Happiness Mama

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Essential Oil Basics For Moms

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Essential Oil Basics for Moms
“I want to learn more about essential oils, but I’m not sure where to start…” I was in that boat not long ago, and I wrote this article about essential oil basics for moms to help other moms learn to use essential oils.

(Click here to buy high quality essential oils!)

In this article I share what essential oils are, benefits and practical ways to use essential oils, three popular essential oils and some of their uses, and how to get started with essential oils.

This guide also includes information about the Young Living Premium Starter Kit. You will also learn how you can get free essential oils, a free reference guide to essential oils, and one-on-one support to make learning to use essential oils easy and fun!

I’m ready! Take me to the oils!

Let’s get started…

What Are Essential Oils?

Essential oils are concentrated plant extracts. They are produced through steam distillation, resin tapping, or cold pressing, depending on what essential oil is being produced.

Essential Oil Basics For Self-care

Essential oils can be used as part of your self-care routine, from baths and skincare to aromatherapy and meditation. There are many ways to use essential oils to nurture yourself.

Essential Oil Basics to Reduce Chemicals In the Home

I try to avoid harmful or questionable chemicals whenever possible. Many essential oils have properties that make them good alternatives for various products used in the home. Many people use essential oils to freshen the air naturally, to help deter pests, to freshen laundry, for cleaning, and more.

Essential Oil Basics to Promote Wellness

Many essential oils have therapeutic qualities. For example, many moms use Thieves oil as part of their back-to-school routine to help promote wellness. Lavender is a wonderful oil we use as a general first aid and anti-itch option. And tea tree oil is well-known for its antibacterial properties. Copaiba essential oil is being researched for its use in reducing inflammation. These are just a handful of examples.

Essential Oil Basics For Emotional Well-being

Research has shown that aromatherapy is effective for reducing the effects of stress, such as anxiety and depression. This article describes a study in which elementary teachers in Taiwan experienced noticeably reduced levels of anxiety after inhaling diffused bergamot essential oil. Lavender is also commonly used to promote feelings of relaxation and calm. I like to diffuse lavender during homework time, and sometimes we use it at nighttime to help with sleep.

How to Use Essential Oils Aromatically

1. Diffuse

Young Living has many excellent diffusers to choose from. They’re super simple to use. I have the Dewdrop Diffuser. It’s small, quiet, and works great. I love the auto shutoff feature.

2. Inhale

You can add a drop of essential oil to your palm, rub your hands together, and cup your hands over your nose and inhale. Or you can simply inhale from the bottle. (I’ll be grabbing my bottle of bergamot when things get stressful around here.)

Another option is to add oils to a bowl of hot water, and then lean over it with a towel covering your head and bowl as your breathe deeply.

3. Spray

You can make a room spray to freshen the air around you or your linens. You can also make your own custom “monsters-away” or “Happy Dreams” spray with relaxing lavender if your child is experiencing night-time fears.

Topically

Many essential oils can be used safely on the skin. While some can be applied directly, most need to be diluted. There are dilution instructions on the label as well as in the Reference Guide to Essential Oils.

When I started using essential oils topically, I wondered how to dilute them, practically speaking, and not knowing this actually kept me from trying it for a while. I don’t want it to stop you, so here are the details about how to dilute essential oils.

How to Dilute Essential Oils (Practically Speaking)

I take a small glass or ceramic bowl and add a little bit oil. (I usually use coconut oil, but olive oil, or Young Living’s V-6 oil are other good options.)

I use a teaspoon or other small spoon from my silverware drawer and scoop out a very small amount.

I place the spoon in the bowl, and then add drops of essential oil. I use the dilution instructions on the bottle as my guide. For example, if it says dilute 1 drop of oil to 4 drops carrier oil, I try to make sure there is about four times the carrier oil. I don’t measure exactly.

After adding the drops of essential oil, I just use the spoon to mix it all together before applying.

Sometimes I do further mixing with my fingers as needed.

After applying the diluted oil, I wipe off my fingers with a paper towel, and depending on the oils, I then wash my hands.

Internally

Some oils may be taken internally. Here are some different ways one can do so:
(Note: Always check the label for usage instructions. Some oils should not be taken internally.)

1. Mix one or two drops to a glass of water.
2. Add 1 to 2 drops to food when cooking.
3. Place several drops into a vegetable capsule with carrier oil and swallow with water.

Lavender essential oil to relax

Three Popular Essential Oils: Specific Uses

Lavender

Lavender is perhaps the most popular essential, and for good reason. It has many benefits, from aromatherapy, to supporting skin wellness, to creating a relaxing environment in the bath or home.

Peppermint

Peppermint is also extremely popular. From one drop in a batch of brownies, to inhaling to feel energized or diffusing to freshen the air, peppermint is awesome. It’s also a good natural way to relieve feelings of nausea.

Thieves

Thieves is a blend of clove, cinnamon, rosemary, lemon, and eucalyptus oils. It can be diffused, directly inhaled, or diluted and applied topically to help promote immune function. Thieves Vitality, which is labeled for internal use, can also be used as a dietary supplement or to add flavor to food and drinks. Thieves oil is also present in many different products, from cough drops to toothpaste to all-purpose cleaner, and more. It smells amazing. I love it.

Favorite Essential Oils From the Young Living Premium Starter Kit and Beyond

It’s amazing to see how different people respond to different oils. When my oldest daughter smelled Frankincense, she said, “It smells like home.” While she really likes it, I’m personally not that crazy about the smell. It’s fun to take note of which scents appeal to different people.

However, even if you don’t like the smell of a particular oil, the benefits are still there. Frankincense has myriad uses, including promoting feelings of spirituality. It is also used in many skincare products.

During my morning routine, sometimes I choose oils related to how I want to feel or what I want to invite into my life that day, such as Joy, Release, or Abundance.

A more recent favorite is Valor. I love how it smells. Plus, it’s blue!!

I love having a relaxing bath with lavender for me. Or sometimes I’ll add lavender or other essential oils to the shower or to a cotton ball placed in the shower, so I can enjoy them even when I don’t have time for a bath.

We love diffusing different oils at different times, depending on our moods, feelings, and needs. For example, something bright and energizing is good for the morning, to help us wake up and start the day, such as Citrus Fresh or Peppermint.

I really appreciate having natural ways to promote wellness when my girls are sick. Right now since we’re fighting a cold, and we’re diffusing R.C., which is a blend that contains three kinds of eucalyptus.

We also use Thieves diluted on the bottoms of our feet to help boost immunity. (And now Young Living has Thieves Cough Drops, which I really wish I had right at this moment.)

Purification is a blend that smells great and helps repel insects, such as mosquitoes. When we do get mosquito bites, we can use lavender essential oil directly on the skin to help relieve itching.

How to Get Started With Essential Oils

The Premium Starter Kit from Young Living offers 11 bottles of essential oils, plus a home diffuser, as well as some other goodies, like 2 packets of Ningxia Red, small samples and sample bottles for sharing, and some literature to get you started.

What Essential Oils Are In the Premium Starter Kit?

The Premium Starter Kit is a great way to get started with a variety of oils. The oils in the starter kit are Stress Away, Peppermint, Lemon, Lavender, Frankincense, Purification, R.C., Panaway, Digize, Thieves, and Copaiba.

The bottle of Stress Away comes with a roller ball so you can get started right away rolling it on.

The Young Living Premium Starter Kit also contains samples of Ningxia Red, a superfruit blend of wolfberry extract (goji berry), other fruit extracts, such as blueberry and acai, and a blend of essential oils.

I like to drink a shot of it as part of my morning routine to promote everyday wellness. Plus, it tastes delicious. Drinking Ningxia Red is a powerful way to promote wellness and energy.

I Have My Premium Starter Kit. Now What Do I Do With It?

Pick One Essential Oil

Once you get your Starter Kit, one way to get started is to pick one essential oil that you’re curious to try. Open it, smell it, and notice your feelings and thoughts. You might like to take notes or journal about the oils as you begin and continue to use them.

Use It

After you note any thoughts or feelings, begin to use the oil in ways that you already know how. For example, if you’re starting with lavender, you could run a hot bath, add some epsom salts, and 5 to 10 drops of lavender for a relaxing, self-soothing bit of mama me-time.

Learn More

It’s very helpful and fascinating to learn more about the essential oil. The Reference Guide For Essential Oils is my go-to source of information about essential oils.

How to Use the Reference Guide to Essential Oils

I use my Reference Guide all the time. Sometimes I use it to learn more about specific oils and oil-infused products and their benefits and uses.

Sometimes I have an issue that might benefit from the use of essential oils, and I use the Reference Guide to look up the issue and learn which essential oils can be used for that issue and how to use them.

Goodies and Guidance When You Order Your Kit Through Me

You’d like to get started with essential oils? There are many benefits to becoming a Young Living Member, including 24% off retail prices, and an Essential Rewards program for lots of perks to make essential oils affordable.

When you buy a Young Living Premium Starter Kit through me, I will send you either a Quick Reference Guide for Essential Oils or a handy app for your phone.

I will also be here to help you get started by answering any questions you might have. Just get in touch, and I’ll help you get started with essential oils and make sure you get your extra goodies from me.

Questions About Essential Oils?

Do you have any questions about essential oils? Post them in the comments below, or come and chat with me in the Happiness Mama Community on Facebook.

You can also email me at heather (at) happinessmama (dot) com. I’m happy to help!

Please Share

Did you find this guide to essential oil basics for moms helpful? If so, please click the social share buttons at the top to share on Facebook, Pinterest, or Twitter. You can also add it to Buffer or email it to a friend.

Take care!

Love, Heather

Body Love: How I Lost 17 Pounds In 7 Months 21

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Happiness Mama Podcast Episode 21 Love Your Body

Welcome to Season 3 of the Happiness Mama Podcast with Heather Ash! Season 3 is all about Self-Love…

Loving ourselves, body, mind, and spirit.

This episode is about loving our bodies, and specifically I talk about how I lost 17 pounds in less than 7 months. Listen to find out how I did it, and learn tips and strategies to make your own new healthy habits easy, doable, and fun!

(I even analyzed some data from my bullet journals… You might be surprised at the results. I was!)

Highlights:

  • My weight journey
  • Pregnancy weight gain
  • Postpartum priorities
  • How I’d rather not be motivated to lose weight and get in shape
  • The foundational mindset for losing weight and getting in shape (or making any other changes in your life)
  • The biggest factor in my weight loss success
  • The second biggest factor in my weight loss success
  • Dealing with imperfection
  • Imperfect dieting and exercise
  • The slow carb diet by Tim Ferriss
  • The key to losing weight
  • Real weight training results
  • Surprising results after climbing a mountain
  • How to make your habits stick
  • Surprising nerd results: What the charts revealed…
  • Creating a self-love mindset: Body Love Affirmations
  • Show your love by becoming a Happiness Mama Patron! And get mentioned on the show…

Books and Resources Mentioned In This Episode:

Spread the Word:

If you enjoyed the podcast and want to help other mamas be happier, too, visit iTunes orStitcher and kindly leave me a rating, review, and subscribe. Thank you!

How to Subscribe to the Happiness Mama Podcast:

Thank you so much for listening! I hope this podcast helps you love yourself more, body, mind, and spirit. Love to you!

Which Shining Academy Membership Is Right For You?

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Are you thinking of joining Leonie Dawson’s Shining Academy? I hope this article will answer your questions and help you decide which Shining Academy membership type is right for you at this point in your life.

Choose the Shining Academy Membership For YOU

Did you know you don’t have to have a business to benefit from being a member of the Shining Academy?

Did you know you can join the Academy and get access to tons of life resources and courses, without paying the full membership price?

Are you thinking of joining the Academy, but you’re unsure about what is included in each membership type, and which one makes the most sense for you and your life, right now?

Read on!

Shining Academy Membership: Two Types

There are two types of membership in the Shining Academy.

One type of membership is Life + Biz Access, which is full Academy membership.

Next there is Life Access Only membership, which includes a plethora of life resources and excludes business and technical resources.

Let’s dive in to learn more about each type of membership so you can decide on the one that’s right for you.

Life Access Only Membership in the Shining Academy

Membership in the Shining Academy includes a wide variety of life programs, courses, and resources to help you in all areas of life: family, spirituality, creativity, health, relationships, home, meditation, and more.

If you don’t have your own business, but you love Leonie and would love to gain access to all of her life resources and trainings, Life Access Only membership may be right for you.

Life Courses, Trainings, and Meditations

Here are some of the life courses and resources included in the Shining Academy. Over 72 life courses, workshops, and resources are available to Life Access Academy Members.

The following list is not exhaustive. These are some of the highlights. Check out Leonie’s website for more.

Personal Growth/Life Courses

Radiant Goddess E-Course
Creating Your Goddess Haven E-Course
How to Be a Morning Goddess
How to Create More Joy In Your Life Mini Workshop
How to Trust Your Intuition Mini Workshop
Healing Goddess Workshop
How to Face Your Fears
7 Life-Changing Habits for an Abundant 2016
How to Find Your Purpose Mini Workshop
Boundaries Bootcamp

Creativity Courses

Creative Goddess E-Course
Intuitive Art Workshop
Mega Colouring Book
How to Create a Mini Retreat
How to Create a Dream Board
The Project Finisher E-Book

Meditations

I Create My Amazing Year Meditation
Best Day Ever Meditation
Divine Dreaming Meditation Kit
Chakra Healing Meditation Kit
Releasing Fears Meditation Kit
Holy Dinger Uber Zennifying Meditation Kit
Instant Uplift Meditation

Shining Academy Life Mastermind

When you join with Life Access Only membership, you gain access to a Mastermind of like-minded women. This is a great community to help you find support, encouragement, friendship, and accountability. The group is very active and is located on Facebook.

What’s Not Included

In Life Access Only Academy Membership, you do not get any of the workbooks or diary delivered to your door as you do with full Life + Biz membership.

However, you do get access to the Life Workbook, which you can download and print yourself.

You also don’t get the business and marketing resources/courses.

What Else Is Included

Discounts to various tools and resources for life and business.
Monthly live coaching calls with Leonie, so you can get 1-1 support.
Regular chances to ask Leonie and other team members questions within the Mastermind (live).

Investment

Your investment to join the Shining Academy with Life Access Only is $197, which is less than half the cost of full Biz + Life Membership.

You can also take advantage of a payment plan. If you choose the payment play, you make four payments of $60 each.

Full Shining Biz + Life Academy Membership

Full membership in the Shining Academy includes all of the life resources plus tons of courses and resources to help you start and grow your business.

Business Courses and Resources

Here are some of the business resources and courses that are included in full Shining Biz + Life Academy Membership. To find out more, visit the Shining Academy website by clicking here.

Double Your Business Intensive
Business Goddess 2.o
How to Hire, Grow, and Keep a 6-Figure Team
How to Market Your Business with Videos/YouTube
SEO Masterclass: How to Get to #1 on Google
Woman Breadwinner: How to Make It Work For Your Family
Grow Your Local Bricks & Mortar Business
Create Your Sacred Sales Funnel
Self-Love in Business
Money Manifesting Course
How to Raise Your Rates Mini Workshop
How to Get and Share Testimonials to Grow Your Business
Creating a Website with WordPress
How to Use Masterminds to Accelerate Your Business
The 7 Chakra Business Model
How to Create Your Standard Operating Procedures
6i Success System

You can read more about my experience in the Shining Academy in my Shining Academy Review.

Shining Academy Business Mastermind

Full Academy membership includes access to the Shining Biz Mastermind. Located on Facebook, it’s a very active community. It’s a great place to get accountability and support, find answers to questions, and find new connections and collaborations.

Workbooks, Planners, Diary, Oh My!

When you join at the full membership level, physical copies of the yearly planners and diary, plus calendar and to-do list are included. Shipping is included as well. This is a great perk of full membership.

What Else Is Included

Discounts to various tools and resources for life and business.
Monthly live group coaching calls with Leonie, so you can get help from Leonie.
Regular chances to ask Leonie and other team members questions within the Mastermind (live).

Investment

Investment in the full Biz + Life Academy membership is $497, or 4 payments (back to back) of $140 each.

What About Customer Support?

I love the customer support team at Leonie Dawson International. They are extremely responsive and just plain nice. I’ve never had any problems with my membership, but I have had a few questions here and there.

Customer support team members are just wonderful. I know that if I have any questions or need help with anything related to my membership account, they’re just an email away and will be happy to help. And as you know, that means a ton.

Which Shining Academy Membership Is Right For You?

Shining Academy

Do you love Leonie? She is an inspiring. uplifting, gifted teacher. If you resonate with her and her work, and you have a business you’re growing or one you’re just starting, I highly recommend considering joining the Academy at the full membership level.

You get all of the awesome business resources, plus you get the life resources, AND the physical copies of workbooks and diary will be delivered to you. That is included in the price of membership.

So if you want to get paper workbooks, this is a good way to go.

If you don’t have a business, but you want to transform your life, then Leonie’s Shining Academy Life Access is a fabulous resource and community of like-minded women.

Financially, the Life Access Only membership is less than half the cost of the full membership. However, if you do have a business or need help to start one, the full membership is a great deal. $497 over the course of one year comes out to only about $41 a month. That’s not a lot to invest in your business and life.

Paper copies of the workbooks and diary are not included in life only access, but you can print out your own copy of the life workbook. I started by printing out my first yearly workbook in 2013. It’s a great way to start.

They both have payment plans, which is great.

They both have access to the discounts, which are one great way to save money on other courses and products. There is also an affiliate program which is fantastic, and a great way to easily make back the cost of your membership simply by telling others about the Academy.

If you have a business, then definitely consider the full membership. It’s definitely worth the investment if you will use it. From courses, to meditations, to discounts, to the mastermind, and the yearly planners… It’s a great investment in your business and your life.

Shining Academy Doors Are Closing Soon

Shining Academy Doors Are Closing Soon

Enrollments will close at the end of this month. Whichever membership you choose, make sure to join before the end of September. Doors are closing, and it won’t open again until sometime next year, 2017.

Let Me Show You Around + Presents!

When you join the Academy using my affiliate link, I have some special gifts for you.

1. A group video chat in November to show you around the Academy and get you off to a great start, so you know where everything is, how it works, and where you personally might like to begin. I’ll also share some tips to help you get the most out of your membership, so you can make sure you get the most possible out of it.

2. My upcoming course, The Self-Care Habit Formula, to help you create habits of self-care so you can feel your best and create the life you want. This is a great course that will empower you and help you feel your best so you can create your best life (and business, if you have one).

3. Optional: Mini Class to help you make back your investment through sharing the Leonie Love (being an affiliate).

What about you? Which membership type sounds right for you?

Questions? Just Ask!

I hope you found this article helpful! Please get in touch if you have any questions about either type of membership or which might be right for you. I know it’s an investment, either way. I’m happy to share my experience and answer any questions you have.

Love,
Heather

Small Steps to Self-Care

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Small Steps to Self-Care

As busy mamas it can be such a challenge to find even a small bit of me-time, to breathe, much less for self-care.

If you want to get back to yourself and spend a little time for YOU again, it doesn’t have to be hard or involve drastic changes all at once.

Through small steps, you can get the self-care you need to feel good, to feel like your truest self again. You can get back to you.

Small Steps Lead to Results

Often it is easiest and most effective to start with very small steps to make change. Choose just one to three areas to focus on this week.

Choose Small Steps

What small steps can you take to bring your self-care to where you want it to be?

Make them tiny, so that they feel almost effortless. This idea was brought home to me a few years ago when I learned the Tiny Habits Method of habit formation.

Here are some examples of applying tiny habits to our self-care practice:

1. Leave a glass of water on the kitchen counter. Take a sip every time you walk into the kitchen.
2. Do anything on your yoga mat for 5 minutes a day.

Use Anchor Habits

This strategy really has the power to make actions into habits.

Notice in the first example that going into the kitchen is the anchor, and it’s the trigger for the new habit of taking a sip of water.

And in the second example, I can make it easier by choosing an anchor. It should be something I do every day that is already a habit that I do automatically.

For example, I could try making my anchor the moment I come in the door from dropping off my daughter at school. The only drawback is that it’s not something I do every day.

Ideally it’s good to choose an anchor you do every day to help you solidify your new small step into a habit.

Set the Stage

Another helpful strategy for making our small steps even easier is to do what we can to set the stage, or alter the environment in ways that make it easy for us to follow through.

In the first example, make it easy by leaving the glass on the counter in the kitchen near the water filter.

For the second example, set the stage by putting out the yoga mat the night before and leave it right in front of the door so that you can see it when you walk in and out.

Celebrate!

It’s a wonderful (and needful!) practice to celebrate our successes in life, big and small.

It’s also a powerful way to create habits.

This is how it works to change small steps into habits that become an effortless part of our lives (the definition of habits!):

Right after or even while you are doing your small step, consciously choose to feel great and say encouraging, celebratory words to yourself. You can do this aloud (if you don’t mind the people around you thinking you’re a little bit off your rocker) or you can do it in your mind.

What I do is usually think, “Woohoo! Yay, I did it!” If you want you can add a hand motion to it, such as raising your arms in victory, jazz fingers, or a fist pump, the moonwalk (yes!) or whatever feels good.

Every time you do your small step, you do the celebration. This really helps make the step into a habit more quickly.

For bonus points, kick off your habit formation practice by doing your desired habits on purpose, several times in a row. Basically, act it out. Do it. Over and over… Fun, right!? And silly! But it works… :)

Be Gentle with Yourself

Just try. If you forget, or if it doesn’t happen for whatever reason, just try again.

And celebrate!

Notice your thoughts, bring awareness to your feelings, and let it all go. Cultivate positive thoughts and the attitude of loving yourself no matter what.

It takes work to create new habits. Our brains want to keep on doing things as they’ve been doing.

So one of the keys is to keep on. We try again. And we celebrate the successes while letting go of negative feelings such as shame or inadequacy.

One of my favorite maxims is to “Just Show Up.”

Just keep on showing up for yourself as you cultivate your self-care habits.

You can do this!

Every little bit counts, and you are enough, no matter what.

Love Heather

Jenn Sher: Awakening through Mixed Media Art 06

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Happiness Mama Podcast, Episode 6

Jenn Sher, mom to three girls, is an amazingly talented mixed media artist and blogger. In this episode, Jenn and I talk about her recent dive into mixed media art, and she has great advice for other moms who are interesting in getting started with it. She also shares how she and her husband got fit, gained energy, and together lost 73 pounds, in 12 weeks! Jenn also shares her word of the year and what it means to her. I loved talking with Jenn, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

This is the first episode of Season 2 of The Happiness Mama Podcast, which is focusing on Self-Care! A new episode will be released twice a month, so stay tuned! Enjoy…

Highlights of Our Conversation:

  • Journalling
  • How she got into mixed media art
  • Advice for moms who are new to mixed media art
  • How she and her husband got fit, lost weight, and gained energy, in just 12 weeks
  • How Jenn prepares healthy meals AND saves time
  • Her secret to getting voluntary help in the kitchen
  • Word of the year and what it means to her
  • Her special free offer of an Andy Warhol-inspired custom portrait (!)
Jenn Sher Artwork
Artwork by Jenn Sher

Quotes from This Episode by Jenn Sher:

  • “I want to show people that if you take steps, you can do it.”
  • “Take yourself out of the whole chaos or just the regular routine, and do something that [makes] you feel like a child.”

Links and Books Mentioned In This Episode:

Spread the Word:

If you enjoyed the podcast and want to help other mamas be happier, too, visit iTunes or Stitcher and kindly leave me a rating, review, and subscribe. More ratings and reviews can lead to more eyes and ears seeing and hearing the podcast. Thank you!

How to Subscribe to the Happiness Mama Podcast:

Click here to subscribe via iTunes
Click here to subscribe via RSS
Click here to subscribe via Stitcher

Stay in Touch:

Never miss an episode!

Click here to get the Happiness Mama Newsletter and your free gift, The Self-Care Workbook, with a self-care assessment and over 50 specific ways to add more self-care to your life, so you can feel AMAZING.

Thank you so much for listening! I hope this podcast helps you be a little bit happier, and remember, self-care is not selfish, it’s essential.

Note: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, which means at no cost to you, I may receive a commission if you make a purchase. Thank you for supporting the podcast!