Young Living Essential Oils

For the past few years, I was reading books and articles online regarding overall wellness.  I don't know, maybe I'm already at the age where health issues are already starting to manifest ... aching joints, elevated blood pressure ... just to name a few.

Actually, I am already taking maintenance medicine to control my blood pressure since 2011 and I don't want to add more maintenance medicine for other health issues that may manifest in the future.  So maybe that's the reason why I was enclined in reading anything regarding overall wellness these past few years.

Through those years of reading, I have already read about essential oils and there are many stories testifying that their overall wellness was improved by using these essential oils. 

I tried buying essential oils in malls trying to diffuse these oils using candles but unfortunately I did not continue using it because I just can't stand the smell.  I used lemon and lemongrass during that time and it really have a strong smell that instead of being relaxed, I felt suffocated.

Last year, one of my neighbors invited me to visit her booth that she set-up during our community get together.  It turns out that she is a member of Young Living Essential Oils.  I tried smelling the sample oils and I kind of like the smell of some oils.  There are really some oils which are not pleasing to the nose.

After visiting her booth, I tried to search the net regarding Young Living essential oils and also visited Young Living's official websites.  I learned that Young Living is the biggest producer of essential oils, having their own farms and distilleries and use multi-level marketing (MLM) as their marketing strategy.

I'm not really a sales person but I have tried joining MLM companies especially on products that I know me and my family will be using regularly.  Just for my family's consumption, I think that joining MLM companies will help me save on our regular consumed items in the long run.

In short, I joined Young Living's wide number of distributors by buying their Premium Starter Kit through online registration.  Young Living's online registration is user friendly and it didn't take me long to finish my registration.  You have the option to have your kit delivered to your address or if you are just near any Young Living Business Centers, you can just opt to pick it up so as to save on delivery fees.  In my case, I just picked it up since our residence is near the YL's business center.

Young Living's Premium Starter Kit for the Philippine market is worth 9,180 pesos.  The kit includes the following:
     - Dewdrop Diffuser
     - 5 ml Lavender Essential Oil
     - 5 ml Lemon Essential Oil
     - 5 ml Peppermint Essential Oil
     - 5 ml Frankinsence Essential Oil
     - 5 ml Copaiba Essential Oil
     - 5 ml Digize Essential Oil Blend
     - 5 ml Panaway Essential Oil Blend
     - 5 ml Raven Essential Oil Blend
     - 5 ml Thieves Essential Oil Blend
     - 5 ml Stress Away Essential Oil Blend
     - 5 ml Citrus Fresh Essential Oil Blend
     - 5 ml Christmas Spirit (Promotional Item, not a regular part of PSK)
     - 2 sachet of Ningxia Drink
     - leaflets and other promotional items

If you will buy the above items separately, this will roughly total to 19,600 pesos.

Premium Starter Kit (PSK) differs from other countries. 

It's more than six months since I started Young Living Oils and so far I am happy that I have started using these essential oils before this COVID-19 pandemic.  Somehow it's comforting to know that we have something that boost our overall wellness which makes our bodies resilient to diseases.

The Scare of Leptospirosis

This weekend I felt sick.  I've got a headache, fever, muscle pains, diarrhea and some chills.  At first I just thought that it was just a plain symptoms of flu and that all I have to do is to rest and take some paracetamol but I remembered that last week I walked through a flooded street in Alabang, not that high but already enough to submerge my feet and so I decided to go to the clinic to have a doctor check on me.  I remember that a deadly (if left untreated) disease called leptospirosis can be get from walking through dirty flood waters. 

When the doctor learned that I have waded through a flooded street last week, she immediately sent me for a urine and blood test.  She told me that there is a separate test for leptospirosis but the result will still be available after 10 days so for the meantime, she just have to see the result of my urine and CBC tests (which were already available after one hour) and if the CBC test shows some abnormalities, she will send me to a hospital right away.  Wooo, that was really scary. 

Good thing, my CBC result appeared normal, but there are some infection found in my urine sample so the doctor gave me two types of antibiotic to treat the infections and she advised me to take a rest for two days and she warned me that if my condition doesn't improve after two days, I have to go directly to the hospital.

Today I already felt some improvement ... my muscle pain already gone, no more fever and chills.  My head still aches a little but it's already tolerable.  I still have to go back to the clinic to get the result of the other blood tests the doctor had requested and I hope there's nothing alarming about it.

Good day everyone and God bless us all.

Treating Mouth Ulcers

Mouth ulcer or "singaw" in Filipino brings a lot of discomfort especially if you're eating or talking.  The pain varies depending on its size and location in your mouth.  So far, the most painful experience I had with mouth ulcer was when it developed under my tongue.  I really had a hard time talking and eating then but still it didn't stop me from eating ... LOL. 

Recently I had bitten my lower lip and after a few days a mouth ulcer developed in that area.   At first the pain was tolerable but because the membrane around the sore was inflamed, I had accidentally bitten the inflamed area causing the sore to become bigger and more painful.

When I feel that the pain is already growing, my usual remedy is to put salt on the sore ... yes you read it right ...  I put salt on the sore.  If you ask me if it hurts?  Definitely, it hurts ... just imagine putting salt on an open wound.

Putting salt on the sore really hurts that I just close my eyes and clench my fist until I feel the salt melting on the sore and the pain slowly fades away.  It's an instant relief.  Of course the sore is still there but there's no more pain so you'll just wait for the sore to heal which takes for a few more days.

Every year I developed mouth ulcer more than once so I made a reading on this subject and I learned that mouth ulcers are triggered by stress, infections, low immune system and accidental damage from biting and scalding foods.  Oh, stress ... it's always on the list of causing certain illness.

There are available drugs for mouth ulcers in the market but I think I'm already satisfied with using salt to relieve the pain and just let the sore heal by itself, however, if the sore becomes larger and more painful despite treatment, it would be best to seek professional help.

How to Relieve Children’s Discomforts of Clogged Nose Caused by a Runny Nose

My son was so restless last night.  Usually, he sleeps at around 9 o’clock but last night he’s irritable, he had a runny nose that every time he tried to lay down to sleep he found it difficult to breathe.  Actually, if he just knows how to blow his nose, he won’t have problem breathing.  Many times we taught him how to blow his nose so he will be relieved but he just can’t get it, he’s doing the other way around. 

We have no available nasal spray so my husband carried him in an upright position making him rest his head on my husband’s shoulder.  Somehow he was relieved and fell asleep.  My husband put him on bed with his head and back supported by pillows making him sleep in a slightly sitting position.

Clogged nose is the common problem my children encountered since they were small and for parents it’s a big problem because it makes children irritable and restless at night giving us less sleep and worst they want to be carried all night.   

Today, there are nasal sprays and decongestants available in the market to help relieve clogged nose for children but I don’t use them unless prescribed by pediatrician.

 Aside from these prescribed medicine, we have practiced the following natural method to relieve our children the discomfort of having a clogged nose caused by a simple cold:

-          Make the child sleep  in a slightly sitting position (just what we did last night)

-          Get rid of the stuff that clogs the nose, for bigger children this will be easy because they already know how to blow their nose.   For infants, a small suction equipment is available in the market.  I have bought one once but have not used it because I was afraid I might damage my child’s nose so instead of using it, my husband sucked our child’s nose.  It’s gross and I don’t have the guts to do it, but it’s effective.  I remember my mother doing it also on my brother before. Hmmm, my stomach's turning upside down by the mere thought of it.

-          Wrapping the child’s head with a cloth or towel leaving only the face exposed.  I don’t know what’s the reason behind this but it’s effective.  I got this idea from my mother.  She used to wrap our head before whenever we have difficulty breathing because of clogged nose caused by cold.

-          Rub the soles with a vaporub and put the socks on.  I read this information from the internet and it works not only for clogged nose but also for cough.

-          Soak a cotton ball in eucalyptus oil and put it near the child’s bed but not so close to the child because eucalyptus has a strong aroma and irritating to the eyes.  This was advised by my children’s pediatrician and we tried it when our children were still below 1 year old and this also worked.     

These remedies are based on our personal experience and may be used for reference only.  It is always best to consult your doctor.

The Importance of Breast Self-Examination

Last 2003, I had undergone a minor surgery to remove a lump from my right breast and right underarm.  The extracted specimen were biopsied and it turned out to be benign.  From then on, I regularly do a breast self-examination.  I have learned that breast cancer if detected earlier has a very high percentage of patient survival and doing the breast self-examination is the easiest way in detecting a breast cancer in it's early stage.

Last September, a week after my period, as usual, I did my breast self-examination routine and I have detected a small lump in my left breast, as small as a black bean.  For several weeks, I just continued monitoring the lump hoping that it would disappear but another month passed and the lump was still there ... not changing in  size though ... but the fact that it is still there, I decided to seek professional help.

I visited a gynecologist and she examined my breast.  She told me that the lump is too small and she's happy that I'm doing a breast self-examination, at least more women are now aware of the importance of the said self-examination.  She doesn't recommend the removal of the lump because it's too small, instead she recommended breast ultrasound. 

This afternoon, I had my breast ultrasound.  It was my first time to undergo breast ultrasound although I had other ultrasound (tummy and trans-vaginal) before.  As expected, it was just a short, painless but messy procedure.  Messy because of the gel spread on my breasts.  The result was released 5 minutes after.

Tomorrow I will bring the result to my gynecologist and I'll see what she have to say.  I know things will just be fine ... I can feel it.

Taking a Much Needed Rest

Last Friday I was not able to report for work.  I had a headache, fever which reached to 39.2 deg. Celcius and my muscles ached.  The night before, I already had a headache and I thought it was just another migraine attack so I slept earlier thinking that I would be okay the next morning.

Friday morning I woke up still having a terrible headache and this time, it was accompanied by fever and muscle pain.  I felt terrible that morning so I just stayed in bed.

The whole day I did nothing but stay in bed and sleep, drink a lot of water, eat fruits especially the citrus ones and took Bioflu, an over-the-counter anti-flu drug.

Taking the much needed rest and medication was effective that in the afternoon my fever subsided and my muscles did not ached anymore.  My head was a little bit heavy but this time it was tolerable.  The next day I was already okay and I was able to do some light household chores so I did not bother to have a check-up with the doctor anymore.

I'm not sure if it was flu that hit me last Friday but the symptoms I experienced were that of a flu.  I just don't have a cough, stuffed nose and sore throat which are also symptoms of a flu.  And besides, I did not expect to be affected by flu this year because I had my anti-flu vaccine last June.  Anyway, as what the doctors usually reiterate, having a flu vaccine doesn't give a 100% guarantee that we can be flu free for the whole year since every year there are new strain of flu virus which are not included in the vaccine so it is really possible to be affected by flu even if we had our anti-flu shot.  The good thing is that, if ever we will contract the said virus, the effect would be minimal.

Well. whatever it was, I was thankful because I was forced to take a rest, my much needed rest after abusing my body for the past weeks, sleeping past midnight, eating a lot of meat, missing on my daily multivitamins and so on and so forth.

Most of the time, our body tells us to slow down but we tend to ignore it so we end up with sickness which are actually preventable.  I have learned my lesson and from now on, I'll try to listen to what my body tells me.

An Indescribable Feeling

I was told this morning that one of my friends at the office had undergone a D & C the other day. D & C is acronym for dilation & curettage or in Filipino term “raspa”.  She was pregnant and having the said procedure only means that something went wrong with her pregnancy.


Hearing of news like this only reminds me of my own loss just early this year. 

I was 7 weeks pregnant then when I experienced a little spotting, just a little spot of brownish discharge. At first I didn’t mind it because I didn’t feel any pain or discomfort but when the discharge continued for another day (although it is only in very small quantity), I contacted my obstetrician and asked if it was normal, she told me that it’s not normal and I have to see her for a check-up.

When I arrived at the doctor’s clinic, my doctor instructed me to have a transvaginal ultrasound so she will know the condition of my baby. I complied and went to a nearby clinic for the ultrasound. During the ultrasound, the doctor told me that my baby has no heartbeat…..what???.... I don’t know how to react because it was the first time I heard of such a finding and I thought my OB will just give me a medication or supplement and everything will be alright. I have two normal pregnancies before and I never thought of having any problems with my third.

                                               My Ultrasound result

I went back to my OB’s clinic and gave her the report of my ultrasound. There, she explained to me that I have a missed abortion. There’s nothing more she can do but to remove the content of my uterus so as to prevent an occurrence of infection which will put me in danger once the infection will spread.

I was shocked at what I heard and I don’t know what to do. I texted my husband and he too was shocked. Just a month ago, we were happy to know that we will have our 3rd child and now….I just can’t describe the feeling.

I was admitted in the hospital and was prepared for a D & C procedure.  It took only less than 30 minutes for the curettage procedure and I was discharged from the hospital after two days confinement.  Physically, I had a quick recovery except for an onset of a high blood pressure two weeks after the procedure. My OB gave me an anti- hypertensive drug and my blood pressure returned to normal after two weeks. Regular monitoring was advised for my blood pressure. Psychologically, I was still devastated after a few months after my miscarriage. I kept on thinking that what happened was my fault, that I did not took care of myself really well that affected my baby’s condition. I blamed myself for what had happened.

It’s been 4 months since the miscarriage happened and I’m thankful that I have moved on. I learned to accept the fact that my 3rd baby is not meant to stay with us and I believe he/she is much better up there. Focusing more on the blessings  that God has already given me (my husband, my children, our relatives and friends), helped me to move on faster.

For my friend, I know, no words can describe how she felt right now but life has to move on. Things do happen that our mind and heart can’t comprehend but God has His plans, He sees the bigger picture…let’s just continue trusting Him.

“Healthy By Choice” by Cynthia Llantada

I was browsing on the bookstore shelves for something interesting to read when I chanced upon this thin, soft bound book entitled “Healthy By Choice” written by Cynthia Llantada.

The author is a breast cancer survivor and what is interesting about her is that she survived the deadly disease without undergoing a chemotherapy or radiation. Yes, you read it right…without chemotherapy or radiation.

So to find out how she did it, I bought the book. I was really intrigued at how she battled cancer without undergoing chemotherapy. This is the first time I heard of a cancer patient who survived the disease without the use of this modern technology.

After reading “Healthy By Choice”, I was really amazed at how Ms. Llantada fought her battle. She is really a fighter and she didn’t let cancer consume her. She did her own research and consulted not only from doctors practicing conventional medicine but also those who practice alternative medicine. She made her choices and she did not let her doctors decide for her. She highlighted the importance of knowing the root cause of her disease which lead to her effective treatment.

Ms. Llantada made me realize that indeed, being healthy is a matter of choice. If we want to be at the prime of our health, we should aim and work for it. Lifestyle modification is required and self discipline is a must.

Nail Biting in Children

Nail Biting in Children By Liz Rispin

Many children suddenly develop the habit of biting their nails and as parents it becomes a difficult task to make them get rid of this habit. While this is more common with the school going children, yet many toddlers and preschoolers might also develop the habit of nail biting.
So, if your child has started the habit of nail biting, then you should be rightfully concerned. It is unhygienic and can lead to various infections. A child might develop this habit for various reasons. He might be tensed, internally depressed or might even be imitating a friend. Therefore it is also important for you to address the cause, before you impose external means to get rid of this habit.
Here is a list of the few ways in which you can help your child get rid of this habit.
If your child is capable of understanding the situation or is old enough for conversation, you might talk to him or her about the bad effects of nail biting. It is certainly not enough to say that it is a bad habit, and therefore you want him to stop. If he understands the ill effects and the pain this habit might cause him later, he might try to stop. And in this case, it is important that you make it a point to acknowledge his effort and praise him if he manages to discontinue biting his nails.
If your child has developed this habit, you cannot possibly stop him by punishing him. In certain cases punishment has produced the opposite effect. It has made the child more adamant, and immune to reproaches. Punishing him for something which he cannot control will not make him get rid of the habit, and will only contribute in making him a difficult child.
It is important for you to trim his nails and keep them short so that it becomes difficult for him to bite his nails.
If your child is still a toddler, try to keep his hands engaged with toys or other things. This will divert his attention and he will probably no longer be interested in biting his nails.
Peer pressure can work wonders for school going children and reactions from the schoolmates can automatically put a stop to this habit.
If your child persists with this habit, and it becomes destructive, then taking professional medical help might be a good idea.
Getting your child to stop the habit of nail biting might be a difficult task, but these steps will help you achieve the result in a quick and effective manner.

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Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Liz_Rispin

Parents should really be concerned if their children gets the habit of nail biting. Unhealthy habit such as nail biting should be stopped before it becomes a hard habit to break.

ORACARE

I'd been eating a lot of onion and garlic these past few days, may it be raw, grilled, sauteed or boiled with vegetables. Aside from the health benefits I get from them, they also taste good..... eoooow...... is what my children say whenever they see these foods on the table. Anyway, they are still young, their choice of food can be modified little by little.

The only downside I get from eating a lot of these onion and garlic is the smell of my breath, it's really awful, especially a few hours after eating these stuff. Thanks to the commercially available Oracare mouthrinse. Oracare is effective in getting rid of the smell and it doesn't sting. Most of all, Oracare is proudly Philippine made.