Posts in Wellness
Feeling Alright Bites
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Feelin' Alright Bites are making our wellness routine a little more tasty and fun! These are great to give the kids as a treat before they brush their teeth for bed! Mine LOVE them. I made these in the two minutes it took to brew my Slique Tea this morning. Super duper simple.


BASIC FEELING ALRIGHT BITES

INGREDIENTS 

2TBS melted honey
3.5TBS liquid (water, tea or Ningxia work great!)
1.5TBS grassfed gelatin
8 -10 drops total Vitality Essential Oil(s) of your choice
pinch of salt

MAKE

Pop in a mold in the freezer for 10 minutes. Done! Pop one every morning and stay above the wellness line!

VARIATIONS

The possibilities are endless with this, so experiment and have fun with this! These are just a handful of ideas to get you started!

GOODNIGHT BITES - Use water or herbal tea for liquid and use 5 drops Tangerine Vitality + 3 drops Lavender Vitality.

NINGXIA NIGHT NIGHT BITES - Use NXR for liquid and 5 drops Orange Vitality + 3 drops Lavender Vitality.

FEELING ALRIGHT BITES - Use chai tea and coconut cream for liquid and equal parts Copaiba Vitality and Thieves Vitality.

BREATHE DEEP BITES - Use your favorite herbal tea for liquid and 3 drops Peppermint Vitality + 2 drops Thieves Vitality + 5 drops Copaiba Vitality.

LIME IN THE COCONUT BITES - Use coconut milk or cream for the liquid and 8 drops Lime Vitality + 5 drops Copaiba Vitality. 


A FEW FUN FACTS

+ The honey and salt combo is said to encourage sleep and a good mood by regulating melatonin and serotonin production.

+ Grassfed Gelatin is full of collagen and is amazing for gut health and healthy hair/skin/nails.

Elderberry Syrup with essential oils
Elderberry Syrup w/ Essential Oils

Elderberry syrup is one of those must-have tricks in your wellness arsenal! If you've ever bought some, you know that it’s crazy expensive to buy ($15 for anywhere from 4-8 oz) and even then it’s hard to be sure the ingredients are the best. Luckily, it is far less expensive to make on your own and so easy! If you can make tea, you can make this! Normally elderberry syrup is made with a combo of dried and fresh spices, but this particular recipe is potent and powerful through its use of Young Living essential oils. It is sure to support the immune system and more easily stay above the wellness line! It is also extremely tasty – dangerously so, in fact.

So, what’s the deal with elderberries? I’m so glad you asked. Elderberries are rich in vitamins A, B and C and are a traditional cold and flu remedy used for hundreds of years. They are known to have high antioxidant activity and the bioflavonoids and other proteins in the juice of the berry destroy the ability of a cold or flu virus to infect a cell. Add that to all the amazing properties and benefits of essential oils and you have a yummy and amazing recipe on your hands!



WHAT YOU NEED:

OPTIONAL ADD-INS & VARIATIONS

HOW TO MAKE YOUR ESSENTIAL ELDERBERRY SYRUP:

  1. Add one cup of elderberries to 4 cups of boiling water. (Also add loose leaf tea, fresh ginger, and whole cloves if using them.)
  2. Allow to simmer on the stove for 45 minutes or until the liquid has been reduced by about half.
  3. Remove water from the stove and cool until it is just warm enough to melt the honey. The less heat the better to preserve all the properties of the honey and essential oils.
  4. Strain through a fine mesh strainer then stir in the honey (and the maple syrup, if using it).
  5. Add your vitality essential oils.
  6. Pour into a pretty glass container and enjoy!!!

This should be stored in the refrigerator to keep fresh. I’ve had batches last many months with no signs of going bad.  Using 1 tsp per day for adults and 1/2 tsp per day for children will be beneficial for keeping your immune system boosted. If you feel like you need more support, take it often throughout the day until you feel stronger. This can be tasty to top pancakes or waffles or even add to teas as a way to sweeten!


HOW TO USE ELDERBERRY SYRUP

  • Use to sweeten hot cereal 
  • Pour on top of french toast, pancakes, or waffles
  • Stir a spoonful into your tea
  • Add a little to your NingXia Red shot
  • Make a delicious NingXia & Elderberry Cremosa
  • Take a spoonful straight

Let’s take a look at some of the benefits of the essential oils used in this recipe and what they can do for you! Most of these are the essential oil versions of the spices called for in traditional elderberry syrup recipes. Knowing that 1 drop of peppermint oil is equivalent to 26 cups of peppermint tea in potency, it’s easy to see why using oils is a no-brainer!

  • Thieves Vitality – This is a seriously amazing blend of clove, lemon, cinnamon bark, eucalyptus radiata and rosemary. It was created based on a legend about a group of 15th century thieves who rubbed oils on themselves to avoid contracting the plague while they robbed the bodies of the dead and dying. I’m just going out on a limb here and saying, this is powerful.
  • Nutmeg Vitality – Besides tasting and smelling festive, this oil maintains optimal digestive function, support's the body's natural inflammation, supports joint health and promotes cardiovascular health.
  • Clove Vitality – This is one of the main single oils in the Thieves blend, but has so much to offer that adding a little more just seems like more of a really good thing. It’s said that the people on the island of Ternate were free from epidemics until the 16th century, when Dutch conquerors destroyed the clove trees on the island. Many of the islanders died  from the epidemics that followed. It is a powerful immune support and has been used in dentistry for years.
  • Cinnamon Bark Vitality – Another oil already found in the Thieves blend, cinnamon bark is a powerful immune support.
  • Frankincense Vitality – One of the gifts given to Jesus by the Three Wise Men, frankincense has been used for centuries! It is known to support the immune system and relax the body.
  • Copaiba Vitality - A magnifier of the other oils it is used with and supporter of the body's natural response to inflammation, this one is extremely high in beta-caryophyllene. Google that! CBD oil contains about 30% beta-caryophyllene, while copaiba contains 40-70%! Powerful.
  • Orange Vitality - Contains the naturally occurring constituent d-limonene (Google that!), it's an important ingredient in NingXia Red and ImmuPro that supports cellular health.

Keep in mind that there are so many essential oils you could choose from, so feel free to pick and choose which oils you use and how much of each you put in. This recipe can serve as a guide for you to make it just the way you like it. Too spicy? Add more honey or purified water and elderberry. Too thin? Add more honey. Not enough flavor? Add more oils! It’s impossible to mess it up. Just tweak it as needed to suit your taste.

10 Easy Ways to Maintain Wellness
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Apparently, we're coming up on cold & flu season! Only, here is a crazy fact: Flu season does not exist!

"Flu season" is actually just an inability to *adapt* as a result of less sunshine & water combined with too much sugar and stress.

No matter what the time of year, here are my TOP 10 TIPS TO STAY ABOVE THE WELLNESS LINE.

1. USE YOUR THIEVES EVERY SINGLE DAY. It’s a powerful way to support your immune system so your body can fight the good fight and win. This could mean you apply it to your feet (making a pre-diluted roll-on makes this super easy to swipe on yourself and the kiddos). This could also mean that you take a drop under your tongue (be warned, it is spicy), MAKE IT INTO TEA or even diffuse it in the air.

2. TAKE YOUR SHOT OF NINGXIA RED EVERY DAY. NINGXIA is loaded with antioxidants, which work hard to remove free radicals from the body. Free radicals damage immune cells, so you can see how it would be important to get rid of them! NingXia Red also helps support healthy blood sugar balance, our circulatory system and cognitive health, so it’s easy to see why saying “cheers” and taking a shot (or two) of NingXia each day is a really good step in the direction of wellness!

3. TAKE A PROBIOTIC. Young Living has a really great probiotic called Life9 that I take every single day. The vast majority of our immune system resides in our gut. Our gut depends on being colonized by good, life supporting bacteria. “Probiotic” literally means “for life.” So, take a Life9 probiotic for life!

4. TAKE SOME ELDERBERRY SYRUP EVERY DAY. It’s easy to make and especially since our recipe uses essential oils instead of dried herbs, a very delicious way to boost your immune system. It can be taken by the spoonful, added to smoothies, poured over pancakes & waffles or stirred into tea. You really can’t go wrong!

5. EAT CLEAN. Eating a nutrient rich, nourishing diet is so important. We can support the systems of our body with essential oil, but we have to give it what it needs to remain healthy. I like to use Slique Essence and Ocotea Vitality as a supplement in water or alone to help curb cravings so I stay on the right track! Pure Protein Complete is another great way to be sure you’re getting all the good stuff your body needs! It contains 22 grams of Young Living’s Complete Amino Profile Blend and includes a vegetarian enzyme complex that supports proper digestion and metabolism. As a bonus, it tastes AMAZING!

6. DRINK WATER. Drinking plenty of water has a huge affect on our health. Add citrus citrus oils to your water to make it delicious and something you look forward to drinking! This also helps support your body's ability to detox, making it that much easier for you to fight off any bugs.

7. GET SLEEP. Obviously, we all need rest. Often, this is easier said than done. Luckily, we have several ways to use oils to help get lots of sleep! Using relaxing oils at bedtime will really help with this. These can be used on your chest, forehead, brainstem and feet, focusing on the big toe as that is the VitaFlex point for the brain. They can also be used in the diffuser, mixed into epsom salt in a bath, added to warm water to make tea or even spritzed on the bedding as a linen spray. Some suggestions for relaxing oils are lavender, cedarwood, roman chamomile, valerian, Tranquil, RutaVala, Stress Away, Peace & Calming, Dream Catcher and Surrender. Young Living also makes a wonderful supplement to encourage a restful night of sleep called Sleep Essence. It is glorious!

8. MOVE YOUR BODY. Staying still for long periods of time can put you at the same risk for heart disease as someone who smokes. Moving feels good because it’s good for you! Do what your body is intended to do and get some exercise. Before getting active, I like to apply some Breathe Again, which supports a healthy respiratory system, or peppermint, which may improve performance. Taking a NingXia Nitro prior to working out can also give a great energy boost! When I’m done, I use Cool Azul Sports Gel and/or Cool Azul essential oil blend on my muscles. The cooling sensation it provides feels so nice!

9. RELAX. Stress is killer and it can effect your body, thoughts, and feelings. It comes in many forms and it’s different for all of us. Take some time to see what is causing you the most stress and what you can do to reduce or eliminate it. For me, excess stuff was cluttering up my mind and paralyzing me. I harnessed the power of the blends Motivation and Surrender and did a serious clean-out of my home. I could feel my stress levels drop with every load I dropped off at Goodwill. Also, be sure you take some time to just “be.” Take a bath, meditate, do a bit of yoga, write in a journal, whatever makes you feel content! Epsom salt baths are one of my favorite ways to relax. I add a few cups of epsom salt to the bottom of my empty tub and stir 4-5 drops of essential oil in it before running the water. My favorites are Stress Away, lavender and Peace and Calming.

10. DITCH THE TOXINS. We all want a clean home, but did you know that nearly all the products on the market meant to “clean” our home are FULL of toxins that are left behind on all the surfaces you spray it on. It’s also expensive and cumbersome to buy and store different cleaners for each cleaning job. Thieves Household Cleaner is an amazing plant-based concentrate that will save you TONS of money and actually CLEAN every surface of your home. You could also use Thieves Laundry Soap so you aren’t walking around with the chemical version of a “field of flowers” rubbing against your skin and being inhaled into your lungs. Fragrance is the new second hand smoke. Awful stuff! Thieves Laundry Soap works incredibly well and leaves clothes and linens smelling and looking fresh and clean! Fewer toxins means less yuck to weigh our body down and tax our system. That means our body is left to function as it was meant to and that is exactly what we’re going for here!