ever adds synthetic chemicals to their oils!).

So you see, it's not just purity that counts. Potency counts, too!

Why buy wholesale?

Some people don't want to become wholesale customers of doTERRA, but I ask, why? What's the downside? You don't have to buy anything else EVER. You don't have to sell. You don't have to get on a monthly reoccurring order.

Are you a member at Costco? If so, you paid $55 to be a member and you have to show your card every time you shop there because you have to be a member to get their prices.

Why did you join Costco? When I originally got a membership, I was buying something big, like a TV or computer, and I was going to save more than $55 if I bought it at Costco. I had no intention of buying other things at Costco. I just wanted the initial savings.

Since then, I've found LOTS of products I love at Costco, so I am now a repeat customer.

Just like Costco, some people join doTERRA as a wholesale customer because they can save lots of money by purchasing an enrollment kit. They don't plan to buy more and that's fine!

Others want to be a wholesale member because they want to earn free products with Loyalty Rewards. They start with a smaller kit and then set a date for a monthly order to be shipped (the contents of that order can change every month depending on what you need).

Some people become a wholesale member, then place two or three one-time orders at random times during the year.

It's up to you.

I want to make a few things VERY CLEAR:

• If you are a wholesale customer, you aren't required to make any future purchases.
• If you are a wholesale customer, you don't need to sell anything (and in fact, you can't. You have to be a Wellness Advocate to do that.)
  
• If you are a wholesale customer, you get 25% off the retail price for one year.
• At the end of one year, your membership does NOT automatically renew. If you purchase again after 1 year, you'll be charged a $25 renewal fee and doTERRA will include a free Peppermint in your order.
• If you are a wholesale customer, you have the OPTION of signing up for Loyalty Rewards, the most awesome monthly rewards program ever.

So what's stopping you? If you're ready to purchase doTERRA essential oils at the BEST price possible, become a wholesale member today. Instructions can be found by clicking on the Buy Now button below.

Get started with doTERRA in three simple steps: try a sample, learn more, then buy an enrollment kit.

Getting started with doTERRA is one of the best decisions you'll ever make for you and your family. My overall health and well-being has improved so much in the past three years since I've been using essential oils and taking the vitamins. So has my family's health.

So what's stopping you from taking the first step towards good health and well-being?

Have you tried a doTERRA essential oil yet? They aren't the same as the ones you can get at the grocery store. These essential oils are the purest and most potent oils you can buy. You haven't tried an essential oil until you've tried a doTERRA essential oil.

Request a free sample today!

You have questions. I have answers (or at least I can find the answers!). There are a couple easy ways to learn more about the oils before you jump in and make an investment:

• Schedule a free 30 minute online conference call with me.
  
• Spend some time exploring this website plus doTERRA University.

Whichever way you decide, just know that I'm always here to answer your questions.

Though you can pay the $35 wholesale fee and pick and choose which oils to buy, I always recommend starting with an enrollment kit. Why? Because you'll end up getting some oils that you wouldn't have ordered and you.will.love.them. You'll be so glad you did!

Pick the kit that has as many things in it as you want (including a diffuser), then either add extras on to that first order or set up a Loyalty Rewards order for the next month.

Check out the enrollment kits here, then go here for instructions on how to buy.

You'll be so glad you got started with doTERRA!

Ever had one of those days as a homeschool mom where the kids are balking at their schoolwork, with one wanting to jump on top of the table and the other fall asleep doing her math, and you just want to run back to bed and take a nap? Yeah. Me, too.

I'd find it hard to make it through a full homeschool day without using essential oils on both my kids and myself.

The first thing I do is start the diffuser. I love to use oils that are grounding. I don't need kids so calm they are asleep, but I don't want them bouncing off the walls either. I need them balanced. I need myself balanced, too, so I don't turn into that crazy homeschool mom. Something uplifting, but not too energizing, grounding, but not sleep-inducing...that's what I want in the diffuser. Some great examples are Balance, Citrus Bliss, Motivate, Cheer, Lavender/Peppermint/Wild Orange, Frankincense.

The second thing I do is rub some InTune (the Focus blend) on the back of my kids' necks. There's a spot at the base of the neck right where there's a little indention that's the perfect place to apply essential oils that support the brain. A great focus blend helps the kids settle down and get to work. Sometimes (many times!) I need to use some focus blend to help myself stay focused on the home and not on Facebook. Anyone get that? :-)

The third thing I do is take my vitamins. Lifelong Vitality and Mito2Max keep me from feeling the need to run back to bed for a mid-afternoon nap. Getting all the nutrients my body needs is helpful. My 14 year old takes a full dose of vitamins, too. I'd have younger kids on the children's vitamin. I wish I could say that we grew our own food and ate every single thing organic, but I can't. We live real around here.

How about you? Would you like to try a sample of any of the oils I mentioned? Click on Free Sample to have a free sample mailed to you.