5 Ways to Replace Harmful ‘Fragrance’ with Essential Oils

April 22, 2018April 22, 2018ClareWilliamson Leave a comment

According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), indoor air pollution is among the top five environmental health risks!

The chemicals in our laundry detergent, multi-surface cleaner, even DUST can cause irritation of our eyes, nose, and throat, fatigue and nausea, or even longer-term more serious effects like respiratory diseases, heart disease and cancer.

Most of us are aware of outdoor pollutants, such as fuel exhaust and smoke. But

indoor air may be anywhere from two to five times as polluted as outdoor air! And we are much less vigilant about it, so I thought I’d help you out by sharing 5 ways to swap out one of the BIG chemical emissions in your home… FRAGRANCE (also listed as “parfum)!!

Have you seen this harmless word on the ingredients list of your favourite detergent or beauty products?

From Dr. Axe:

“A National Academy of Sciences points out some vital facts: About 95 percent of chemicals used in synthetic fragrances are derived from petroleum (crude oil). They include benzene derivatives (carcinogenic), aldehydes, toluene and many other known toxic chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects, central nervous system disorders and allergic reactions. (1) Unfortunately, 30 years later, toxic ingredients continue turn up in products we use and breathe in on a daily basis. Some of the worst toxic ingredients used in lotions, shampoos, laundry detergents, cleaning products and so much more include synthetic scents, often listed as on labels as the elusive “fragrance.” And many on the list are known or suspected endocrine disruptors, compounds that tinker with hormonal health that can trigger weight gain and even set you up for diseases decades down the line.”

If you are ready to start making a positive change TODAY, here is my top 5 ways to get started!

1. Make your own deoderant

Just fill a glass spray bottle with 120ml magnesium oil and add 15 drops of doTERRA Lemon. Or if you prefer not to make your own, or like a solid deoderant, one is available at my Online Apothecary

2. Make your own multi-purpose cleaner

Grab, preferably, a glass spray bottle (these ones are great!) Add in a 1:3 ratio of white vinegar to water and 30 drops doTERRA On Guard Essential Oil. On Guard contains a proven mix of certified pure therapeutic grade essential oils that when together work effectively to kill bacteria and viruses. I have used On Guard to clear an antibiotic resistant staph infection and a clinical study found it effective against the H1N1 flu virus. The science is emerging on this incredible blend, but I’d recommend it for everything! Read more here.

To buy essential oils, click here

3. Ditch the perfume!!!!!

Please, I know it is hard to give up your favourite scent, but the chemicals and the harm they can cause in perfume will surprise you. And our littlies breathe these chemicals too! With essential oils you can get a nice smell and a therapeutic effect. There will be lots of recipes to try on pinterest if you do a search, or visit my board for inspiration!

Pick Me Up and Calm Me Down also have a beautiful perfume as well as HUGE emotional benefits. Take a look here!

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4. Go no poo!

To be honest, the synthetic fragrance in your shampoo is probably the least of your worries! The harsh chemical mix in shampoos and conditioners strips your hair of its natural oils, ultimately making it more greasy and less healthy, and the myriad of chemicals are absorbed into our bodies and do significant damage (some are reportedly linked to cancer).

Instead you can easily make your own shampoo that leaves your hair feeling gorgeous! You can make using ingredients you have in your pantry, plus essential oils!

Honey (preferably raw and unfiltered) and/or coconut milk
Distilled water
An essential oil
A simple container or pump of some sort
A spoon. This is to mix all of the ingredients together.

I choose a mix of lavender and Rosemary from my shampoo because I find the lavender soothing and rosemary oil is wonderful for promoting hair growth, soothing dry scalps, and adding volume to your locks.

5. Replace your air freshener/wax melt/any synthetic frangrance with a diffuser

For all of the reasons above, synthetic scents to freshen the air in your home have to go. Did you know indoor air may be anywhere from two to five times as polluted as outdoor air?? This is because of all of those chemicals emitted from the products we use every day and also the electrosmog emitted from our mobile devices.

I’m really passionate about helping people to move away from synthetic scents and other chemicals because they can cause a myriad of problems, including migraines, skin problems and asthma attacks, and our babies just deserve better. They emerge from the safe, controlled environment of our wombs into a world that is fraught with risks. Chemical scents are one we can protect them from, and according to the Breast Cancer Fund, when it comes to the prevention of cancer, avoiding synthetic fragrance is one of the main ways to help yourself and them! (See article here.)

According to Dr. Axe, there at least 3,000 ingredients that could possibly be used to form a product’s scent and they don’t necessarily have to be listed on a product’s label. So with an essential oil you are just getting one, pure, natural oil that comes directly from the bark, stem, flower mother nature created for us. I encourage you to take a look at the following list, derived from the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, to see just how many fragrance chemicals you can start replacing today, and as always, I am here to help!

Much Love,

Clare

Essential Mum | Non-Toxic Mama

Life after laundry detergent and fabric softener

March 17, 2018March 18, 2018ClareWilliamson Leave a comment

Nobody can deny how utterly scrumptious a laundry smells when you walk past and your favourite fragrance wafts up your nose. I actually connect laundry smells to different memories – of friends I had in the past, of university rooms, of loved ones who I have held close. It came as a shock to read that the laundry is one of the most carcinogenic places in a house!

In 2008, scientists reported on the toxic chemicals in laundry detergents and other laundry products and it wasn’t good news. A single fragrance can contain multiple toxic chemicals that have been linked to asthma, dermatitis and even cancer.

Researchers from the University of Washington studied top-selling laundry and air-freshening products and found that they emitted dozens of different chemicals. All of them gave off at least one identified as toxic or hazardous under federal laws in America. What’s worse is that because of current labelling laws, none of these chemicals were listed on the label.

Among the products tested were a dryer sheet, a fabric softener, and a laundry detergent, as well as spray and plug-in air fresheners. Results showed nearly 100 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from the six products, and none were on the label. “Five of the six products emitted one or more carcinogenic ‘hazardous air pollutants,’ which are considered by the Environmental Protection Agency to have no safe exposure level,” said study author Anne Steinemann.

A later 2011 study by the same researchers found that air vented from machines using top-selling scented liquid laundry detergent and scented dryer sheets contained hazardous chemicals, including two classified as carcinogens.

For the study, researchers ran a load of laundry once with no products, once with a leading brand of scented liquid laundry detergent, and once with both the detergent and a dryer sheet. They captured the exhaust from the dryer vent with a canister.

An analysis of the captured air showed more than 25 VOCs, including seven hazardous air pollutants. The two carcinogens were acetaldehyde and benzene.

“These products can affect not only personal health,” said Steinemann, “but also public and environmental health. The chemicals can go into the air, down the drain and into water bodies.”

You can Google for more information on the toxic chemicals in laundry products. Look for Fragrance (this is where multiple chemicals are used to make the desired smell), surfactants, stabilizers, bleach, 1,4-dioxane, brighteners, phosphates & EDTA. It’s scary stuff. Check to see if these are included in the laundry products you use too.

Thankfully, there are alternatives!

You can make your own laundry detergent. Wellness Mama has a great recipe, and you can find others online as well. You can add your favourite doTERRA essential oil for Fragrance
You can buy doTERRA’s On Guard laundry detergent, which I absolutely love! Read about it here.
Then you can skip the fabric softener completely and use woollen dryer balls or, if you’re going to dry outside, half-cup of vinegar added in the rinse cycle will produce the same results without the toxic chemicals.
Please do dump the dryer sheets! They a toxic shitstorm, if you’ll excuse my French! Dryer alls will also reduce static cling. I love my dryer balls, hence the title of this blog! (I literally did curse when I realised my favourite scents were so harmful and BALLS literally were my solution!) Again, I got mine from doTERRA and I add geranium essential oil every few times I use my dryer. Geranium is such a beautiful scent for laundry. It’s sweet, but not sickly, and it’s really calming. Great for your bed sheets! You can make your own using ( see DIYnatural) or if you don’t use a dryer you can even make a spray with 1 cup white vinegar to 3 cups of water and 30 drops of essential oils to spray on the washing when it is on the line ready to dry in the sun.

If you’d like to go chemical free in your laundry TODAY, and would like to have a look at the doTERRA products available and different essential oils you can use for scent, click here to be redirected to my webstore. Any questions, give me a shout!

Much Love x x x

Sources:

University of Washington, “Toxic Chemicals Found in Common Scented Laundry Products, Air Fresheners,” Science Daily, July 24, 2008, http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080723134438.htm.

Anne C. Steinemann, Lisa G. Gallagher, Amy L. Davis, Ian C. MacGregor, “Chemical emissions from residential dryer vents during use of fragranced laundry products,” Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health, 2011; http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11869-011-0156-1.

My High Needs Baby

April 8, 2017ClareWilliamson 1 Comment

I’ve had some dark days with Eden recently. She has pushed me to the limits of my patience (and sanity). This is hard to write because I love her to bits, but I feel like I have been challenged by her since the day she was born and this week as things have been really hard again I have thought, “when is this ever going to end?”

You might have already read Eden’s Story and her journey as a baby born with major gut issues. It took us a while to realise what was going on with Eden and see a Specialist who knew what Eden was suffering. A long time before this I read an article by Attachment Parenting guru Dr. William Sears, which really struck a chord. It was about the “high need baby“. Eden ticked every box!

Dr. Sears and his wife, Martha, coined the term “high need baby” when their fourth baby, Hayden, was born. While their first 3 children had been generally easy babies, Hayden was only happy when being held or fed. It was then that they realized that some babies are just truly high need.

While I totally agree, what I have also observed through my personal journey with Eden and through meeting other mums with babies/toddlers/young children that also tick the boxes of “high need” is that there’s definitely a connection to problems in the gut.

We know there is a dynamic interaction between the gut, the brain, and the immune system, starting from birth. For example, immune cells reside within the gut and that was one of Eden’s big issues as a baby; her immune system was really compromised!

It feels like a bad dream now thinking about what we did go through with Eden. In the grand scheme of things she is so much better, for which I am grateful! I didn’t realise how bad it was with her (and how abnormal her constant cries and needs were) until I had my second girl Jade. Case in point; no milestone, change, challenge, illness has ever got her like Eden got daily! Eden’s physical and emotional being was so fragile, still is, and while her physical needs have reduced greatly thanks to the gut healing we have done, her emotional needs are still great. Admittedly I forget this as we go about our daily life and so fall quite regularly into overwhelm when she overreacts or she gets overwhelmed. Thankfully essential oils come to our rescue to restore our equilibrium. I would recommend them to anyone dealing with a high needs baby/toddler/child!

So what do we use?

There are 4 essential oils that I use regularly with Eden:

doTERRA’s Console, Serenity, Balance & Peace

To read about why I chose doTERRA, click here,

Read on for the benefits of each wonderful oil!

1. CONSOLE

One of the primary essential oils in the doTERRA Console Blend is Ylang Ylang, which is calming and balancing for the body and mind. It also contains Frankincense Resin, Patchouli Leaf, Labdanum Leaf/Stalk, Amyris Bark, Sandalwood Wood, Rose Flower and Osmanthus Flower which are comforting and grounding.

I use Console in those moments when we’ve all ‘lost the plot’. The tears are flowing, the tempers have boiled over, emotions are high… I put it in the diffuser or rub it within a carrier oil into our necks. It is instantly comforting (and you guessed it, consoling!)

2. SERENITY

The first thing to go out of the window for Eden when she is challenged emotionally is sleep. Serenity is a beautifully calming blend of essential oils like Lavender and Roman Chamomile. I diffuse Serenity aromatically in the bedroom to create a calming and peaceful environment before bed, use a Serenity soap or bath melt in the bath, or massage as a balm I make myself.

Serenity is also great in those “lacking calm”moments! Just one drop to the back of the neck is instantly calming, wherever we are and whatever we’re doing! I also apply Serenity to my brow when I need perspective on my situation with Eden in order to be more gentle with myself or seek answers about how to move forward in whatever challenge we are facing.

3. BALANCE

Balance has been a key oil in the Emotional Toolbox that has got me through severe anxiety problems. It is extremely grounding and so is great to use every day to the bottoms of the feet when the high needs bubs/toddler/child is going through change or challenging emotions. It contains Frankincense like Console, but also contains Blue Tansy, which ignites feelings of self-control, focus, and balance, and Blue Chamomile, which is quite sedative.

4. PEACE

Peace fuses floral and mint essential oils. It is known as a Reassuring Blend, to promote feelings of contentment, composure, and reassurance when anxious feelings overwhelm your emotions. I find Peace really good when Eden is anxious. This actually happens a lot, but presents in different guises. Eden is affected by loud noises, new environments, too much stimulation or situations she lacks control in. She presents as overwhelmed or even afraid. Peace composes her. I have started using Peace for my younger girl, Jade too, whose big milestones (she’s 1) are leaving her anxious when she’s away from me.

I guess the final part of this blog is honesty around having to remind myself what I like about Eden when she does push me to the limits of my sanity. Because maybe that might help you too. Because maybe you’re feeling quite alone right now and utterly horrible for finding your own high need bubs/toddler/child horrible.

A beautiful friend once explained to me that what often happens with kids who are higher needs is that they have an appearance of calm, but actually aren’t. She shared a thermometer diagram with me to explain what she meant and this has always stayed with me! Basically, our children sit higher up the thermometer and so constantly sit at a tipping point, and this is why it takes only “little things” to tip them over:

So, one of the things I have promised myself I will do more of is project myself into her mind when we are in a situation that is escalating or at risk of triggering a chain of unwanted events… I ask myself:

What would she want me to say and do in this situation?
What can I change about the situation I am considering to ensure it meets her needs as well as mine and/or involves her?

It isn’t easy parenting these “high needs”, but it is possible to adopt more empathetic and appropriate responses. I am still learning!

And the things I love about Eden?

She is resilient, with a warm heart, an inquiring mind and the strength of an ox. She is independent and unique and beautiful. I use Forgive essential oil to help myself move on from the soul destroying guilt I feel each time I lose my composure and feel overcome by her more challenging traits instead of these beautiful traits I love.

If you’d like to explore those questions above, as they relate to your situation and whatever brought you to my blog, request a free discovery call here.

If you’re curious now about the positive changes essential oils could make to your life, get my free eBook here.

Much Love x x

What it’s like to live anxiety free… and the things that helped to me get here <3

January 22, 2017September 19, 2017ClareWilliamson 5 Comments

I’ve seen a lot of posts from friends and acquaintances recently about their personal struggles with anxiety. I also have many people come by my market stall to ask which oils can help. Chances are you are one of them and you may or may not have read this far because I know when anxiety was an integral part of my life I would have felt terribly bitter reading a title like this one, from “one of those people” who finally kicked their anxiety for good; because at the time that felt impossible.

Looking back now to the way I felt day in day out, I’m not sure how I survived it. From the minute I opened my eyes in the morning I felt this nonsensical feeling of urgency and fear. I couldn’t lie in bed and ignore it, but getting up to face the world felt unbearable. My hands would shake and I would feel nauseous. I distanced myself from friends because I thought they’d think me crazy if I explained how I was feeling (and didn’t have the words anyway). Normal things (and when at my worst this included opening the curtains) would get me into a terrible state – a few too many people in the supermarket, the bus, a meeting. The commonality was people, but that didn’t explain why I’d wake up in the middle of the night anxious or begin to hyperventilate when walking alone. One day at my lowest point I almost ran my car off the motorway to escape from what I was feeling. My hands started to turn the wheel, but I came to my senses, took my foot off the accelerator and careered to a stop on the hard shoulder. I can’t remember exactly when my anxiety started, I do understand why it manifested, but boy I remember the day I realised it wasn’t there! It was only this year. I was sat breastfeeding Jade, tv was off, it was quiet. Usually in this instance I would turn the tele on to distract myself from the anxiety biting at my throat and basically be unable to just sit, but this day was different.

I was relaxed, fully relaxed, present and I felt in control. You see, the best way I can describe living with anxiety is like a cup almost filled to the top all the time. It only takes the tiniest of things to tip the cup over, whereas ‘normal’ people, those without anxiety can take a lot more before they tip.

So, what had changed?

The first step was to take myself off the medication I was on – beta blockers for the anxiety. I also chose to come off my contraception pills and take a much more natural approach to illness
I then made a life changing choice to move away from some of the triggers of the anxiety. I don’t believe this has to be as dramatic a move as I made, but disconnecting yourself from obvious triggers is worth it, in my experience
Something that followed this step, although it wasn’t an intentional recovery step, was some gut healing. Simple things like probiotics. dōTERRA do a great one called PB Assist.
When we moved to New Zealand it was much easier to access holistic resources and solutions and it was here that my real journey of healing began. My advice to you would be to reach out to a holistic doctor and talk to them about what’s going on. I learnt all sorts of things and techniques, like the importance of sunlight and fresh air, using a simple walk somewhere green and exercise as relaxation anchors, how to breathe into the depths of my belly instead of my chest that was causing me to hyperventilate, meditation and more
In 2016 after I’d had Jade I undertook a dōTERRA Challenge called TERRAfit to lose my baby weight and it really changed the way I was eating, which I think also helped. I don’t think we place enough focus on how the fuel we put in our body helps and hinders our mental health. TERRAfit is all about eating clean, so no heavy metals, pesticides, sugar and other things that play havoc with our system.
In 2016 I also branched out with the essential oils I was using to help with my anxious feelings. Lavender was always my go to, but with dōTERRA I discovered a blend called Balance. It contains Frankincense, Blue Tansy, Osmanthus, Blue Chamomile; all the grounding oils, which helped me to start the day in a place of calm and focus. I applied 2 drops to my feet every morning and reapplied to my wrists as I needed throughout the day. When I felt suddenly panicky I would apply Wild Orange, which I felt stopped that first domino of anxiety in its tracks, so the other dominoes didn’t spiral out of control. I also used another blend called Serenity to help me relax and sleep and Bergamot to help my emotional healing journey. Essential Oils became part of my daily routine and for a while I was glad to have dōTERRA’s loyalty rewards to help pay for so many oils!
The turning point from managing my anxiety to taking control of it was life coaching. I guess a big part of my anxiety was wanting desperately to make changes in my life, but lacking the confidence and self-esteem to make them happen and so sitting there feeling anxious that they weren’t happening! The coaching helped me reframe my anxiety and its symptoms and change my perspective of stored memories. I also created more integrated beliefs, improved clarity and confidence and decluttered my physical space because, heck that clutter was adding to my anxiety!
The final step has been supplements, as certain deficiencies can really worsen anxious feelings.
- The B vitamins help with nervous system functioning, and being under a lot of stress can deplete your levels.
- Magnesium is a nutrient that plays a part in more than 300 of the body’s biochemical reactions, and regulates the release of stress hormones.
- Studies on both humans and mice have shown a strong connection between magnesium levels and depression and anxiety.
- Tryptophan isn’t a vitamin or mineral, but rather an essential amino acid. It is the number 1 supplement purchased for stress and anxiety.
- Tryptophan converts into a compound called 5-HTP, which then converts it to serotonin (the “feel good chemical”), which plays a huge role in regulating mood, appetite, and sleep.
- Vitamin D is known as the “sunshine vitamin” because its main source is sunlight.
- Research has shown that individuals with depression and anxiety disorders also commonly have low levels of Vitamin D.
- Calcium. The nervous system needs calcium in order to operate properly, so mood issues and anxiety very often result from not getting enough calcium.

My journey with supplements began with the dōTERRA Microplex VM, which is a balanced blend of vitamins that includes antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E; an energy
complex of B vitamins; and natural vitamin D3. It also contains a bioavailable blend of essential minerals, which includes bio-available forms of the bone nutrients calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron, selenium, copper, manganese, and chromium. Finally there is a blend of essential trace minerals for cellular metabolism, communication, and regeneration and a great blend of polyphenols such as: grapeseed extract, quercetin, pomegranate fruit extract, resveratrol, and more for their great antioxidant power.

The tryptophan I took from natural sources and pea protein.

In the last 2 months I have added dōTERRA’s omega mix and cellular vitality mix, plus a blend called DDR Prime.

DDR Prime contains frankincense, wild orange, summer savory, niaouli, lemongrass, clove & thyme to help protect the cells in our body from oxidative stress. When there is an imbalance in our body between the creation of free radicals and the neutralization of them via antioxidants, our cells become stressed and age. DDR Prime supports the body’s process of the cell’s destruction or repair, rather than just having it hang around impaired causing other issues. I really do feel exponentially better with these last two supplements on board and I’m keen to get my bloods redone this week to see whether DDR Prime has improved my thyroid and adrenal function, which have suffered from years of ‘fight or flight’.

There’s a lot here, I know. If you’re struggling, please do reach out to me. I offer a free 30 minutes to see how Life Coaching can support you. To book, click here.

Or, to understand the potential of using essential oils for your emotional balance better, and to get started <<click here>>

Believe that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and if you want to talk to me, just shout.

Much love x x

What’s in your Natural Toolbox?

October 2, 2016October 2, 2016ClareWilliamson Leave a comment

As a mum it is great to feel empowered to know what to reach for when your kids get sick, so that you can soothe their discomfort and suffering immediately and naturally and feel confident that you are making the right choices.

I know as mums we question every day whether those choices we make are the right ones and we always have questions! Rest assured this is a good thing. As we ask questions we learn and grow. We will make mistakes along the way, but instead of feeling guilty about these we must acknowledge the good we do every day also!

Post probiotics “whoopsie” with my youngest! She sneezed….!

For today’s blog I thought it would be helpful to share what is in my Natural Toolbox and my ‘go-to’ uses. This information forms part of the ‘My Family Remedies Course’ I offer to mums. I know they find the course really useful. It is quite an in depth discovery of the primary uses for essential oils in common childhood illnesses.

The oils I take you through are doTERRA’s Lavender, Lemon, Peppermint, Melaleuca, Oregano, Frankincense, Deep Blue®, Breathe, DigestZen®, and On Guard™. Alongside these in my Natural Toolbox I keep Vitamin C, Fermented Apple Cider Vinegar, Arnica, Colloidal silver and Chamomilla.

However, the oils I find I reach for most, and those I will introduce in this blog are Melaleuca, Lavender and On Guard™. At the hint of a cold or the flu I start with Vitamin C straight away and get On Guard™ in the diffuser. I then apply 1 drop each of Lavender and Melaleuca mixed with 2 tablespoons of Fractionated Coconut oil to the bottoms of the feet every couple of hours. To really open up the airways I use lemon in babies and Breathe in children, but the Melaleuca and On Guard will suffice on the feet to help kill viruses and bacteria. Rollerballs are really handy for this. It’s also important to know how to dilute essential oils appropriately for babies and children though. I will be going through this in detail at my Essential Oils Basics Workshop on October 12th. This is an entry by koha workshop that I really recommend to mums as a starting point with Essential Oils.

Another thing we go through with babies and young children often is ear aches and infections. You can use Melaleuca and Lavender in this instance too. Just dilute 1-2 drops of Melaleuca and/or Lavender and apply around the ear (NOT inside the ear) and along the back of the cheek bone down & around behind the ear. You can also add Basil to help with the pain. Did you know that about 70 percent of children get better on their own within two or three days of an ear infection, and about 80 percent are better within a week to 10 days, without antibiotics?

Melaleuca and Lavender can also be used in cases of stings, burns, cuts, scrapes, chickenpox, measles and Hand Foot and Mouth.

However, prevention is better than a cure in the case of these latter illnesses and this is where On Guard® comes in really handy. Our littlies encounter germs every day, however hard we try to protect them from them. They bring these germs home on their shoes, hands, clothes! We can’t protect them all the while they are out, and encountering these germs and bacteria is necessary for building strong immune systems, but it is nice to think we can keep our homes relatively germ free without heavy chemicals. This is why I use doTERRA’s OnGuard® range around my home to kill germs and as an immunity booster.

If you are interested in learning Essential Oil Basics and are local to Auckland, please come along to my next workshop on October 12th! Just click here and complete the contact form to book your space.

Happy kids = Happy Mum!

Much Love x x

How to use my Rollerball System to Roll Easy through this Life of Mum!

September 14, 2016April 27, 2018ClareWilliamson 1 Comment

Life as a mum isn’t easy all the time. It can be challenging, emotionally and physically draining, it can be isolating and it can screw with your sense of self in a BIG WAY! Motherhood is an evolving journey in so many ways, but especially in identity, which can be confusing and confronting for us. And don’t even get me started on mummy guilt…

That is how I came up with my Rollerball System. Mums would come to me for blends for this and for that:

“I need something to pick me up in the afternoon; I am drinking way too much coffee!”
“I need something to lift my mood”
“Do you have anything for mindfulness?”
“I need something to calm me down in the moment – when the kids are driving me crazy”
“I need something for my anxious feelings”
“The kids keep getting sick, do you have anything to keep me well, so that I can look after them? I don’t have the time or the luxury of a sick day!”

Through these requests and experimentation with many blends and blends I have used myself (for anxiety, relaxation and mine and my daughter’s immune system), I have developed tried and tested blends that work to:

Calm Me DOWN
Pick Me UP
Keep Me WELL
Make me Worry-LESS
And be At EASE

BUY NOW

How the System Works

You can use each rollerball individually or you can use them together as a system. For example:

Use At Ease daily to encourage presence and gratitude.
- I roll At Ease to my root chakra when I rise in the morning, take 3 deep breaths or do a small meditation/positive affirmation. This helps me to stay present in the moment and relaxed throughout the day, and grateful.
Use Calm Me Down in the moment of anger or if you feel your temper or tension rising. It makes tension literally melt away.
- Roll to the back of your neck if you feel a tension headache coming on or have tight muscles. Roll it behind your ears 30 minutes before bedtime to relax and unwind and welcome sleep.
Use Calm Me Down and Worry Less together in the moment anxiety hits. Anxiety is like a domino. If you don’t catch that first one falling the anxiety spirals out of your control. This mix can help you stop that domino in its tracks.
- Roll both to the wrists and take 3 deep breaths. Repeat a positive affirmation 3 times. Or, roll to the center of your chest at the heart level in a clockwise direction. The heart chakra is the wellspring of love, warmth, compassion, and joy. It encourages self-love, altruism, generosity, kindness, and respect.
Use Worry Less on its own on those days where worries weigh down our mind and spirit.
- Roll easy up to three times a day on wrists, back of knees, feet, neck or root chakra.
Use Pick Me Up to lift mood or energy. It is a great alternative to that 3pm coffee! It contains multiple citrus oils to lift your energy and spirit, whilst keeping you grounded and focused with the frankincense and other balancing oils.
Use Keep Me WELL during those times when your immune system needs a boost because you need to be well, mum, to keep your tribe well! We forget to look after ourselves sometimes, so this is one is an easy, quick way to do that with immune boosting, bacteria busting, spirit lifting essential oils.

Using these rollerballs as a system works really well for a number of reasons:

Calming a troubled mind makes us more present in our children’s play and needs
The ability to calm down when emotions or tensions run high is beneficial to mum and child too
Better sleep leads to more energy
Actively practising gratitude and mindfulness can reduce stress
Boosting the immune system is important to maintaining wellness. When mum gets sick there is no recovering in bed for days. We have to keep going, so it is better to invest in avoiding illness in the first place!

As a system the rollerballs are aimed at reducing ill-health and the negative emotions that are a consequence of high stress, lack of sleep, tension and worry, and increasing positive mood from the inside out. Recent studies show self-induced changes in mood can increase the production of serotonin, which is your feel good hormone. By increasing calm and a sense of peacefulness and control, this also boosts the mindfulness that we are encouraging with the At EASE blend!

BUY NOW

Buy your Rollerballs now. Purchase individually from $22 each or as a system for $124.50

Design Your Life

My 5 Roll Easy rollerballs are also a key tool in my Design Your Life Ultimate Experience. This is an 8 week coaching programme to shift out of overwhelm into purpose.

Are you tired of living on autopilot?

Are you stressed? Maybe not feeling like you’re not giving your all to any one thing, including your children?

Do you feel guilty or frustrated that you’re not achieving your own expectations?

Are you inspired by the possibility life could be better?

And be sure to click here and read my Guest Blog Series from other mums who took the journey from surviving to thriving!

Why the Design Your Life Experience WORKS

A couple of years ago I hit a tipping point. My life was completely out of balance and I was unhappy. Something needed to change.

Using the process I will take you through as part of this experience I “decluttered” my physical, spiritual and mental space. I scheduled my time, so that I could fit the many things that were pulling me in many directions in. Then I identified the things that were quality time spent that served me and my family and got rid of the rest; i.e. I designed my life, rather than letting life rule me! I identified my purpose and freed myself from the limiting beliefs and other things that were holding me back from fulfilling it. And through all of this emerged more awareness of who I am underneath the veil of Eden and Jade’s mum, so that my life is not just about #beingmum. In fact, I discovered that I am literally 50 shades of mum, but that is OK! I also acknowledged that I have less than attractive traits that make me feel like a terrible mum sometimes, like my Angry Dinosaur, but through the process I will take you through I understand how they serve me, how they don’t and I put strategies in place to use them to my advantage.

If you are ready to fall in love with the life you have designed for yourself, which brings you true happiness and lives out your purpose and dreams, talk to me now to get started.

Payment plans are available.

GRIEF – Healing & Renewal with Essential Oils

July 27, 2016May 6, 2018ClareWilliamson Leave a comment

Sometimes you can miss someone so much that you don’t know how you’ll get through the pain that grief brings in all its different forms – the loss of a job, a person, a friendship, a relationship. Grief isn’t a short-term thing – it is a long-standing, relentless pain and longing for the thing that is not in your life anymore. It’s all the things that came with that thing – the comforting and grounding touch of a hand, security, routine, a sense of identity. Grief is complex, but what is common is that grieving is a process. Shock, denial, anger, sadness and then finally (and after much time), acceptance and moving forward. At the point of loss though, these final steps seem inconceivable, impossible, and in between all these standard emotions and through them are turbulent, changing emotions like despair, helplessness, frustration, regret, guilt, fear, insecurity, isolation, abandonment, and hopelessness. Essential oils can be extremely comforting when used aromatically or topically to help balance the emotions that accompany the grieving process and they can uplift in dark times and support the transition of grief and emotional healing.

My nan passed away almost seven years ago now. She was my rock. The one I turned to for advice and support. She lived with us so long that everything about her was familiar and comforting, even her tellings off because it was representation of how much she cared! I knew she was hearing my silent cries for help. My early teens were a tough and very challenging time for me and I became very lost. My nan was always a stable place to come back to, which grounded me and refocused me in the hard times. I suffered terribly when she passed away. I fell apart, in truth.

In the present day my grief has mostly passed, but there is not a day that goes by that I do not miss her or think of her, and even as an adult and especially as a mum I have moments where I feel like that lost little girl and I look for her. Sometimes I feel her presence so strongly that I almost feel like I can reach out and touch her. Other days she feels so far away that I panic because I cannot find her. Then there are other times I am sure she is reaching back to me through others and things that happen in my day – when a stranger offers an embrace or a rainbow appears when my heart is hurting or I hear her song on the radio.

Many times I have used my essential oils to help me with feelings of loss. There are many oils you can turn to in order to counteract negative emotions and increase positive mood, and therefore improve overall emotional health – Bergamot, Citrus Oils, Roman Chamomile, Jasmine, Sweet Marjoram, Neroli, Rose, Frankincense, Melissa, Ylang Ylang and Vetiver are just a few – but unless you know what oils can help in which way, using them can seem daunting!

This is why when doTERRA launched a line of essential oil blends to aid in emotional health in 2015 I literally jumped for joy!

Their system, called Emotional Aromatherapy, includes six 5 mL essential oil blends of CPTG Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade® essential oils.

Each bottle blends the oils that elicit specific emotional responses in the precise ratios that will have an entirely new spectrum of benefits compared to using each oil in isolation:

The Cheer Uplifting Blend of citrus and spice essential oils promotes feelings of optimism, cheerfulness, and happiness, and counteracts negative emotions of feeling down, blue, or low
The Console Comforting Blend of floral and tree essential oils promotes feelings of comfort and hope and counteracts negative emotions of grief, sadness, and hopelessness
The Forgive Renewing Blend of tree and herb essential oils promotes feelings of contentment, relief, and patience, and counteracts negative emotions of anger and guilt
The Motivate Encouraging Blend of mint and citrus promotes feelings of confidence, courage, and belief, and counteracts negative emotions of doubt, pessimism, and cynicism
The Passion Inspiring Blend ignites feelings of excitement, passion, and joy and counteracts negative feelings of boredom and disinterest
The doTERRA Peace Reassuring Blend of floral and mint essential oils promotes feelings of peace, reassurance, and contentment and counteracts anxious and fearful emotions.

The Emotional Aromatherapy System is a very powerful tool for grief, but only by trying the blends will you discover their true value to you. If you would like to try the Emotional Aromatherapy System it is available from my online shop, along with the essential oils individually. To fully understand the potential of using essential oils for your emotional balance, and to get started <click here>

Either way, if you are in the clutches of grief right now I offer you my love and strength in this difficult time of healing and renewal.

Much love x x

Achieving Hormonal Balance

July 22, 2016July 24, 2016ClareWilliamson Leave a comment

Let’s face it, being mum is a crazy journey! It’s exhilarating and exhausting all at once, we have days where we feel like superwoman and we have days where we feel like Superman when he’s on kryptonite. What we don’t need as women is an unhealthy hormone balance to screw with our mood, emotions and our weight, which screws with our self-esteem, our digestion, our sleep and other key areas of our life as well!

Essential oils can be be very powerful in rebalancing our hormones. Unlike drugs you may be prescribed by a doctor, the oils do not contain hormones, but have properties that stimulate hormone production and balance. First of all, how do we recognize our hormones are out of sync?

There are a variety of symptoms that we can look out for:

irritability, anxiousness
PMS
menopausal symptoms that interfere with day to day life
heavy periods, irregular cycles
inability to lose weight
breast tenderness
hair loss
fatigue, insomnia
hypothyroidism
lack of sex drive
dryness “down below”
Sore joints and tendonitis
increase in belly fat.

This is just a few indications that your hormones could be out of balance. And it can be different hormones “out of whack.”

The following oils can balance estrogen levels:

Clary Sage and fennel (both phytoestrogenic oils)
Lavender (naturally lowers cortisol levels)
Frankincense (balances hormone levels, which reduces symptoms associated with menstruation and menopause)
Basil (great for period pain and increases the body’s natural response to both physical and emotional stress, while conditioning you to cope better)
Geranium (an adaptogen oil ).

I use Geranium every day for its overall balancing effect on female hormones. As I am breastfeeding I have suspected low estrogen, but I also suffer from adrenal fatigue, so this is a great oil for me. I rub it over my kidneys mixed in fractionated coconut oil and frankincense daily. Of course, stress can also cause low estrogen in all its different guises (dietary, emotional, too much work and not enough sleep, environmental toxins, or pain and inflammation) and it definitely causes adrenal fatigue over an extended period of time. So it’s really important to work on this also to avoid a state of chronic stress that causes your cortisol levels to rise, which in turn causes drops in estrogen and progesterone that can cause menstrual irregularities, weight gain, estrogen dominance, and infertility.

Out of all the essential oils listed above Clary sage is the most commonly related to hormone balance and has been used since Medieval times for balancing hormones and relieving pain. You can dilute a few drops in fractionated coconut oil and rub into your ankles daily. Or, if menstrual cramps are painful, rub the mixture directly onto your stomach and ovary area for pain relief. Add geranium to the blend to enhance pain relief.

You can also add a few drops of clary sage and geranium to a warm bath and enjoy a soak. Or buy my Balancing Bath Melts that use this blend.

There is a great article on the doTERRA blog about hormonal balance, which also talks about the importance of diet in hormonal balance and introduces some of the doTERRA products available for hormone health. For example, the doTERRA^® Phytoestrogen Lifetime Complex contains plant-based phytoestrogens, flax seed extract, and pomegranate extract. The ClaryCalm^® Monthly Blend is a specially formulated blend of 12 essential oils that can be applied to the skin for a soothing effect.

There are other things you can do to support your hormonal balance. Dietary stress (eating the wrong foods for your body, or too many processed foods), emotional stress, too much work and not enough sleep and environmental toxins have a hugely negative effect on your hormone balance. I refer a lot in this blog to reducing your toxic load by following a more natural way of life. I have decided to elaborate on this and other ways to get and stay healthy in a free 30-page e-book available when you subscribe to my newsletter. Look out for the launch of this on my Facebook page in the next few weeks!

The final thing I recommend to keep hormonal imbalances from wreaking havoc is a Liver Detox with Lemon Essential Oil. The liver regulates the sex hormones, primarily estrogen.

A Dutch study has found that the compounds in lemon peels, a large component of doTERRA’s lemon essential oil, improve liver functions like hormone regulation by lowering liver cholesterol. You can add 1-5 drops of lemon essential oil to a glass of 250ml water each morning and drink before you eat or drink anything else. I do this for blocks of 6-12 weeks when I feel my body needs it.

You can also buy my beautifully delicate blend of Evening Primrose Oil and doTERRA Balance, Frankincense, Geranium, Clary Sage and Lavender in a rollerball for $10.

I add Balance to the oils I recommend above because it contains Blue Chamomile, Ho Wood and Frankincense to support with stress, quiet the mind and uplift mood, but also Spruce that has a hormone mimicking action that helps reestablish balance, especially in the pituitary, thyroid, adrenal and reproductive glands. You can apply to the t-zone on your face and rub in like a moisturiser nightly, apply directly to hormonal breakouts or use on the soles of your feet/ankles daily to support hormonal balance. Contact me to order yours now.

Oils can also be ordered in these handy packs of 4 mini bottles in a beautiful purple or black carry case that you can take out and about with you for use when you need to. $60 with your choice of 4 oils.

Please note, what works for one person may not work for another and my experience/products should not replace advice from a doctor.

Much love x x

Zero Waste Beauty by Essential Mum

July 2, 2016July 2, 2016ClareWilliamson Leave a comment

It’s International Bag Free Day today and it’s got me thinking about how awesome (and easy) Zero Waste Beauty is! Good for you and good for the environment…

Most of Essential Mum’s products are packaged plastic free and I really advocate that you re-use the amber bottles that you buy them in for your own beauty creations. I share lots of ideas in my monthly newsletter. if you are not receiving it yet, email me! 🙂 You can even make essential oil bottle Christmas lights!

Making your own beauty products that use natural ingredients, like beeswax and coconut oil, save on energy, waste and water. Thus being kind to our earth 🙂 And you don’t have to come home with a plastic shopping bag full of plastic pots either. Just get your natural essential oils from me to get started!

Here are a couple of zero waste beauty ideas to get you started that are so easy I can’t even find a way to describe how easy they are! 😉 …

Condition your hair with homemade apple cider vinegar. Add lavender essential oil to boost hair health and to smell nice! Add Rosemary essential oil for hair growth and Melaleuca to support a healthy scalp.
Make your own mouthwash recipe: Boil 500 mL water and cool to room temperature. Then add 30 drops peppermint essential oil and 15 drops clove essential oil. Shake well. Store in pharmaceutical grade amber glass

To get you started on your day journey, I’m offering a $50 Gift Voucher for Pure Nature when you sign up to a DOTERRA Wholesale Account with me, so that you can stock up with carrier oils, beeswax and more to make your own beauty products and Rollerballs. I’ll also throw in 5 rollerball bottles to get you started! PLUS, the delightful duo of oils – doTERRA Motivate and Cheer! All you need to do is click Join & Save at my website and choose a kit over 150pv to get started on your essential oils journey. Offer expires July 31!

If “DIY” isn’t your thing I do make natural, beautiful, handcrafted (with love!) beauty products that you can buy from $3, just check out the shop at my Facebook page to see what I currently have in stock and you can always contact me to make a personalised order! Just let me know your needs ❤

Much love.. AND DITCH THOSE PLASTIC BAGS TODAY FOR #INTERNATIONALBAGFREEDAY ❤ x x

How Essential Oils Can Boost Your Weight Loss

June 28, 2016June 28, 2016ClareWilliamson Leave a comment

Today I am chugging away on my Slim & Sassy essential oil blend after food cravings got the better of me yesterday! It made me wonder if people actually know how helpful essential oils are when it comes to a weight loss/fitness journey, so I thought I’d share some facts!

As you may or may not know, I coach TERRAfit challenges. I also take part in them when I have my own personal goals to meet. At the moment I am training towards my next muay thai fight. My essential oils and doTERRA products are a big part of why/how I succeed. Now I am back into my muay thai training they are making a big difference there too.

Essential oils are a catalyst that can help you reach your goals faster and boost the effectiveness of your efforts.

A key reason for this is digestion.

Digestion is paramount to your health and maintaining a healthy weight. A healthy digestive system allows the proper nutrient absorption needed for overall health. The blend that I am drinking today, Slim & Sassy contains Grapefruit Peel, Lemon Peel, Peppermint Plant, Ginger Root, and Cinnamon Bark essential oils that help promote digestive health, but also healthy metabolism, help manage hunger cravings, calm your stomach and lift your mood! Slim & Sassy is also a diuretic, stimulant, and is calorie free.

Maintaining healthy insulin and sugar levels is imperative to weight management. Eating healthy, nutritionally dense foods along with using essential oils like cinnamon and grapefruit will increase your chances of maintaining healthy weight loss.

Another thing that I know influences my eating and weight patterns are hormones! I am in the process of writing a whole blog about essential oils and hormonal balance, but for now let it be said, essential oils can be amazing for healthy hormonal balance!

Hormones assist just about every function in the body. Hormonal imbalances dramatically affect weight management. Essential oils are uniquely intelligent and work with hormones for cellular communication.

Check out this video and blog from Dr Axe about his top 3 essential oils to balance hormones naturally.

The other essential oils that I generally use with my Slim & Sassy are Lemon, Wild Orange and Frankincense. These detoxify and boost energy levels significantly and the citrus oils and frankincense in particular support healthy adrenal function as well, which is really important for me, as I am currently battling adrenal fatigue. Basil, coriander and geranium are also helpful for adrenal health.

It has been suggested that a major reason we hold onto weight is because of toxicity. Many of the doTERRA products I sell are aimed helping us reduce our “toxic load”. We encounter toxins daily and the organs that help to filter toxins are overloaded. Toxins accumulate in our fat cells and until we can eliminate the toxins the fat cells are there to stay, so use your lemon oil every day for a period of time, along with clean eating and exercise to detoxify. You will also get gloriously soft skin.

Next, circulation is important to increasing tone and shedding excess fat. Essential oils that help with circulation are cypress, basil, rosemary, cinnamon, peppermint, lemongrass and frankincense. You can apply the oils before, during and after workouts.

The final two areas in which essential oils can be really helpful are respiratory function and endurance. Your muscles need oxygen to repair themselves after exercise. They will repair faster with essential oils. Blends like Breathe improve your respiratory function and peppermint oil is being studied with athletes for its effectiveness at increasing endurance levels, with positive results. I have a fellow kickboxer trialing peppermint essential oil at the moment, so watch this space for her feedback!

If you want a one-to-one chat about how essential oils might be able to support your weight loss and/or fitness, drop me an email to nzessentialmum@gmail.com. I can also share more info about the TERRAfit challenges! You can buy essential oils and the Slim & Sassy Product Line at my retail shop. Click here.

Much Love until next time x x

Essential Mum

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