What's in your Washing Machine? Chemicals go skin deep...

 

Your skin is the largest organ in your body. It covers your body. It was put there to protect everything that is on the inside and should be treated with great care. Chemicals that come in contact with our skin enter directly into our bloodstream before they have the chance to be filtered out. We must become educated about exposures to our skin and take note of the various chemicals in our lotions, hygiene products, face creams, make-up, etc. Anything that we put on our skin. One thing that is usually overlooked, however, is our actual clothing itself (which we wear almost 24 hours a day) and the bedding we lay upon as we sleep at night. Bearing this in mind, it is absolutely critical that we think about what our clothes are being washed in. Many of us have grown up loving that Downy fresh smell but if you realized the negative effects of fabric softeners you would, I believe, seriously reconsider their use. The more and more you become accustomed the natural, uplifting fragrances of the essential oils, the more your nose recognizes just how obnoxious manufactured frangrances and chemicals really are-- whether  Febreeze, Yankee Candle, Glade Plug-ins or fabric softeners. Just consider the following:

 

Fabric softeners are some of the most toxic products made for daily household use.  They contain chemicals like chloroform, benzyl acetate and pentane that are known to cause cancer and/or damage to the lungs, brain and nerves.  These chemicals are even more dangerous when heated in clothes dryers.  The toxic fumes go into the neighbor-hood and everyone is forced to breathe them in.   

Fabric Softener chemicals are made to stay in clothing and release slowly for a long time.  That slow release of chemicals into the air affects the health of those wearing the clothes and also other people around them.

Some of the symptoms caused by fabric softener fumes are: breathing difficulty, tiredness not resolved by resting, nervousness for no known reason, difficulty controlling body movements, problems with concentration or memory, dizziness, headaches, feeling faint, upset stomach, and/or rashes.   

Babies, children, older people and those who are already sick are especially harmed by these chemicals.  Damage can be permanent, causing lifelong illness.  Babies often react with rashes, frequent crying and/or diarrhea.  Disinfectants can have these same effects.  Experts suggest a possible connection between Sudden Infant Death (“Crib death”) and the use of these products for washing baby clothes, crib sheets and blankets.   

 

If you are looking to actually soften your clothes try dissolving 1/2 cup baking soda to your water and letting dissolve prior to putting in clothes. If you buy fabric softnener for the frangrance then here are some suggestions:

 

Oils can be added to each washer load of clothes. Lemongrass is one of my favorites right now for several reasons: It is economical, has a potent smell, helps clean and disinfect the clothes along with your laundy soap and keeps your washer very clean and disinfected at the same time. I add about 5 drops to each full load that I wash and a few extra drops to the rinse cycle if the clothes were especially soiled. You may use other oils according to your preference such as Thieves, Lavender, any citrus oils, Purification, etc.

I also add lemongrass or something like it to a spary bottle that I use to iron with. I do not use spray starch nor do I dry clean any longer unless absolutely necessary because they use formaldehyde among other toxic chemicals. I love ironing with my lemongrass spray and it adds layer upon layer of smell. If you must dryclean be sure to air your clothes out of doors before wearing them. Remember- know what you are buying for your family and know what you are putting on your body all day. It is more than just changing creams, lotions, and eating organic. When it comes to happy, healthy laundry don't get taken to the cleaners!!

.

My hair is falling! My hair is falling!...out, that is

My husband will be so happy to know I have made this post. Husbands everywhere may thank me. As soon as I have washed and blown my hair dry, my husband (a.k.a. Mr. Clean) is waiting outside the bathroom door with the vacuum cleaner because he will not enter until the mass of black hair has been swept clean away. When he does enter, he will dutifully check the drain and pull out a clump of black ookiness (he calls it a dead rat)  while holding his nose and rush to the trash can to deposit it. Then, he looks at me as if silently assessing whether or not I actually have any hair left on top of my head and shakes his head as if to say, "How can any normal person lose that much hair?" Well, ladies, we do. If you have had a child or have passed the age of 35- or both- there is a good chance that you are a shedder! I want to help to shed some light on this phenomenon and get to the root of the problem. Did you see my little jokes? "Shed" some light? "Root" of the problem-- hee hee. Okay, so down to business......It is all hormone related. Yes, yes.....isn't everything?

 Let's look back to when you were pregnant with your first little one. Did you notice how luxurious your hair and nails were? How fast they grew, how strong and lustrous it all seemed? Many write it off to pre-natal vitamins and determine to take them the rest of their lives. After delivery, however, a few short months may have passed and you found yourself with dry, brittle nails, split ends, thinning hair. It just didn't style the same, it didn't blow dry the same. Switching shampoo didn't help.... and then the shedding began. If you were breastfeeding this process may have been delayed until you began to wean or your baby began on solid foods (which is, in fact, weaning).And if you were very observant the shedding escalated right before you began to menstruate again and then followed your monthly cycle thereafter. The primary reason is due to Progesterone. When you are pregnant your body is producing about 400 mg of Progesterone A DAY! That level plummets after delivery (thus, postpartum depression) unless you are a diligent nurser. Then the drop is a little less though still noticeable. However, as nursing your baby draws to a close or you start solids and there is less nursing, hormones begin to shift and Estrogen once again tries to assume its dominant position of being miss bossy pants. Ask your husband, he probably noticed (:

The body is so wonderful and resilient that in an ideal life with the ideal body living in ideal circumstances you would sail through the adjustment and barely notice. But with women today already struggling for good health, facing autoimmune diseases, having evidence of hypothyroidism (even though the Dr. says levels look fine) there is very little margin for our bodies to handle these hormone changes. Increased hair loss is yet another result. On average, everyday, you lose about 10 % of your hair. Everyday! This is normal shedding, and should only be detected when you see a little left in your hairbrush. Low progesterone levels or excessive Estrogen cause a marked difference and changes that percentage to more like 40% loss a day. Natural Progesterone could be a great help if you match any of these descriptions. Young Living's Progessence Serum is plant-derived natural progesterone mixed with Frankincense oil. You can use it daily and do not have to cycle it with your monthly period. You can use it only when you detect symptoms of low estrogen or daily as a prevention. If you have seen so much hair loss that there are bald spots I would apply the serum directly to that site. Otherwise, applying along the carotid arteries of your neck makes for great absorption. Keep written notes on your calendar of what days you use the serum and what results you begin to see. This will serve as a log for you to check back with and tell if there has really been a difference. Also write down the days your hair loss seems more extreme and see how that coincides with your monthly cycle. In addition to addressing hormones- or as a treatment on its own- use essential oils as a scalp and hair treatment. Rosemary and Cedarwood are both oils that cleanse, nourish and strengthen the hair follicle and help to prevent hair loss.

Recipe for thick, lustrous hair once more:
5 drops Rosemary
5 drops Cedarwood (can use both oils or select one)
Mix with extra virgin olive oil, pure coconut oil or Jojoba oil and massage into the scalp (pay special attention to balding spots)
Leave on scalp for at least 15 minutes and then wash hair as usual

I would suggest doing this while you soak in the tub or during an excercise routine.
If you are serious then be dilligent and do this before each hair washing. For it to work, YOU have to work it! Let me know your results...and may your hair be luxurious once more!

Fall cleaning with Thieves!

Fall is in the air! This is one of my favorite times- boiled peanuts, football games, sweaters, crisp air and hot apple cider! God is so good to give us all of the changes in seasons so that we have variety throughout the year. Usually, when I need a change, I simply rearrange the furniture in my house or switch around a closet. Fall is an especially wonderful time to do this because we are all tucking away our summer wardrobe and bringing out the oranges, browns, bluejeans and courderoys that will serve us for the next several months. I recently changed out my boys' clothes and revamped the closet that they share- getting rid of old and finding what would fit for the coming season. I also took advantage of having the closet empty to clean in there. Inevitably, cleaning out one space motivates me to clean out another and this weekend I was on a de-cluttering and cleaning out binge. I went through each room asking myself "What can I get rid of in here?" It was fun! Bags are loaded in the back of my car now to be dropped at the thrift store or to be delivered to various friends with children who can now wear the clothes that mine have outgrown. It is a great feeling to SIMPLIFY. My husband and I are adopting this as a theme for this coming year- we are simplifying time, schedules, finances, clothes, TOYS (can I get an amen?) and our lives in general.

 One of the tings that drew me to begin using the Young Living products was a desire to SIMPLIFY my cleaning regimen and find a cleaner that was not killing brain cells along with killing the germs and dust in my house. In fact, my first order almost 4 years ago now was the Thieves cleaning kit. It comes with the all-purpose Thieves household cleaner (2 of them!) that can be used from your kitchen to your bath to your laundry area as well as for windows and mirrors. It is very simple to use. The kit also comes with the fabulous Thieves oil which is wonderful to diffuse and kills must, mold and mildew throughout your house. The Thieves handsoaps comes with the kit as well as the toothpaste which we love. It is a great way to start. You can throw out the six or so assorted cleaners that you have bought for different area and replace them all with the Thieves cleaner. The cleaner is concentrated so to use it you dilute it and make up your own bottles tailored for whichever area of the house you want to use them in. Start with 2 or three 32oz. cleaning spray bottles you can find at the dollar store. I pour the Thieves cleaner into the bottle up to about 1/4inch. I have never measured this but I would guess it is about 1 to 2 Tbsp. Fill the rest of the bottle with good water- not chlorinated from the tap but one that has been through a carbon filter or buy distilled water from the grocery store for 99 cents (use this for your ironing, too and you won't have brown spots left on your clothes). Here is the fun part with the cleaner- if you desire, you may add oils to enhance the smell and effect of the cleaner. The cleaner can stand on its own for sure but I use the oils for the scent and the added action they bring. Lemon or lemongrass is wonderful in the kitchen. Both are antibacterieal and antiviral. Spray down your cutting boards, your counter tops, particularly crusty casserole dishes before they go into the dishwasher, etc. For the bathrooms you can use the same or try lavender, peppermint or purification which is one of my favorites for cleaning. Spray your baseboards or, better yet, make a big soapy bucket with about 1-2Tbsp of thieves cleaner and add in the thieves oil or purifaction and go through your house cleaning baseboards, all surfaces, floors, and wiping down the walls of those closets you've been cleaning out. You will love the smell and feel accomplishing. Diffuse with Purification as you do this and watch your house be transformed. It is amazing how a house that feels clean to you also looks better to you! Mix up a lightly more concentrated bottle and put the cleaner in your laundry area to replace your old Spray n Wash or Shout! For a terrible greasy pot put a capful of the undiluted cleaner right in with a little water and wipe off after 10 minutes or so. It is a wonderful degreaser. Use lemon oil in place of goo-gone. It is great for getting tough price tags off of picture frames, stickers off of windows, etc. Just be careful using it on painted surfaces because it can take off the paint as well! I cannot say enough about diffusing. Wait for a beautiful Fall day with good breeze and open up all of your windows as you clean to give your home a good airing. Then, begin to diffuse with Thieves, Purification, Lemongrass, or your choice. These three wil have you breathing better, kill viruses living in the air as well as mold spores and dust mites circulating from all that cleaning! AT the same time, you are protecting and building up your immune system particulalry when you are using the Thieves oil. One final tip- rub a little of the Thieves oil on the bottom of your children's feet before they head out the door to school. It will protects their immune system and help fight off whatever they are being exposed to during the days. More on children and oils to come later but for now go tackle your homes, give things away, move some furniture around and enjoy a simple and effective cleaning of your house and home. You will feel better for it....

Make your own air freshener/carpet freshener recipe:

1 drop of essential oil per ounce clean water

Spray on carpet before vacuuming, spray on cloth furniture like febreeze and spray in the air

Favorites to use:

Any of the oils I listed above plus Joy, Peppermint, Christmas Spirit (with the season, of course), Balsam Fir or your choice

Essential oils- why we love them!

Essential oils are fragrant little bottles of goodness. They are medicines, they are perfumes, they are deodorizers and aromatherapy. The most common question that I receive from people is- "What oil do I use for such and such". While there is often a specific answer to this question, the general answer is to just begin using the basic oils in your everyday life and let them have tehir powerful affect generally before focusing on specifics. It is like finding God's will for your life. To many, that seems like an elusive idea that may only be discovered by prayer and fasting, but the Truth is that God's general will for EVERYONE is contained within His word. There is enough of the genereal will of God for each of us to be doing that quite often if we are faithful to do that, He will take care of His specific will and not allow us to miss it. God's general will includes first seeking God with all of our hearts. talking to Him daily, loving all people and showing it by displaying patience, self-control, joy and other fruits of the Spirit. This alone could keep us busy for a lifetime! Sharing Christ with people is God's general will for all of us. If we make this our aim He will take care of our lives and lead us into the very specifics such as who we are to marry, where we are to work, if we are to work, what home we should live in, where should our children go to school, should we sign up for soccer this spring, or should I serve in that area of ministry at church.  It seems to be our nature to go looking for the specifics instead of giving our time to what we already know.
Our health and our bodies are very much the same.
Essential oils are not greasy oils like our cooking oils(olive, coconut, canola, etc.). They can penetrate the skin but do not clog pores. They are obtained by low pressure/low temperature steam distillation rather than being pressed from a plant. They have a shelf life of hundreds of thousands of years as they in themselves carry super ability to preserve and nurture life- they will do the same thing in your body! Look at some of the wonderful properties of these plant oils:
Antimicrobial- against bacteria, viruses and fungi
Insect repellant and used to treat bite symptoms
Antispasmodic- promotes muscle relaxation- menstral cramps, injuries, tension
Settling for stomach discomforts
Pain relieving
Increases circulation and oxygen to the tissues (we will come back to this one)
Stimulates the immune system
Hormone-like properties
Initiates regeneration of nerves
Assists in balancing psychological symptoms
Lessens anxiety

Increase alertness

Humans need blood to live and plants need their essential oil to live. The chemical structure of these oils is compatible with the human cells and tissues. They are compatible with human protein, therefore, our bodies readily identify the oils and accept them in. They have the ability to actually penetrate the cell membrane and diffuse through the blood and tissues and travel to all parts of the body within minutes. Essential oils can increase oxygen at the cellular level! As we will see later on, all disease growsbecause of an acidic enviromnet where oxygen levels are low and depleted. The ability to increase oxygen to cells is equivalent to giving life to the cells and enabling them to do what they were designed and created to do. Whether it is a heart cell, a liver cell, or a hormone cell- we want them all working at their optimum level! Click on the following link for a great explanation of how Young Living's oils are purely therapeutic and to see suggestions on certain oils and their uses.

http://www.nurturedfamily.com/blog/index.php/2010/11/essential-oils/

Abundant Living and Appreciating Assets

All of those titles would be sure to catch most anyone's attention- especially in today's society where we are busy, tired, run down, and yet more and more responsibility seems to greet us with each new day. Add in a marriage, three or so children, work responsibilities, relationships and...whew! We need Jesus! But we also need to take care of ourselves and our bodies. I heard a minister make the statement one time that " Our body is our greatest asset". That statement has stuck with me for several years now as I have mulled over whether or not I see the validity in it. As a believer, isn't our re-created spirit where Christ himself dwells our greatest asset? Isn't our mind renewed with God's Word our greatest asset? After all, right thinking equals right living, doesn't it? Well, each of these is an arguable point but I have observed and even experienced for myself that our body is, indeed, our greatest asset here on the earth. Without it, even the purest of hearts, even the wisest of minds still come up short in their ability to get up, move about and impact the world. Even the most mature and sagacious of Believers has to get his body up out of bed in the morning and enter into the new day. We can't travel if we're unwell, we can't serve others if we are sick, and we have little to give out when we ourselves are tired and in pain.We need hands to serve with, feet that take us somewhere, and the energy to boot. Our body is a great asset and we want to appreciate it a little more than we have been! My husband is leading Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University at out church right now and we are undergoing financial reconstruction in some ways and fine tuning others. With financial planning it is common to hear the phrase "depreciating assets". Well, if you are a woman who is approaching 35 or can look back and see it in the distance, you begin to realize that, like your vehicle(only pay cash for your car- Dave Ramsey says so), your body begins to feel like a depreciating asset. I have recently come into this knowledge and I am determined to push my body right back into my assets collumn! For many of us, our bodies have gotten into debt. Our time and energy accounts are overdrawn, we are exceeding our spending limit every day and as a result our hormones are unhappy, our health is unhappy, and our husbands are unhappy! We can change this!

This a happy, healthy woman. Everyone who wants to feel like this, raise your hand...or hold out both arms and throw your head back, that's even better!

 About 3 or 4 years ago I was invited to a friend's home where I was introduced to a line of Essential Oils and other health care products by a company called Young Living. Well, I was already praying and primed for a change that I knew my family and I needed to embrace in order to go to the next level of living that I believed God had for us. We had already made several changes in our diets, learning what it meant to eat organic, etc. but I knew there was more. As a nurse and a former Biology major, the biochemistry of the oils and how they related to the human body intrigued me. I began to study and as I did we gradually accumulated these little bottle of fragrant oils in bathroom drawers, kitchen cabinets and upon bedside tables until the use of them had become a way of life for us. My children didn't need antibiotics any more. My husband stopped having a bout with strep throat twice a year, my constant allergies began to disappear, and our energy increased. We knew that we were healthier and stronger. As my interest grew, I began to share my little finds with others and before I knew it I had women calling and emailing and desiring seminars so that they could learn more as well. Hence, this blog. This was a blog that I began with much ambition to chronicle the growings and happenings of my children but I faltered, only submitting an entry here and there. But the blog was still there. At my most recent seminar, while teaching on the oils and fielding a number of questions, one of the younger girls piped up, "You should do a blog!" and I liked the idea. So, I will attempt to keep this blog updated with teachings and information about the Young Living Oils and other products as well as lifestyle changes we are making toward a more abundant life. There may be a smattering of children pictures as well and perhaps I will be able to accomplish two things at once in this one little webby spot. I think I will start from the beginning with a teaching on what the oils are and what they can do...........

A Field Trip & Turning Six!

My little girl is six years old.  Just last week she was five years old and now she is six. Six sounds so much more grown up than 5 for some reason. She even looks older now. She wears blue jeans and rolls her eyes every once in a while.She makes her own bed, can take the wet clothes out of the washer and put them into the dryer, and puts her clothes back on their hangers. She climbs trees and moved up to the "big kids class" at church. Yet in some ways, she is still very little and I like to watch for those things. She still has a baby way of saying some words,  still wears her footie jammies, loves to carry around her baby dolls and asks for me to fix her hair up in buns. She still needs to be read aloud to and likes to be carried to her bed when we drive in late from somewhere and it's dark outside. William says that living things grow and that we should rejoice that she is alive and growing, too.(This was in response to my idea that we should freeze her exactly as she is right now. His ideas are always much wiser and doable than mine.) So, it really is a blessing. I think I will change my anouncement of her turning six........I will say: "My little girl is six years old! She is growing and strong! She has a sound mind, a peaceful heart, a born-again spirit and a healthy body! Hooray! She sailed through 5 and got promoted to 6! Her life is a great success! Next year she will be seven and it just keeps getting better!!!!! Yes, that is how it should be- a celebration.
 Here are the ways we celebrated  turning six:

We went to Mt. Vernon, George Washington's home just below DC. We got to tour the house and go through a beautiful museum gallery showing memorabilia surrounding the First President's life. The film on the Revolutionary War was a real highlight! This was our first official field trip and I thought is was a great success. The most fascinating part for me was a key that Washington had on display in his home. It was THE key to the Bastille in Paris that was stormed by angry French Revolutionaries. Apparently, LaFayette presented it to Washington as a gift in honor of him being the "father of freedom". I thought of Jesus who came to set not just a few free but all men everywhere, whether bound with natural chains or the fetters of sin. We serve the Father of ALL freedoms and he holds the keys to death, hell and the grave!
(P.S. Notice Josiah)

We had to wait in line for about an hour to tour the house at Mt. Vernon. Meanwhile, the kids could play "Graces" on the lawn. You pass a wooden hoop back and forth with two wooden sticks. It was called "Graces' because you had to keep perfect posture and let the hoop float up in the air and gracefully catch it. We obviously have to work on keeping our backside tucked in, but- hey.....we caught the hoop!

Thank you, Aunt Hannah for telling us about the wonderful Lego exhibit at the National Building Museum in DC! We took the kids for their first ride on Washington's Metro rail system to see this great exhibit. After seeing the huge Lego replicas of famous skyscrapers(like the Sears Tower), you could stay and build your own. Here's Jon Langley with the start of his creation.

Daddy and Josiah try their hand at it, too.

Shaisy building-- see the exhibit in the background? Since this is the only place I photographed a glimpse of the actual Legos on display, I obviously thought the real feature of the weekend was my children! (:

Keeping Life Colorful

Sometimes things at the last minute work the best...sometimes. This year for Hallelujah Night (our alternative to Halloween) I had not prepared any costumes. Usually, I get really excited and inspired and sew cute things and paint faces and plan my theme, only to snap a quick picture and then the moment we arrive at church my very cute, well-executed Adam, Eve & the apple costumes get stripped off, torn up, and quickly discarded in exchange for bouncing up and down on the huge blow-up games and sliding down the monster slide. A week of planning results in 5 minutes of glory... and I think most of it was for me, anyway. (Kind of like those birthday cakes I make "for the kids"...) Well, this year my lack of ambition turned out just right for everyone on Hallelujah night. When the kids realized mommy had no costumes made they were stricken with grief. So, I dug deep for some creativity, still thinking about functionality and what would survive 3 hours of ecstatic jumping and candy eating. Blue jeans, a turtleneck, a construction cone hat and a crayola wrapper blown up on the copier and....voila! The costumes were still quickly discarded and trampled but I didn't care! Jon Langley actually wore his cone hat for quite a while but that's just him. The next day they wanted to be crayons again- this was  a hit!