Anyone else feel like it's been so hard coming back from the holiday's and getting into real world mode?
Every year this is a struggle for me, but usually it's just because I'm not ready for those early morning school runs. I'd much rather have the extra sleep. This year has been an entirely different beast and it's been kicking my butt.
- tired
- can't sleep
- irritability
- brain fog
- slow digestion
- crazy bloating
- joints acting up
- and last but not least the breakouts
Any of that got you saying, "yes girl what is going on"?
I've been in denial because I know it all to well or at least I know what it means. You enjoyed the holiday season so much, took complete advantage of all the yummy goodness and wasn't on top of your wellness game - the gut portion specifically. You've got the Holiday-Itis!
Yup, you've had all the sugar mixed with a little stress and the bread oh the bread. Throw that all together with the fact that you were off on your gut health game and what you've got is a puffy mess of wtf. Because of your gut (digestive) not working at its best you're also not flushing out toxins like you should be or normally would be and now you've got a system that is overloaded and tired. We know, we hear it all the time, sugar = inflammation and an overloaded sluggish system means all of the things I mentioned above and then some.
So what do you do? A Digestive Reset!
I've been struggling so badly, this year, that I switched up my entire month to have two challenges because this was needed badly for me and I knew that if I was there was at least one more person out there who needed it too. It kicked off on the 23rd of January over in EssentOily You, if you're not already a part of my free group make sure you click and get yourself in there. This week I've been talking about the importance of your gut running at it's best and YL products that I love to help heal and maintain my gut health.
The Digestive Reset challenge is something you can do anytime of the year, so if you're seeing this months even years from when it was first posted you can still jump on it!
February 6 I will kick off the 2-week challenge, where we will use any combination of the products that I mentioned, your choice whatever feels best for you (I'm happy to help you choose). I will say that ICP Daily is a must have and it'll become part of your daily routine, it's that good!
This challenge is all about healing our gut health and creating sustainable, easy habits that you can take with you long after the 2 weeks to help you maintain your gut health. It's easy to forget that our overall health & wellness really starts in our gut, it's not until we end up feeling like crap do we remember and if we don't have the tools to heal, manage, and elevate then we just end up living in that unhappy state accepting it as our new normal. We're not doing that any more!
Get into EssentOily You and start building those habits to elevate your wellness.
**If you have any questions or would like more information please reach out, I'm more than happy to help**
𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬. 𝘚𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘦𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. -- 𝘎𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘒𝘦𝘯𝘵
I pushed so hard against planning because I felt like it put me in a box and I can't stand being restricted. It took a lot of knocks upside the head to realize that I actually thrive when I take the time to plan my week ahead and it actually gives me a lot more space to be creative and spontaneous -- live outside that box.
Two years ago my word was intentional and one of the goals I set for my personal growth was to be more intentional about planning my weeks on Sunday. The little steps I took throughout that year helped me build a habit. These things stopped me from just surviving day to day they helped me thrive, the entire week.
These are the things I ended up finding the most success with, helping me get ready for the week ahead;
𝑺𝒆𝒍𝒇 𝑪𝒉𝒆𝒄𝒌 𝑰𝒏
I talk a lot about stopping and asking yourself how you're doing and I know it may seem silly but it does wonders for your mental health and for making you more self-aware about how you're feeling, which in turn allows you to create a plan that is going to be beneficial not harmful to you.
𝑹𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑪𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒓
Take a look at what you've already got in the books for the week. If you're feeling anxious at all during the week or about the week you can avoid looking at your calendar which can cause more anxiety or cause you to end up in last minute mode when a notification goes off about something you had planned/scheduled and forgot about it.
𝑽𝒊𝒔𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑾𝒆𝒆𝒌
How do you want your week to go? Go beyond the obvious answers like, "a good week" "a successful week". Dig deep and ask yourself how you want to show up this week and what do you need to do in order to show up that way. What do you need to do to feel how want to feel come Friday. See yourself doing those things.
𝑺𝒆𝒍𝒇-𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒆
You knew I was going to say it at some point. Schedule time for yourself. Your name had better show up at the top of your priority list every day this week. Schedule in breaks, time to move your body, time to just breathe. Whatever you need to do to stay aligned.
𝑨𝒔𝒌 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑯𝒆𝒍𝒑
Here's where you are letting go of the idea that you have to do everything yourself. As you're reflecting on your week ahead you might see where there's conflicts in schedules. Reschedule where you can and those things that can't be rescheduled turn to your support team and ask for what you need so that the week goes off with out a hitch. One of the biggest things to remember, it was hard for me, don't expect your support system to know what it is that you need -- ASK FOR WHAT YOU NEED!
𝑷𝒍𝒂𝒏 𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑭𝒖𝒏
Make sure that you have some time for fun or just something you can look forward to that changes up the vibe of the week. You know the saying, "all work and no play...". Give yourself something to look forward to. A dinner out with friends, a date night with your partner, a date with your couch and binge worthy shows or a good movie. Whatever gets you excited beyond the work stuff.
𝑬𝒏𝒋𝒐𝒚 𝑺𝒖𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒚
Now you've gotten everything taken care of, enjoy your Sunday. It can be very easy to get caught up in all that is coming but don't worry you've done everything you need to do to get the week in order, there's nothing left for you to do. Enjoy now!
𝑮𝒆𝒕 𝑮𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝑺𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒑
It's time to do your sleep routine. Dump everything that's running through your mind into a journal, through meditation, or even stretching. You want to start this routine the same time every night so your body gets use to it and the wind down becomes a habit. Good sleep is crucial to your body and your mind so you can show up, for the week, how you want to.
You've got this and you will slay the week ahead. The last thing I want you to remember, you don't have to be perfect. This isn't the gospel and maybe you'd tweak something to fit you, do that. It's important that you don't be anybody but yourself and do what works for you, feels good to you because that is what will bring you the most success.
The time leading up to Thanksgiving has been filled with thoughts of family, friends, food, food, and more delicious food. You've been perfecting that family recipe and coming up with new ones to become part of this yearly tradition. So much to be thankful for and so much more to look forward to.
There is something that we tend to not think about, until after the holiday season, and that's our tummy (gut) health. You're going to be filling it with all kinds of yummy things but you've gotta keep it happy and healthy at the same time.
Healing my gut has been a journey and during this time it can be easy to get off track and allow sickness to creep up. I don't want that for me and I don't want that for you either, sos here's my go-to gut health products to keep your tummy happy.
Save this so you can be prepared for Thanksgiving as well as the rest of the holiday season and beyond.
Morning
- Start your day with EssentialZymes. Enzymes are so helpful in breaking down and digesting food, so they're a great place to start your Thanksgiving Day. Add a few drops of Lemon Vitality to a glass of water, the one you drink to take your EssentialZymes with would be perfect. Lemon is a gentle cleanser, provides liver support, and tastes yummy!
- NingXia Red is going to become your new best friend once you get started using it. 2oz is all you need a day to help support so many aspects of your health. For the holidays it's going to be a game changer because NingXia contains ingredients that can help keep your blood sugar naturally balanced & help provide sustained energy. You could even swap your water out for NingXia and add your Lemon Vitality drops to it to take your EssentialZymes.
Post-Meal
- Rub some Peppermint or Digize on your tummy. Both of these oils are great for aiding in digestion and to help with that stuffiness you may be feeling.
- Take EssentialZymes-4. These are different than the enzymes we started the day with, and they're great to take after a big meal. they can help your body adjust to eating things you might not be used to eating all the time, and help you absorb what's nutritious and get rid of the rest.
Evening
- Make sure to get in a good probiotic. I love Life 9. Probiotics are full of "good guys" that go into your gut, fight off the bad guys, and repopulate the area with health.
- Pop a few DetoxZyme to get in even more enzymes. I wasn't kidding when I said you needed these for good gut health. they'll help your body detox from the excess goodies you may have enjoyed and help you recover.
- Lastly, take a Cortistop. Cortistop helps to balance cortisol levels. Cortisol is known as the "death hormone" that is released when we are under stress. The holiday season can be stressful and taking care of you is going to be important to make sure you are able to show up exactly how you want to the entire season. Having this stress-reducing supplement in your arsenal will help you do just that.
Stressing can cause it's own issues in our guts, having the tools to help manage it is crucial. Grab my free 10 Self-Care Tips to Reduce Holiday Stress to help you create easy ways for you to enjoy the season without the hard emotions and stress that may come along with it.
Create your free young living account to make check-out a breeze when you add these products to your cart.
I don't know about you mama, but when either of my boys are under the weather I'm looking for everything and anything to help them feel better. They may drive us crazy, lol, but when they have that helpless look -- I'd give anything to have the crazy back.
We are truly blessed when it comes to our health, I'm very much so about being proactive instead of reactive. We do a lot to make sure that we feed our bodies what it needs to run and fight in tip top shape. Hey, we're human though and sometimes we get taken down and we have to help our bodies by giving it a little more while it's fighting the good fight.
I have my go-to's that I reach for when any of us our out of sorts but recently I had to bring it because Kee had a cough and mucus that was lingering and refused to be evicted by my usual weapons. Like most kids, heck my almost 17yr old still does this, Kee was swallowing all the snot instead of blowing it out and mama we know that does nothing good. So, when it carried on far longer than I'd like for it to I went in search of a recipe that I could use in the bath for him. I ended up finding not only a recipe that reminded me why I'll never be without oils again but I also ran across an oil that I'd had for a while and never used -- as you probably guessed it ended up coming in clutch.
I'm dubbing this the Get Well, Kid bath salts detox and here's what you need:
- Ravintsara
- Frankincense
- Idaho Blue Spruce
- Eucalyptus Radiata
- Wintergreen
- Epsom Salt
- Baking Soda (aluminum free)
- Glass jar
These 5 oils worked so good together because of their amazing benefits.
Ravintsara is from Madagascar and referred to as "the oil that heals". This is a really good oil for working with your respiratory system, opening things up and allowing for those deep breaths. It's also known for being clarifying as well as purifying, all things that we needed.
Frankincense is truly a king of kings when it comes to oils. I could talk about this oil for literally days but for the purpose of this detox I specifically wanting its help with immune system.
Idaho Blue Spruce is a must have in my house not only for making the house smell like a fresh tree farm but also, you want all the tree oils when you're under the weather. Idaho Blue Spruce has been used by Native Americans for lots of things but what I added it in this detox for was Kee's throat. It's known as a relaxant and so, along with it's other benefits, I wanted to see how well it could help with his coughing.
Eucalyptus Radiata like all other eucalyptus oils, is a fave because of that "aaahhh" feeling you get when you smell it and Eucalyptus Radiata is always my choice when it comes to the kids because it's on the milder side. I wanted to help Kee kick out the mucus and this was the perfect oil for that.
Wintergreen is very stimulating and since, as you can tell from the other oils, I was looking to help Kee get out the mucus Wintergreen was a no brainer. Plus, I always love it for a post-workout massage and he was feeling a little achy.
Those oils ended up being so huge for him!
Epsom salt and baking soda are always my go-to's for detox baths because, well you know how well epsom salt works for pulling out toxins from the body so it's a must but the added benefit of baking soda always takes it to another level for me. Baking soda has cleansing and detoxifying properties that may help to purify your body and boost immunity and when you're trying to get rid of unwanted intruders this is always what you're looking for, lol. Now you want it to be aluminum free because you don't want to be introducing heavy metals to your body, the idea is pulling toxins out not putting them in. So always, always grab the aluminum free kind.
Now, once you've gotten all of your ingredients together you can add them to your jar and allow them to sit as long as you possibly can. I recommend overnight, so that the oils can combined together and be linked and ready for action. But if you need to use it right away, give it a few minutes, and you'll be good to go and will still get great action from the detox salts.
I've been using oils for a while so and Kee's been using them since before he could walk so I eyeball a lot but here are the measurements if you're just starting out or like a roadmap.
- 15 drops Ravintsara
- 6 drops Frankincense
- 6 drops blue Spruce
- 2 drops Eucalyptus Radiata
- 1 drop Wintergreen
- 1/4 cup Epsom & Baking soda
You can go more or less, you know your babies so use your judgement. But remember that more is less when you are using pure essential oils!
Once I'd gotten it all in the jar I gave it a shake and let it sit for a few hours (we needed it like RIGHT now) and then ran a bath. Get the water as warm as your little one can stand it and then add the detox salts. I always have Kee do his soaks for 10-15 minutes. By minute 5 he was already feeling so much better. After the right amount of time for your little make sure to rinse them off with cold water. This will help close up those pores and while it isn't always the fun part is important.
And that's it!
12 minutes of soaking and I started seeing my normal Kam Bam and my mama defenses went down 10 fold. We have the tools to be proactive as well as the tools to give our body a boost when they need it.
*I'm not a doctor, I'm not treating or diagnosing, I'm just a mama sharing what worked so other mama's can have that peace of mind too*
What if you took care of yourself the way you take care of everybody else?
What if you loved yourself the way you love everybody else?
It's as easy as breathing to pour into those you care about, to make sure that their needs are taken care of. While at the same time being so easy to push yourself to the back burner, so far that you forget what it even looks like to take care of you - your wants, your needs, your likes and even dislikes.
When you hear someone say, "practice self-care", you don't even know where to start or what that might even look like. I get it!
I've been there and over thought what it even means to me. If you're reading this and this is you here's what I did to answer those tough questions and how I got back to loving myself and taking care of myself in the same way, if not even more than, I was loving and taking care of everyone else.
💜 Find what makes you feel joy, things that you love and can do daily.
Self-care is not a one size fits all, doing what you need is what's right always. This was one of my favorite things I did to get a clear picture of what self-care was for me because it reminded me of all the things that I love, that makes me smile. When you're doing this, sit down with a pencil and paper (or your notes app, whatever works) and write out all the things that you can think of that bring you joy. I mean literally everything and anything that brings you joy. It can be things like having fresh flowers around the house every week, having music playing, a specific color, or a back rub. Take the time to sit in the moment, remember it's what brings you JOY.
💜 Have a plan for how you will bring those things into your daily life.
This is important to helping you make a habit of taking care of you. Start out small. Jumping in and trying to implement multiple new self-care activities/practices could become overwhelming, try adding just one at a time. You are working toward these being daily habits and you know as well as I do that if you pile too much on at one time you'll be more likely to quit. You can start by adding one bouquet to your living room or kitchen and then slowly work up to multiple rooms, asking your partner/spouse for a weekly back rub, or getting in at least one evening walk. Low and slow will make it so much easier for you to make these joyful activities/practices a daily habit you don't want to skip.
💜 Set goals for when you'll do them throughout the week.
Accountability was huge for me. Now that you've got the activities/practices down that you want to start doing more, it's time to set some easy, realistic goals for how often and when you'll do them. Like I said above, low and slow. Maybe you want to start unplugging from social media or your phone more. A good goal might look like taking 20 mins off every evening or before bed or taking 15 mins to just be with yourself after you've gotten the kids out the door to school. Once you've been consistent with these goals for a week or two, turn it up a bit and challenge yourself.
💜 Find support, Find support, Find support.
These changes are going to not only be challenging for you but they will be challenging for your family too. Make sure that you have a support system who can be there for you. Find people who are walking a similar path of getting back to loving and taking care of themselves, bonus points if they are engaging in the same activities/practices as you. If you're doing similar or the same things you can meet up and do them together to switch up.
💜 Don't be afraid to adjust and tweak as you go.
There will be set backs and bumps as you navigate through this so it's important that you know you can change things with the ebb and flow. What you decide to do this week is not set in stone for the next week or even a month from now. Your needs will change, life will change and that's ok. Figure out what it is you need in that moment, that stage of life and switch it up if you need to.
Self-care is about what you do to protect your wellness and happiness so you can operate & function at your highest level. From places of joy not obligation. It won't always be things as pretty as flowers, it may be to prioritize your dental checkups or to say "no" more. As long as it's ultimately boosting your wellness and happiness, it's taking care of you and that's self-care.
