Today I Will Be Silent and Tomorrow I Will Wake Earlier

 Today I will be silent. Silence from my social media outlets. Quiet from phone calls and answering email messages. Absent from google searches and celebrity media fanfare. After these words I am typing reach you, I will be carefully planning my hours of the day to be filled with love, care and honor. Today I am dedicating thought and meditation to what this day in particular means to me. To all of us as Americans, yes. But also to the whole of the human race. The spirit realm as well. Far beyond the here and now. This morning is much different than a morning thirteen years ago. We all have our stories and recount the feelings and memories of those moments. Today, from where I sit, the wind blows a welcomed crisp coolness through our open windows. My curtains are dancing along the furniture in front of them and the swaying trees lining the peaceful streets are reminding me that there is beautiful life out there. 
 Today is a day like many others. Children will go off to school. Warm coffee will be sipped. Favorite music will be played. Plans will be made. Commutes to work. Groceries bought. Babies born.
 Planes will be boarded. 
 Fear is inevitable. If anyone tells you differently they are most likely in a state of fear themselves. Fear of the unknown. It can be as simple as that. It is when we allow fear to govern over our lives and our hearts, choosing for us who we will be and how we will continue on, that we must take pause. I have many joys in my life that free me from a constant state of fearfulness. Blessings I do not want to take for granted. We continue to live. 
 Tomorrow i will wake up earlier. I will sit at a table with my love and whisper while our little girl sleeps soundly in her lovely warm bed. We will talk about the day or last nights dreams or how good the coffee tastes from the old fashioned french press. We will wrap a sweater around our arms because the Fall is entering the kitchen mornings now. We will light a sweet smelling candle in the bedroom and admire the newly painted walls of our bathroom (again), because we truly do love it! The simplicity of life sometimes is difficult to find. You need to slow down to hear it speak. My dear sweet Maxy knows this well. She could teach the world a few things. My urges to roam are dwindling lately. I feel the shift within myself, craving the simplicity of home and family and this small yet significant quilt we are becoming enveloped inside. And i am not minding it one bit. I want to take all that is an extension of me: my family, the safety of our home, the beauty in our modest surroundings...and slide one arm along the edge grabbing hold of the stitches, while folding the rest around us like a cocoon. 
 Today is a day of remembrance. Today is a day of reflection. Today is also another day to live. Use wisdom when choosing the pattern of your life. Call upon faith often and love even more. Be brave in your heart while humbly carrying out your days. I wish you all a beautiful day and many, many simpler tomorrows. 

Love & Light 

*a note about the picture: I sat waiting for the perfect moment when the breeze kicked the sheers over the bed and into the air. After a while I decided to just lay on the bed and enjoy the fresh air for a moment. As soon as I relaxed, in came the most effortless gust of wind blowing the curtain high above the bed and swirling around in a "picture perfect" scene. Such is life. I missed capturing that instance with my camera. Im learning though, that you can not sit and wait for "perfection" and ideal beauty to happen. Here is the tricky part, you MUST live life while acknowledging all the photo worthy moments that happen along the way. 

Oooo, That Smell. Can You Smell That Smell?

*There will be no actual reference to Lynyrd Skynyrd in this blog. Sorry for any lost expectations.
You walk into your home. You take a deep breath, inhaling calm and peace and exhaling the pressures and stresses of the day. We want our private surroundings to be comfort and serenity so the air you fill your lungs with should be healthy and healing. I remember being so very excited when i was first introduced to essential oils by my sister. The idea that natures gift to us could be filling my medicine cabinet as well as my body, was an amazing revelation. Over the years we have experimented with different blends and various mediums for the most beneficial uses of these little bottles of mother natures nectar. 
 Autumn is here, therefore allergy season is upon us also. No matter where in the country you find yourself, our bodies are constantly adjusting to the shifts and changes in the air around us. For most of us, that usually means the need to set in motion an immune boost! In addition to topically and internally using our oils for protection and healing, the affect of diffusing and breathing them is just as important and effective (Note here that essential oils effect everyone differently so always use caution applying these very powerful liquids to your skin, beginning with diluting via carrier oils of your choice. Also, when ingesting be very careful. You need 100% therapeutic grade essential oils specifically stating for internal use). Lets face it though, if you're anything like me, you want to walk into your home and be wrapped up in the warm inviting scents that bring you the most happiness. For us its cinnamon, clove, spices and earthy smells. However, you can choose any of your favorite combinations. The options are endless! 
 Ive put a few different ideas together here to help get you all on your way. You can diffuse by water vapor, by oil burning, by reed diffusing, even by way of dry rice(that's one I was eager to try myself). When you are diffusing for health and prevention, you want to be sure to use a method that does not heat the oils in order to diffuse them. Most quality vapor diffusers will achieve this, as well as putting negative ions into the air which promote better health by entering your bloodstream reducing stress and an actual biochemical reaction that can increase mood and energy. Otherwise, using a few of my other diffusing techniques will allow the air to smell of your favorite scents without using the toxic chemical alternatives so commonly found in most stores and candles. I will say I have found some wonderful soy and chemical free candle options along the way too. Just be sure to check ingredients before burning. If you're really feeling ambitious there are great recipes out there for homemade candles as well. Just find a few sites out there on the endless world wide web and begin the hop, skip and jump fun by using each blog/site recommendations. These are just a couple of my favorites so far: The Prairie Homestead and Organic Authority .

Ill begin with our main diffuser of choice, the vapor version. There are many different models and choices available out there. You can find them everywhere from Young Living Essential Oil distributors (yours truly) to online shops like Amazon and Ebay. Do your research and choose which best suits your needs. Our favorites are the Young Living Rose diffuser , the H2EO Ultrasonic diffuser , and the most recent to our collection is the GreenAir Spa Vapor . The GreenAir diffuser we have just begun using. It was considerably less expensive than other models we've used yet we decided to give it a try seeing it boasts all the same performance qualities in our other diffusers. Not to mention the site we ordered from has a satisfaction guarantee for one full year! Like i mentioned before, do your research and choose what works best for your needs. 

Here Ive shown one of our diffusers (GreenAir Spa Vapor) along with a few great blends to have in the air especially during allergy season. Eucalyptus is a lung and airway opener. Just think "vapor rub" in the air! Now deep breathe! Remember though, you can mix and match any of your favorite blends and oils to create personal air fresheners, or to meet your healing needs. 

Next up is a reed style diffuser. You've seen them anywhere you see candles lining the shelves. They are compact, pretty and do not directly add a mist to the air. They do still create a wonderful smell within a smaller space, perfect for bathrooms, entryways or walk in closets. Using essential oils allows us to create a much more cost effective DIY version as well as knowing there are no toxins to inhale. The recipe is easy! You can use any glass jar (smaller openings are better so that your oils do not evaporate to quickly) and add about a quarter cup of an unscented light oil. By using too heavy an oil you may find it does not travel up the reeds as well, so try to find a sweet almond oil or jojoba. Feel free to experiment to your own liking though. Then add your essential oils. The more drops you add, the more intense your results. Start with 15-20 drops each and alter from there. Ive shown a peppermint and orange combo here for a fresh, uplifting scent that's nice in spring and summer months. Be sure when using your reeds, you try to find authentic rattan style reeds for diffusing. They are full of super tiny holes that allow the oils to travel right up through the reed and that is what helps the gorgeous scents into the air faster and more effectively. I found mine here on Ebay (Rattan Reeds ) really inexpensive. Let me know if you find any better deals!

This next one is a quick punch of aroma that uses a small tea light candle to warm the oils. As I mentioned earlier, normally heating our oils is a no-no because it changes the health properties they carry, however once in a while I like to get a super fast sweet scent in the air (possibly, for instance, to cover an unpleasant smell lingering) or just to kick start the morning by awakening our main room with our favorite oils. The clove and white fir combo Ive shown here is a wonderful season changer when transitioning into Fall. Its like the outdoors and mulling spices mixed into one. I find adding a few drops of water to the burner (which i found these burners at the Dollar store) and then a few drops of your oils are plenty to do the trick here.

Here is the newbie for me. I read this on one of the blogs for natural and organic homemade air fresheners. Basically, you take dry white rice and your choice of essential oils together in a glass bowl, stir and voila! Just as the reed diffusers, this idea works best in smaller spaces. I'm thinking even in cupboards where you may want a fresher smell, this would work perfectly. Obviously if you have small children or animals always be very careful where you put any of your diffusers or oil blends. They are very powerful and therefore could be dangerous if not administered and used with caution. With this particular technique, I used a few of my NOW Brand essential oils . I find that these oils are best for room freshening with the rice or cotton balls(you can apply oils such as peppermint to cotton balls and place around for pest or insect deterrent or to perk up a stale smelling closet or drawer...but remember to keep away from pets and kiddos). They are not 100% therapeutic grade though, so you will not be getting the true healing properties if using them for topical purposes or diffusing them in vapor machines. Absolutely DO NOT ingest these oils either please. BTW, when I began this blog post I popped the bowl you see above in our main bathroom behind closed doors. I just went in there to check on it and the room is entirely filled with a beautiful bouquet of lavender and mint! Yay experiment success!:) 

Lastly today, I wanted to also add our DIY room and linen sprays. As Ive mentioned a couple times, you always want to begin with a glass container. A real good quality essential oil (obviously Young Living is our personal favorite) will eat right away at any plastic or metal container, leaving you with contaminated mixtures and a puddle on your counter or shelf. This actually happened to me early on in my essential oil days. It was then when I really made the connection between these liquid gold healers and their true powers. Ive used ceramic and stainless steal before as well, however we prefer glass. Here we just use a glass spray bottle (found at any local health food store usually or online) and fill it up with distilled water and 20-25 drops (more or less based on preference and size of your bottles) of your essential oils and your ready to spritz and spray away! Ive shown here our Young Living Thieves blend (the #1 used oil in our home...we diffuse, rub it on, ingest and deep breathe it) especially great for sanitizing, disinfecting and cleaning the air. Its antimicrobial, antibacterial, antiviral and antiseptic qualities can not be beat. Use it anywhere you would use a disinfecting Lysol type of spray! We carry one in the car and when we travel on planes and small spaces. The other Ive shown here is Young Livings Purification blend. This is another powerful punch in the cleanse and purify department. Clean the air of odors and impurities, as well as garbage cans, shoes and much more. Some of our other must have sprays are a lavender linen spray at the bedside, a eucalyptus spray for cold and sinus season(spray down your pillow, let it dry then climb in and deep breathe yourself to sleep) and Ive created a couple personalized scent blends that i spray on as you would a body spray for a light fresh "perfume". 

Whatever your aromatherapy needs, whatever your personal favorite scents...have fun and play with what nature has provided for us! It is an amazing way to protect, heal, boost immunity and lift our spirits. Always use caution due to the true strength of these oils and do your research to find what best meets your family's needs. Be well and breathe deep. :)

*If you would like more information on Young Living Essential Oils or are interested in placing orders or becoming a distributor, please feel free to email me at livingauthenticallyandstuff@gmail.com or message me at facebook.com/livingauthenticallyandstuff