Crowded shopping malls, holiday parties, grocery store carts, sniffling children, public transportation, theaters – things we all fear during cold and flu season! Germs lurking everywhere! Fortunately, you can create your own arsenal of natural, organic, and safe essential oil blends to help keep you healthy this holiday season.

One of the most effective blends to keep on hand is a stock blend to use as a steam. Just one or two drops (no more!) of blend in a steaming pot of hot water, with head tented with towel, can really help to nip a cold or flu in the beginning or greatly lessen severity and duration. Some good essential oil choices are Douglas Fir, Saro, Eucalyptus (Globulus) or Eucalyptus (Dives), Rosemary, and White Spruce. (If you are asthmatic, smell a drop of Eucalyptus before adding it to blend – in some asthmatics it can really help to open airways, but in others can cause an asthma attack. If you feel like you are beginning to tighten, do not use this essential oil.) Steam for 5 to 10 minutes – this will cause a lot of mucous to be expelled, so keep tissues nearby! Repeat 3 to 4 times per day until symptoms have diminished.

Using a diffuser with a stock blend is a great way to kill airborne germs and contaminants. There are so many oils to choose from, but some to consider are Hemlock, Cedarwood, Black Spruce, Lemon, and Ghandi Root. I generally recommend starting with 5 to 7 drops in diffuser, depending on type of diffuser and size of room. Increase or decrease as necessary. If diffusing around pets, small children, or elderly, use extra caution and make sure room is well ventilated. When using a diffuser, do not run the diffuser continuously throughout day. This is not only wasteful, but it is a lot for our bodies to process. A good rule is to diffuse for 20 minutes, turn off for an hour, and then repeat if desired.

Personal inhalers, one of my favorite delivery methods for many intentions, are another great addition to your winter “survival kit”. Inhalers are portable, discrete, long-lasting and inexpensive. Essential oils are always chosen for each individual client, but some good ones to try are Fragonia, Rosalina, Sitka Spruce, and my favorite, Ravintsara. Inhalers used during cold and flu season should contain oils which are anti-inflammatory, anti-viral, anti-microbial, analgesic, strengthening to the immune system, and, if necessary, opening for nasal passages. If your nose is stuffy, Ravintsara is an “essential” essential oil to add to blend! Ravintsara, however, should not be used with children under 5 years of age, and in very small percentages with children under 10, due to high 1,8 cineole content.

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With the holidays just around the corner, many of us are feeling the pressure of the hustle and bustle that the season seems to bring. Making time for self care is not everyone’s first priority, although it is a very important one we tend to ignore. Give yourself the gift of self care.

There are some simple things that you can do to ensure you enjoy the holiday season.

1. Schedule time for you. Say no to things you don’t want to do. It’s ok to say no to others and say yes to yourself. Ensure you schedule in time to unplug regularly. You are important. The people who care about you will understand if you take time for you. Have time on a regular basis to do things that bring you joy and relaxation.
2. Take an Epsom salt bath or schedule a Float on a regular basis. Magnesium is very calming to your brain and excellent for muscle soreness and body detoxification.
3. Get outside a few minutes each day. Close your eyes and breathe in deeply and slowly. Even a few minutes a day can be rejuvenating to your mind.
4. Turn off your phone alerts and check your phone when you want to. Having your phone buzz and ring at you is a stressful event to your brain. Take control of your phone instead of having it control you. It is also important to turn off your phone at night to give yourself a break from the outside world.
5. Schedule a Reiki session. Reiki is a safe, natural, holistic healing practice. Reiki helps us move towards balance and wholeness by using simple relaxation techniques which activates the body’s natural healing response.

Benefits of Reiki:

• Heal mind, body and emotions
• Relieve pain and calm the mind
• Promote deep relaxation
• Relieve stress and anxiety
• Increase rate of recovery from injury
• Strengthen the immune system
• Help meditative state
• Promote personal awareness
• Enhance spiritual connection
• Foster natural self healing
• Balance energies in the body

Best of all, Reiki adapts to the needs of the recipient. If you are overwhelmed with stress, worry, emotional upsets, physical aches and pains, and disease you should consider a Reiki session. Your physical and energetic bodies will thank you!

By taking time to care for yourself on a regular basis, you will find yourself more energetic and able to handle life, as well as the holidays, much better. You can live an Optimal life by taking care of you!!

By Darla Conchas & Richelle Schmidt

Reiki Masters
Wellness Partners at An Optimal You

Feeling optimal involves hormone balancing, restful sleep, adequate exercise, proper nutrition, detoxification, a healthy mindset, and the right supplements. Let’s talk about exercise since it is the beginning of the new year.

Have you ever noticed how hard it is to get a parking space at the gym in January? The place is crowded with people coming and going all day long, every day. People are motivated and they go to the gym.

What does the parking lot look like in March? July? December? It has more open spaces and it is easy to park. We have all seen this trend. Typically in January people are motivated and energized to make a change and then this tapers off in February and as the year progresses.

The reason we see this trend is that people are trying to make a change by taking quick action and not by changing their mind set. They consciously want to make changes but forget that it takes more than that to create lasting change.

In order to create lasting changes it is important to first determine why you want to make the changes. There needs to be a motivating force to get you through the tough times. Take some time and write this down (pen and paper works best for your brain). Write down how it will feel when you have made the changes. Be specific on why you desire the changes and how it will make your life better. This applies to any change, not just exercise.

You would not get in your car in a new place and drive without looking at a map, would you? Create your map for the outcome that you desire. Be sure to write down why you want to make the changes you desire and look at it each day. This is your map that will guide you each day.

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Refined grains and sugars plus processed and heated fats, all serve to raise your estrogen and cortisol to abnormal levels. This affects both men and women. The increase in estrogen and cortisol can cause irritability, fatigue, moodiness, fat deposition, and an increased risk for certain cancers and heart disease.

Refined grains and sugars also decrease a number of other hormones critical to the health and wellbeing of both men and women. A decrease in Testosterone can cause sleep disorders, moodiness, depression, loss of focus, muscle mass decrease, and an increased risk for dementia, osteoporosis, and heart disease. A decrease in Progesterone can cause anxiety, sleep disorders, headaches, and an increased risk for osteoporosis, certain cancers, thyroid disorders, and dementia. A decrease in thyroid hormone can cause fatigue, weight gain, depression, and an increased risk for heart disease.

Treating hormone imbalances helps you to feel better and to prevent a variety of chronic diseases. Balancing your hormones requires a whole-body approach; addressing diet, exercise and other lifestyle-based strategies along with replacing deficient hormones with bio-identical hormones. A healthful diet, low in processed foods, minimal grains, and high in whole organic foods, along with regular exercise, can go a long way to ensuring that the bio-identical hormones prescribed for you can work optimally.

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Inflammation has been found to be associated with just about every health condition. This is a change in direction from how medicine has been approaching diseases. Modern medicine has been focusing on treating symptoms, not addressing the root cause of an issue.

Arthritis is inflammation of the joints. Heart disease is inflammation of the arteries. Instead of taking a medication to reduce joint pain or lower cholesterol, it is smarter to reduce inflammation in the body–the source of the symptoms.

Although inflammation has long been known to play a role in allergic diseases like asthma, arthritis and Crohn’s disease, it is now believed that Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels and Parkinson’s disease may all be related to chronic inflammation in the body.

Researchers believe that the cause of chronic inflammation is that our immune system becomes overactive. Your immune system gets overactivated from dietary and environmental toxins that build up in the body, turning the immune system on and keeping it highly reactive. This results in the body being flooded with immune defense cells and hormones that damage tissues.

Foods that promote inflammation include:

• Corn and Soybean oils
• Wheat and gluten containing products
• Pasteurized dairy products
• Refined carbohydrates
• Conventional meat
• Sugars
• Trans fats
• Foods you are specifically allergic too

Anti-Inflammatory foods can help you to reduce your inflammation and risk for disease and it can reduce any symptoms you are currently having. It is advised to eat foods with healthy fiber and plenty of organic non GMO fruits and vegetables to reduce inflammation.

Specific foods that can help you to reduce inflammation:

• Acai fruit
• Allium vegetables (chives, garlic, leeks, onions, scallions and shallots)
• Beans and lentils
• Green vegetables
• Hot peppers
• Nuts and seeds
• Berries
• Beans and Legumes (Ansazi beans, adzuki beans, black beans, black-eyed peas, chickpeas or lentils)
• Healthy Fats (avocadoes, expeller-pressed organic canola oil, extra virgin olive oil, flaxseed, hazelnut oil, hemp seeds, high-oleic safflower or sunflower oils, sesame oil or walnut oil)
• Herbs (basil, chili peppers, cinnamon, curry powder, garlic, ginger, rosemary, turmeric and thyme)

Supplements that can help you to reduce inflammation:

• Co-enzyme Q10
• Carotenoids
• Fish oil
• Selenium
• Vitamins C, D, & E
• Curcumin
• Turmeric and reservatrol.

Reducing your cortisol (stress hormone) is also important. Supporting your adrenal glands by proper stress management and hormone balancing can also help reduce your inflammation. This takes some time and patience. Your health is worth it! Schedule time to focus on you on a daily basis. Unplug from electronic devices regularly. Be aware of negative influences on your health and minimize your exposure to them.

Reducing your inflammation has been linked to a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. In addition, it can help you to lose weight. Inflammation must be addressed if you want to stay or become healthy.

Come to Joseph Montgomery’s talk on inflammation at 10 am on September 17th at our Wellness Expo if you would like to learn more about this important topic!