We are in the month of December and many of us are celebrating the holidays by getting together with family and friends. These are times that should be filled with peace, joy and fun!

Do you need some ideas for staying peaceful and joyful?

Start by eating right. Too many sugar laden treats can cause mood swings as your blood sugar level goes up and down. The fiber in fruits and vegetables can help keep the blood sugar level even so you do not get a lot of highs and lows. When your blood sugar spikes after eating something sugary the body sends out more insulin. Insulin helps to move the sugar into our cells and a couple of hours after that sugary snack, your blood sugar falls. When the blood sugar gets low we need to eat and if we eat something sugary we start the cycle all over again. When our blood sugar gets low we can feel crabby, jittery, wired, tired, shaky, or sleepy.
Watch out for the caffeine buzz. It can hit and make you loose your cool as you get jumpy or wired. Add caffeine buzz to low blood sugar and you may have react by growling or acting out because you need some food! Some good substitutes for caffeine are water, lemonade, herbal teas and juice.

Get some exercise. Walk and extra couple of blocks. Dance! around the kitchen as you make dinner or while dinner is is the oven, turn on some music and dance in the living room.
Remember to laugh…. it helps us feel good. The more we can laugh at our life the lighter we become.

Essential oils or aromas can help us feel calmer. My friend simmers cloves, cinnamon and vanilla in water on the stove and it smells yummy. I like to use essential oils to scent the room.

Essential oils come from plants. They are very compatible with our bodies. Essential oils have been used as medicine in England, Germany and France for many years. Many have anti viral,anti fungal and anti bacterial properties. We use herbs in cooking that have many of these properties. For example, a powerful herb is oregano. Love oregano in cooking? Well, the oregano in an essential oil is much stronger because it is in liquid form that retains the original properties because it is not dried and it is more concentrated. I know that the spices in my cupboard are not fresh. And when we buy spices we do not know how long they have been on the shelf, if they have been stored properly ect. That is an advantage of essential oils is most will not breakdown and if stored properly they will last a long time.

Young Living is a brand of essential oils that I prefer to use. They are produced according to AFNOR and ISO standards. Many other oils do not meet these standards. “The… AFNOR( Association French Normalization Organization Regulation) and ISO ( International Standards Organization )standards are standards used in Europe that outlines the chemical profile and principal constituents that a quality essential oil should have.” For example, Thyme can may contain different chemotypes depending on where it is grown, how it is grown, climate, harvesting, altitude. These factors can affect the thyme oil and when it is distilled into and oil it may contain Thymol or linalol or eugenol….
By purchasing an oil that has been distilled by the AFNOR standard, the purchaser is able to determine the characteristics he or she is looking for in Thyme oil. * from Essential OIls Desk Reference

Essential Science Publishing has a book called the ESSENTIAL OILS Desk Reference. There is much more information available about specific essential oils particularly which oil to use, if it can be taken internally, topically or inhaled. It also tells which oil to use for different situations.

If you want to purchase a different brand of essential oils, I recommend that you find a brand that can be taken internally. If it says for external use only, it has probably been mixed with petro chemicals and it will not be effective as healing agent.

If you think that what you put on your skin or wash your hair with or chemicals in your environment do not affect you, try several experiments. Put a clove of garlic between your toes. How long does it take before you can taste it? Chemicals that we come in contact with on a daily basis can store in the fat under our skin. It may be possible that all the chemicals that we breathe in on a daily basis in the form of cleaners ect can have long term effects on our brains. And we want to use the purest things around our kids. The “Essentail Oils” desk reference has information on chemicals that can store under our skin that are in products we purchase. My reflexology teacher told us to take mineral oil and soak a saltine cracker in it. After it sits in the oil a bit the cracker becomes hard as a rock. So her question to us was DO you want to put mineral oil on your skin?

Back to peace and calming. What makes you feel happy? Make some gingerbread cookies, or chocolate chip cookies. Maybe its the smell of soup? How about bread? Using oils in our environment can make us feel better and bring up happy feelings.

One of my favorite oils is called Peace and Calming. It literally brings a sense of calm to my body when I smell it. I also love lavender. I use lavender spritzed in water on my pillow case. If I can’t sleep I apply it to my feet and top of my head. I also feel wonderful when I use a young living oil called JOY. It smells fantastic. If you have fragrant sensitive people around use oils sparingly. You can still apply them to your feet, put socks and shoes on and enjoy the effect.

Essential oils can be applied topically, inhaled or eaten. Smells particularly can affect our mood. Find some scents that elevate your mood. Avoid scents that contain petrochemicals. Would you like to sit and inhale bleach or varnish..I would not. So my point is avoid buying products that are not pure plant based scents.

I am a distributor of Young Living Essential oils. There was a one time fee of $50.00 and I get the lowest price forever. If you would like to know more about it email me. If you would like to sign up under me my distributor number is 847488.

May your holidays be filled with Joy, Peace and Calm. Blessings, Eileen