Episode 132: Creating Your Environment with Aromatherapy

doTERRA: Aromatherapy has been becoming more and more popular in the United States, many people have been able to reap benefits from aromatherapy practices. And today, we'll discuss how aromatherapy can play a role in your life.
Welcome back to Essential Oil Solutions with doTERRA, the podcast where you'll hear exciting, useful, and simple everyday uses for essential oils from experts in the field. If you like what you hear today, rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen. We always appreciate hearing from you.
Today, we're excited to talk to Jade Balden about creating your environment with aromatherapy. Jade, thank you so much for being here with us today.

Jade Balden: Thank you! I'm feeling very privileged to be here.

doTERRA: So the first question I want to ask about this topic is I think one that a lot of people have, and that is what is aromatherapy? Where does it come from?

Jade: Well, aromatherapy is a modern name for a practice that has been around for a long time. It's basically using aromatic compounds, such as essential oils, from plants. It's been used by humans for thousands of years.
The essential oils are the distilled and cold-pressed aromatic compounds found in the roots, the leaves, the flower, seeds, rind, and bark of the plants. So different plants produce different types of essential oils. And once we learn what each one does, we can use it for whatever it is that we need.

Historical Uses of Aromatherapy
So the ancient civilizations—such as Greece, Rome, China, Arabia, India—have used aromatherapy in religious ceremonies and rituals, and we can even find examples of aromatherapy in the Bible as well. I'll give you an example, actually. The Babylonians and the Assyrians would burn frankincense during their religious ceremonies because of the warming aroma of the oil, so that's what they used.
For me, I'm Vietnamese of heritage. When I was growing up, I didn't realize that my family did aromatherapy until I thought about it for a bit. My mom used to boil up lemongrass and eucalyptus leaves and citrus rinds in a pot and then made me smell the steam. And it was really weird for me growing up in Australia, but it really helped.

doTERRA: That is such an incredibly long history. And like you said, it shows up in so many different cultures, which is amazing. So how is aromatherapy used today? What are people using it for?

Jade: Well, I think aromatherapy nowadays has changed and advanced greatly. And for me, that was like, you know, amazing when I learned about that. So your sense of smell is 10,000 times more sensitive than other senses.

doTERRA: Wow. So if I'm starting out with aromatherapy, what are some essential oils that you would recommend using?

Jade: So in our family, we use essential oils in different ways. Aromatherapy is one way, right? But we also use it internally and topically. And, you know, when we talk about good health, I believe that the only way we can have good health is just to take the holistic health approach. And what that means is we need to adopt a lifestyle where we eat healthily, we take supplements, we exercise regularly, we have great sleep and rest, we use natural, toxin-free personal care products and cleaning products. And of course, managing that daily with the aromatherapy practice.
You know, when you're asking the question of how to use it, there's a lot of reference guides that are so great. And, you know, you can reference those guides to help you start. Some reference guides help you understand how to use essential oils for support. I like that a lot because each essential oil can help us. I tell people, you know, it's like the oils are your supportive bubble, wrapped up in this essential oil bubble, where it supports you gives you a bit of a boost towards whatever it is that you're looking for.
So it's not just you. You don't have to do it alone. You have that support.

doTERA: I love that imagery of the bubble and the support that it can give you. That's beautiful.

Jade: I think it's quite easy to use aromatherapy. And the more you learn, the more you practice, it gets easier, of course.

The Smell Test
A really easy way to pick the oils, the right oils, is to do the smell test. I tell people, “Just pick a few essential oils that you're drawn to and smell it.” Your nose would tell you the right ones to use. And when your whole body responds positively to it, you're smiling, then you've picked the right oil for yourself. You know, I say, you know what, smell that oils. And what tickles your fancy is the right one. It's not that complicated.
Because there's a lot of oils out there and people might feel like, “Oh, what do I start with?” So I just say, “Look, it's quite simple.” But the beauty of it is it helps us, so we do that smell test, and it's such a simple practice, but it helps us learn more about ourselves. And honestly, sometimes we really have no clue what we're going through.
doTERRA makes aromatherapy so easy. The name of the oils, the oil blends is a clue: Console, Cheer, Passion, Motivate, Elevation, Citrus Bliss, Serenity, and my favorite is Balance. I’m a highly productive person, and sometimes there's so much to do. So I use Balance to help me balance my life every day.
I was just thinking, I have another tip that I have to help people pick the right oils for aromatherapy. Want to hear it?

doTERRA: Yes!

Jade: I group oils into five categories. This is what I learned from Dr. Hill. So there are five categories: mints, florals, citrus, tree and grass, and spice. I’ll just go through it quickly and help you with that. Is that all right?

doTERRA: Perfect.

Mints

Jade: OK, so we have the mint oils that are high in ketones and go for Spearmint and Peppermint. So just put a couple of drops in your palms and smell it or put it in your diffuser.

Florals
Floral oils are composed mostly of alcohol and esters. So the floral oils—so we've got the Lavender, of course, famous Lavender, Jasmine, and Roman Chamomile is very popular.

Citruses
The citrus oils, they're really high in limonene and beta-pinene. So they're very cleansing. Don’t you love the Lemon and the Wild Orange oil and Grapefruit oil? Just smelling it every day, putting a drop or two in your water just helps put the bounce back into you. I love that.

Spices
And the last group is the spice. So in your kitchen, you've got spices, right? And once you learn how to use the kitchen spices, you know what to put in what, right? And so these oils are the same as well. So once you learn how to use these spice oils, you just know which oils to go to when you need help with, say, digestion or anything to help with warming properties in your body. So the oils that are warming are Thyme, Oregano. There’s Cassia, Cinnamon, Clove, even though they're warming, it's hot and spicy warm. They're really, really powerful. So you only need a little bit. That's how I would recommend people start with essential oils and aromatherapy.

doTERRA: Those categories are definitely so helpful just to kind of give some general designations of where you can go to for whatever you might be dealing with.

Jade: Yeah, if you don't have one, you can find another that's very similar.

doTERRA: Right.

Jade: Just to address the worry about having the exact one for that concern that you have.

doTERRA: Absolutely. So, Jade, you've mentioned a couple of different ways that aromatherapy has kind of been worked into your life. But can you tell us a little bit more about how you and your family utilize aromatherapy?

Jade: Well, I have four children in my home, and they're all teenage girls. And they have had essential oils and aromatherapy for ten years now. And they know how to use the oils. So it gives us high quality of life. We don't just use oils when we need to fix something. We use it every day to maintain that higher quality. So my girls only use the doTERRA oils, of course, because they're pure and they’re potent, and they're the best quality. So they—I just feel like it's safer for them to use.
You know, let's start with what a typical day looks like. OK, so in the morning, I like to use the Balance oil. Don't you feel like when you wake up in the morning and you feel like a big day, there's so much to do? Here's my big, long list.

Morning

doTERRA: Absolutely.

Jade: So Balance oil on my forehead, just to help me take one thing at a time and enjoy it as I go, because otherwise we're just holding our breath and then just checking the boxes throughout the day, and you're not living. That's really important for me just to enjoy my day, go through my list, but be happy at the same time.
Then after waking up and doing that, I like to diffuse citrus oils or just blends that have citrus oils in them. There's plenty of doTERRA blends with citrus oils, just diffuse it around the house. It helps people wake up. And, you know, we're really oil crazy in our family. So we have a diffuser in every room, including the bathrooms.
And then we love to get things done. We are just the achiever family, you know. The kids and I, love using the Adaptiv oil, and each has her own Adaptiv Touch roller bottle, and she takes it to school. And so the days that they have things going on, a lot of things going on in school, like exams or even friendship issues, you know, so they learn how to use the Adaptiv oil. That's what they've learned to do. Instead of wishing it away, we have these wonderful tools to use.

Afternoon
And when they come home, we do homework and, you know, we diffuse Rosemary, Peppermint, and Wild Orange in the diffuser. So that's pretty easy. And once you start this routine, it just becomes second nature. So it's not something you have to think about and remember to do. It’s just something you do.

Evening
We move into the evening. I love using Serenity in a very special way. I learned to do the bath, soaking in that warm water with Epsom salt, I learned from my time living in Japan. In the evening, I use that Serenity in a special way. This is influenced by my time living in Japan. So the Japanese, like to bathe in the evenings and soak in very warm water before bed. So it relaxes us. We just put essential oils like Serenity onto our bodies first. And then when you put the Epsom salt in the bathwater, it actually helps the oil soak into your body more. And then there you can soak and smell that aroma and just immerse yourself in that beautiful aroma and get yourself ready for bed.
Because I'm the mama—when I—before I lie down, I have to apply the AromaTouch oil on my neck and shoulders, sort of like a massage in a bottle. I have to let go of all the tension of the day and just relax. Otherwise, it just takes me a while to fall asleep.
And then lastly, before I lay down, I go back to that Balance oil. That's what we do. So those are some of the examples of what our family does when we use aromatherapy.

doTERRA: All of those suggestions sound so wonderful, and they're such simple and easy ways to work those essential oils into your day. I love that.

Jade: I love it.

doTERRA: Jade, I want to thank you again so much for talking with us today for sharing your incredible knowledge about using aromatherapy to support every aspect of your life.

Jade: Thank you so much! I enjoyed today as well.

doTERRA: Thanks for joining us and congratulations on living a healthier lifestyle with essential oils. If you liked what you heard today, rate, review, and subscribe wherever you listen. Also, if you want to try any of the products you learned about, go to doterra.com or find a Wellness Advocate near you to place an order today.