Episode 177: Calming Your Body and the History of Lemon Eucalyptus

doTERRA: Stress can be hard on your body, so it's important that you do whatever you can to help calm your body and your mind. Today, we'll discuss a few different ways that you can introduce a little more calm into 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 Samantha Lewis, a member of the doTERRA product marketing team, about how you can help calm your body. Plus, we'll take a fun look at the history of Lemon Eucalyptus. Samantha, thank you so much for being here with us today.

Samantha Lewis: Happy to be here!

doTERRA: I am really excited to talk to you about this because I am excited to learn a little bit more about how we can use essential oils to help calm our body and really utilize those benefits. So my first question for you is what are some of the negative effects that we can see when our body is stressed?

Samantha: Now, honestly, this is one of my favorite subjects to dive into because admittedly, I can definitely be a little more of a stressed out person. I kind of let it get out of control sometimes. And so it's something that I like to apply, and I have some tips and tricks that I'll talk about for sure.

But from poor sleep to even short temper, even more physical things, stress can just absolutely wreak havoc on your body if you don't keep it in check. I've definitely experienced some of those things, and I mean, sorry, I hate to be Debbie Downer. I don't think I'll ever avoid stress completely, especially in today's world. It's just not anything we're going to totally avoid.

But even with that in mind, I like to remind myself control what you can control. It's important to take a step back and realize what's in your control and how you can use that to then control, or at least hopefully mitigate stress in your life.

doTERRA: I absolutely agree. Stress is inevitable. It's something that we're going to encounter, but there are so many things we can do to help. So what are some different lifestyle activities or even essential oils that we can include in our daily routine?

Samantha: Yeah, honestly, this is something that I had a kind of a hard time narrowing down enough for a podcast episode, just to be candid. There's so many things we can do, but something that I feel is absolutely essential to me—It's so essential I even block it into my workday, into my calendar, is mindfulness practice. It's something that requires little-to-no effort and even just a few minutes throughout the day.

Mindfulness

For those listening, I think it's safe to assume you have access to the internet. So a quick internet search should provide you with some powerful mindfulness tools, some YouTube videos, or even some great podcasts, and some excellent apps out there that you can download onto your smartphone.

Sometimes it can be directed at stress specifically. When practicing mindfulness, find an essential oil or blend that speaks to you. Start with oils that are targeted to create a calm environment. And just to list a few, we've got Anchor, Align, Balance, Roman Chamomile, Lavender, or AromaTouch. Those would be kind of where I'd start. And I think all of these work great, no matter the time of day.

If I'm practicing mindfulness in the middle of my workday, I don't want to be put to sleep. So I think something like Anchor or Roman Chamomile really help inspire calm, but I'm ready to take on the rest of my day afterward. I don't have to go take a midday nap.

Hobbies

I also think it's important to find hobbies are things that make you happy outside of what you do on a day-to-day basis, whether that's work or whatever it might be. I personally love to spend time in the mountains, but we're honestly spoiled here in Utah to be surrounded by them.

Outdoor Time

I think spending time outside, whether it's on the beach, in a forest or even just your backyard, taking that time to really ground yourself to the earth and breathe in that fresh air is so valuable in calming your mind and body. I've also been learning more about the concept of forest bathing. Now I won't pretend to be an expert, but from what I understand, you can mimic the experience with wood essential oils. So I'd recommend diving in a little bit more of that and just seeing what really speaks to you, because there really are so many things you can do. And then adding in the companion of essential oils, both aromatically and internally, can boost that experience.

doTERRA: I love all of that, and I think it's amazing—like with everything—that it's so customizable, that you can find what works for you that you can make sure that it's resonating with the emotions you're feeling and make sure that it's working for you.

Samantha: Yeah, absolutely.

doTERRA: Now, my final question for you is off of essential oils and into supplements. What supplements does doTERRA have for us that can help calm our body?

Samantha: So the first thing that comes to mind is our Adaptiv line.

Adaptiv^™ Line

It really was specifically created for this. The Adaptiv capsules, which is the internal use part of the Adaptiv line, are such a unique combination of soothing essential oils and clinically studied plant extracts that, when combined, help support adaptation to stressful situations in a relaxing but again, not sleepy way. The name Adaptiv really says everything you need to know. It's meant to help you adapt, whether it's a new stress you found or something familiar and you just need some extra help managing it.

dōTERRA Serenity^® Restful Complex Softgels

There's also the Serenity capsules. Those are meant to help with that more sleep type of relaxation you might want at the end of the difficult day, or when you're having a really hard time winding down. So either way, you have support throughout the day with Adaptiv or at the end of the day with Serenity. When we're talking about internal use are also essential oils that you can take internally.

Honestly, I just recommend searching on the website “calm,” and it will pull up so many different essential oils that you can use to support. Lavender has some incredible research behind it. And like I said on other episodes, it's something I could geek out about all day.

But hopefully that gives you a good first start at trying to figure out how to help you manage your stress, whether it's new or old. It's important to make sure that we're taking care of our bodies mentally and physically and sometimes mental can affect us physically, and it really honestly just sucks. So I think keeping that in check with supplements, essential oils can benefit and just enrich our lives in a way that you maybe haven't seen before.

doTERRA: Absolutely. Samantha, it is always wonderful to talk to you and just learn so much about these oils and products and how they can help us in our lives. We really appreciate you being here with us today.

Samantha: It's always a great time.

doTERRA: We want to sing you the song of citruses. Or rather, we want to tell you a little bit about lemon eucalyptus, whose Latin name means “song of citruses.”

Even though, contrary to popular belief, the lemon eucalyptus tree, specifically eucalyptus citriodora, doesn’t actually bear lemon fruit. But the name comes from the fact that the leaves of the tree release a powerful lemony aroma when crushed. In fact, the lemon scent has been described as so strong that all you have to do is brush the leaves with your hand to feel as though you're surrounded by lemons.

Lemon eucalyptus, sometimes called lemon-scented gum tree or spotted gum tree, is native to northern Australia, where it thrives in the tropical monsoonal climate. This resilient tree has shown that it’s able to withstand both a dry and a wet season, humidity, acidic soil, and more.

What Does Lemon Eucalyptus Look Like?

An imposing tree, it can grow to 100 feet or higher. It produces skinny, lance-shaped leaves that are deep green and glossy on younger trees and rough and scraggly on older ones. Additionally, it also sprouts little white flowers, which are excellent sources of nectar for honeybees and butterflies.

Now, the lemon eucalyptus tree is known to shed its bark, making it appear spotted, which earned it the nickname “the spotted gum tree.” However, when the bark has fully shed off, the trunk is white and clean and ready for a new season. The wood of the tree doesn’t carry a scent, but many have found it useful for telephone poles, railroad ties, handles for tools, furniture, and more.

Historical Uses of Lemon Eucalyptus

Though tall and stalwart, the lemon eucalyptus tree actually looks quite ordinary and unassuming. But within the leaves, a brilliant, glowing, lemon-like aroma is hiding, just waiting to sing the song of citruses. Much like other eucalyptus trees, the leaves of the lemon-scented gum tree have been used since ancient times in Aboriginal herbal remedies. In the early days of Australia, Aboriginal individuals would crush the leaves of eucalyptus trees to make soothing vapors as well as natural aloes for the skin.

Modern Uses of Lemon Eucalyptus

Today, many popular skin and hair products contain lemon eucalyptus extract because of its soothing benefits, not to mention its bright aroma. When you smell lemon eucalyptus you might be reminded of stepping into a tranquil spa, as the refreshing scent of eucalyptus has become universally known as a symbol of serenity and calmness.

To many, lemon eucalyptus is just another tree. But we know the secret of its amazing properties. There are endless possibilities when it comes to the lemon-scented gum tree. It might become a railroad tie that brings a train down the track. It might provide much-needed nectar to some busy honeybees. It might even lend its soothing properties and luxurious aroma to soaps, shampoos, or personal fragrances. The possibilities are almost endless.

If you haven’t explored the possibilities of lemon eucalyptus, we know that it will soon become a favorite of you and your family.

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.