Episode 77: How to Increase Your Energy Naturally

doTERRA: Energy is essential to accomplish everything we need to do in our busy lives, but many adults in the United States report feeling low energy levels multiple days a week. Often, people turn to various stimulants to give their energy levels a boost, but there is a more natural way.

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 Jessi Boschma about how she finds natural ways to help boost her energy levels. Jessi, thank you so much for sitting down with us today to talk about this fun and exciting topic.

Jessi Boschma: Thank you for having me. I'm honored to be here, and I'm excited to share with you some tips and tricks we've learned.

doTERRA: So my first question is I think one that people struggle with a lot, you know, figuring out what is going on with them. So what are some reasons that my energy might be low?

Jessi: OK, so I have a couple of thoughts here for you, and I know everyone's situation is different. So I'm just going to speak to me and my family.

So really quick, just to fill you in about my family, it's me and my husband, Ryan. We have a six-year-old son Lucas, and we have one son Brody, who would be four, but he passed away about four years ago. And then we have a newborn Evelyn, who is turning nine months. Oh my goodness. She's turning nine months old this month.

Energy and Changes to Everyday Life

And so for us in our family, we—I mean—we're living a newborn world. So naturally with our family's situation right now, our sleep and energy levels—you know—could be lacking a little bit because newborns are learning proper sleep habits and all those things. Plus, I know that for me and for a lot of women, when you have a baby your hormones can be affected, and so that affects our energy levels.

Lucas is—actually today is his last day of kindergarten, and this past year we have, like many people, we have brought him home. And he is—we're homeschooling him, and so that's affected our family energy levels. We didn't know that we were going to be homeschooling parents.

We have been working from home, like a lot of people, so that's affecting our energy levels. And just the current state of our world has really affected how we operate on the day-to-day basis.

Maybe some people, like me, have been experimenting with sour dough bread and sour dough starters, and I know that maybe I've had a lot of sour dough bread, which I know that food can affect my energy levels. And so all of those things have affected our family energy levels.

Sleep has been huge for us, though. If we don't get a quality night’s sleep, that is just naturally going to affect how we feel the next day, which we know that just, again, we are living in a newborn world, our stress—whatever is affecting our emotions, we have learned over the years that that really affects how we feel on an energetic level. And I know I was asked to talk about energy, but I think we can all agree that stress can definitely play a role in how we operate on an energetic level.

doTERRA: So with all those different factors in play, what are some lifestyle changes that I could make to help increase my energy levels?

Listen to Your Body

Jessi: All right, so I'm not a doctor. I'm not a scientist. I used to be a high school math teacher, high school French teacher. I taught a little leadership. I'm not a doctor, but I do know my body well. And I've learned a lot.

We've been using oils about seven years and doTERRA products for about seven years. And throughout these past few years, I've just learned to listen to my body, to learn to listen and observe in my husband's body and our children's bodies. And that process of listening to my body, it didn't happen overnight. But as we've just consistently pursued a natural lifestyle, we can really tune into our body. And we've learned some really cool tricks to increase our energy levels.

Monitor Your Stress Levels

And we just—there's some lifestyle changes we have found that also increase our energy levels. And so I think first off, I would say just really acknowledge where your stress levels are at, and pull out your brown bottles from doTERRA, and use those to support your body because stress is sneaky, and it can create havoc on our body if we're not addressing it.

And so some oils that we really have loved to support our bodies are oils like Serenity. We love using Forgive. We love Adaptiv™. And so just constantly incorporating those lifestyle changes of pulling out our oils and using them, not just letting them be a pretty bottle that we look at on the shelf, has been so helpful to help.

Drink Enough Water

But, of course, I also talk about water. We want to drink water. Right? Water, water, water. I feel like we always—like, I've heard that since I was a little girl, “Drink your water. Drink your water.”

And as I've aged, I understand now the importance of drinking water. And it’s the doTERRA podcast, so I'm of course going to talk about how we add citrus oils to our water to help support our body. And plus, it helps it tastes yummy.

Get Outside

I would also say this. As I've been working from home more consistently, I used to go, you know, to a coffee shop to do work sometimes or different things. But we’re just—we've been home more, like a lot of people. But I have very much learned the importance of getting outside and getting that fresh air. Where we live, we are really fortunate. We’re close to the river, and there's a trail. And so we try at least once a day as a family to get out for a family walk. To get that fresh air. Sometimes we get two walks in.

We just need to get outside because these past couple months as—if I've had maybe a couple hard days or my energy levels aren’t as high as I would like them, I think back over the past few days to try and figure out, “Hey, you know, what's happening? Why is my energy not where it needs to be?” I'm like, “Oh my goodness. I haven’t left the house.” So I really try to be proactive about getting outside.

Move Your Body

And for me, personally, I know that when I sweat and exercise, that really, really affects my energy levels in a positive way. And so even if it's for—you know—me hopping on the treadmill for 20 minutes. If can break out into a sweat, that's really going to help me just feel more uplifted, have more energy, and I can go about my day.

Take Time to Take Care of Yourself

Ok, now, this might sound really silly. But for my energy levels, if I don't shower, it affects everything. And I was talking with Ryan once and a friend, and we were just we're talking about how I was like, “I don't know why, but I always feel better after showering.” And a friend shared with me that there's actually been some studies done, and it just helps—a shower helps with your mental space. So when I shower, it just helps. I feel like it helps wash the day off. It washes that sweat off if I shower after I run.

But showering just also—it’s that phrase. I remember my mom telling me when I was a young girl, “Look good, feel good.” And so I just am taking care of my physical body, naturally my stress levels are going to be better, naturally my energy levels are going to increase. And so I just, again, when I look back over these past few months, we've had some weeks that have been tougher either with stress or with energy. And I look back at those weeks and I'm like, “Yep, I didn't get outside. I didn't take my shower.”

And so if I'm starting to feel anxious or if I'm just feeling really sluggish, Ryan has learned to say, “All right.” He'll be like, “Go run.” Or he'll say, “Go take a shower, please.” It’s better for the whole family if you just wash that stress off, get energized with the water. I love to, when I'm in the shower, I keep a bottle of Rosemary in my shower. It just helps support and open my airways. And I have a shower diffuser, but just getting that essential oil in the mix of that steam just really helps uplift me as well.

Start Small

And I've learned also just because—I think with my personality, I have these grandiose ideas of everything I want to get done in the day. And if I my energy isn't where it needs to be, then I don't get all that stuff done during the day. But I’ve learned to take, just take it in little bite-size pieces.

Also with everything going on with us working from home and doing home school and having a baby at home, it just—sometimes I can't get everything done in a day that I want. But if I can just start somewhere, start small—because it's important to remember small things done consistently over time lead to big, big results. And so something small like getting outside for a walk or showering really helps with my productivity during the day. And it helps get my energy levels going.

And a diffuser blend that I have found that I really love when I just am having a hard time prioritizing is the combination of Douglas Fir and Lemon. It smells delightful, and it just supports me as I'm trying to figure out the direction I want to go throughout the day.

Take One Step at a Time

And so just do something, just do something. And then that little step will lead to another step. And before you know it, you're going to have some really cool habits in place, some lifestyle changes in place. They’re going to help ultimately help with your stress levels, which is going to help with your energy levels. And it's just going to be this beautiful picture that, you know, didn't all happen overnight. But because you did that one small active—maybe, you know, that family walk, getting outside—you know—led to you being super productive during the day and having wonderful energy levels.

doTERRA: I love all of those ideas, and I love especially what you said about making sure you know your body and know what your body needs and how to help it. I think that's incredible.

Jessi: Thank you. It's been a cool journey to be on, and it's been very empowering. The more I have learned to listen to my body and the more I have learned to look for signs in my husband's body or my children's body, it's so empowering to me as a woman and as a wife and as a mom and even as a friend, when I see signs in my friends, if they're dragging, and I can tell that they need a little energy boost, having these tools at my fingertips that I can, like, using our essential oils to help friends as well. It's been really fun to be able to share the doTERRA love with other people.

doTERRA: Absolutely. So in addition to these lifestyle changes that we can make, how can supplements help to increase the energy?

doTERRA Lifelong Vitality Pack®

Jessi: Oh my goodness. They can help so tremendously. So I would say, I always tell people if I was put on a deserted island, and someone’s like, “What doTERRA product would you take?” Hands down, what I would take with me are the Lifelong Vitality supplements.

I believe with all my heart they're just foundational to our health and well-being and to support our energy levels. The Lifelong Vitality, we call it a LLV for short because Lifelong Vitality supplements can be a mouthful at times, was formulated to provide us with targeted levels of essential nutrients and powerful metabolic factors for optimal health, energy, and longevity.

And these are the real deal. I'm obsessed with these supplements. And since we've been home more consistently the past few months, I've actually found that—because sometimes when we travel, you know, maybe I would forget to take my supplements or whatever the case may be, like, just the habit wasn't ingrained. But since being home more consistently these past few months, like, we have rarely forgotten to take our supplements. And so I really attribute where we're at right now with our health and wellness because we haven't forgotten to take our supplements.

Consistency is Key

But also we have—like Ryan and I, when we first were starting the Lifelong Vitality vitamins, we weren't as consistent. This was years ago. But we weren't as consistent at first, but then once we started taking them consistently, sort of like it snuck up on us a little bit. But then I remember we ran out of our vitamins, and our next order hadn't arrived yet. And I just remember being like, “Ryan, what is going on? Why am I dragging? What's going on?” And then it was like this light bulb went on, like, oh my goodness. We ran out of our vitamins.

And so I always encourage people, if you haven't tried the Lifelong Vitality vitamins, there's no harm in trying them. doTERRA is so generous. They have a 30-day money back guarantee. What do you have to lose?

But I know without a doubt the Lifelong Vitality supplements have supported our energy levels. They’ve supported our health overall and how we feel and how we operate, how we move throughout the day, how our sleep looks at night. They have been so foundational in supporting all of that. So that's my number one tip is just take the Lifelong Vitality supplements.

Mito2Max®

But then I also want to talk about Mito2Max, which is one of our favorite doTERRA supplements in addition to LLV for energy. And Mito2Max is doTERRA’s proprietary energy and stamina complex that enhances our mitochondria function, supports stamina and endurance, helps the body adapt more quickly to the diverse activities of life, and helps increase mental energy. I mean, who doesn't want to experience everything I just said?

So tip for the Mito2Max is we like to keep a bottle in our car for road trips. So if we’re just, you know, on a road trip and we’re dragging, we love to pop a couple Mito2Max or we'll take it in the middle of the afternoon sometimes there’s that middle-of-the-afternoon slump, we will take the Mito2Max.

And another thing that we've done that really supports our body in a cool way is first thing in the morning, we take a Mito2Max. We just don't get to that point of having a mid-afternoon slump. It helps support our body in a really cool way all throughout the day. We love Mito2Max. It's awesome.

Make Supplementation a Habit

And I would say if you don't have the habit in place for taking the doTERRA supplements yet, just put them out where you see them. Put a reminder in your phone if you're not in the habit yet. But I promise you if you create the habit and then you suddenly forget to take them or go on a trip or whatever the case may be, you're not going to want to experience how you're feeling when you haven't been taking them. So you won't forget ever again.

But just keep them out where you see them because when we create those habits that are ingrained in our body just to where we don't even have to think about it—it's like, “Oh, I just had my breakfast. I'm going to go and grab my supplements that are in—” you know, get a cute pill case if it helps you. Just keep them out where you see them. And maybe for you, that's keeping them in your bathroom. Maybe it's keeping them by your kitchen sink. But don't put them in a cupboard. Don't put them in a drawer. Put them where you see them so that you don't forget to take them because you're going to thank yourself because you're going to feel so amazing on so many levels, which of course, because we're talking about energy—like, your energy levels are going to be in a very nice level because you're supporting your body in a powerful way.

doTERRA: Those both sounds so amazing to add to our daily routine. So Jessi, my final question is what other doTERRA products do you use in your life to help increase your energy?

Wild Orange and Peppermint

Jessi: Okay, so if we were together, and we were sitting in the room, I would have you do one of my favorite things. It was one of the first things that was taught to me when I was introduced to oils. And I love sharing this experience with people. But what I would have you do is I would have you hold your hand out, and I would put a drop of Wild Orange and a drop of Peppermint in your hands. And I would have you rub your hands together. And then tent to your hands over your nose and instruct you to take three deep breaths. And I'm doing that right now as we're talking.

If you don't want to use Peppermint, because I know sometimes women that are nursing they opt to not use Peppermint. Just substitute and Spearmint is a great one to use.

And then after you've done those three deep breaths, then I would have you rub your thumb on the palm of your hand and then press your thumb to the roof your mouth. And you get a little tingle from that Peppermint on the roof of your mouth. And then would have you take your hands and rub the back of your neck. And then after a couple minutes, you might just feel a cooling, tingling sensation on your neck that is just delightful.

And then with whatever's left on your hands, I like to rub my hands through my hair because I have long hair. I would just rub it on the ends of my hair because then that just sort of creates a natural diffuser, where you're just going to continue to smell that aroma when you toss your hair or something. And then I even will take my hands, and I'll rub them on my clothes. Whenever I do this, when I put oil in my hand and do the tent over my nose, whatever's left on my hands, I like to rub it through my hair, rub it on my clothes, and that way it’s just this natural diffuser. When I walk around, I get to experience that.

Basil

Another doTERRA product that I love to use is Basil. So I learned about this a couple of years ago. And we call it taking a basil shot. What you do is you put a drop of Basil on the backside of your hand. You can really do it anywhere, but where I like to do it is on the backside of my hand by my thumb. Put a drop there. And then I just lick it off.

And, of course, I could put a drop just directly in my mouth. But if I'm not at a mirror or something, I'm not a good aim. So this is what I like to do, just put it on my hand, and I lick it off. And Basil supports our nervous system when consumed internally. I'm not sure if you knew that, but I think that's a really cool fact about Basil. And it is known to reduce anxious feelings.

And so Basil shots are awesome. Basil is another oil that I keep down in my office, next to my desk. Basil is one that we keep in our car. We'll do a basil shot when we're driving. And it's really cool to support our body. It's an intense taste. I'm just warning you if you've never tried this. I promise it's going to taste like a lot of basil, but you will adjust, and you'll get used to it. But it's just it's a fun experience to have.

DigestZen® and DigestZen TerraZyme®

If you, because we've talked about already how different things can affect our energy levels. So one thing that affects our energy levels is the food we eat. And so if you eaten a heavy meal and you just sort of feel sluggish, we love to use doTERRA’s DigestZen, which often I'll do like a DigestZen shot, just like I explained with Basil. Or again, I will—if I’m at a mirror—I'll just put it directly in my mouth or rub it just on my belly.

TerraZyme is one of doTERRA’s supplements that we love to help support our body when we're just feeling sort of sluggish. And it's awesome for our bodies on many levels.

doTERRA Serenity®, doTERRA Breathe®, and Adaptiv™

Sleep! Sleep, again, is something that just affects our energy levels. So some oils that we love to use for sleep, we like Serenity. And this is where Ryan and I, we're that couple that we have a diffuser by each side, like I have a diffuser by my side of the bed. He has one by his side of the bed, which you don't need two diffuses in a bedroom. But this is something that we like to do because sometimes Ryan wants to have something closer to his head that's different than what I want. But we love to use Serenity and Siberian Fir together.

And sometimes we'll add in Breathe to support our respiratory and our airways.

I also really like to diffuse Adaptiv. It's just—some people love to diffuse it for sleep. Some people love to diffuse it during the day. I like doing it—like experimenting in both ways.

But a classic one that we often do in our room is Serenity, Siberian Fir, and Breathe. In Lucas's room, we really like diffusing Lavender and Wild Orange and Cedarwood. And it just helps create a calming atmosphere to support Luke as he's sleeping. Same thing in our daughter Evelyn’s room. We like doing that combo. Sometimes I'll diffuse Balance and Wild Orange. We just sort of switch it up.

Use the Oils You’re Drawn to

And this is where I'm a firm believer in just like—what you're feeling drawn to with oils, diffuse it if that's going to support your body. And I just, I really like, I've experienced it enough to know that ok, if I'm called—it's like I'm really wanting to diffuse Lemongrass, then I’m going to diffuse Lemongrass.

And so it's been awesome having Luke be at his age, being six. He loves helping me pick out diffuser blends. He's—for years he's loved that, and it's cute. Luke really likes Lemon, and he really likes Frankincense, and he likes Lime. And so which, when I think about it, like those are wonderful oils to diffuse. They're just invigorating, and it never hurts to throw Frankincense in when you're diffusing it's just a wonderful oil to throw into any combo.

Spearmint

Another trick that we really like doing for supporting our energy levels—but then it just I feel like it supports us to be more confident and helps us make decisions—is putting a drop of Spearmint on the top of your head. And you just put a drop on the top of your head. And I like to rub it in. And then Ryan, he often wears a hat, and he's commented that whenever he takes off his hat, it's just—like, that movement helps reignite the Spearmint. And so it's just like a diffuser for him when he takes off his hat. And Spearmint is fun. It's a fun oil to play around with. And just all the citrus oils, you just, all the citrus soils. You can never go wrong with that to help support your body, to help invigorate and support that atmosphere at your home.

Elevation Oil and Citrus Bliss®

A blend that I like to use in a roller ball, I call it Happy Human. And so if anyone wants to try this combo, it's a wonderful roller ball blend. So I do 10 drops each of Elevation and Citrus Bliss, and it supports my mood. It helps support my energy levels, and it's just a wonderful, happy blend. That's why I call it Happy Human.

doTERRA Motivate® Touch

Ryan often likes to keep a roller ball of Motivate Touch. He plugs in his cell phone in our bathroom, so it's not next to the bed. And so when his alarm goes off in the morning, he goes in to turn off his alarm, and he likes to roll Motivate Touch on his wrists, on his pulse points, and then usually that will help him from climbing back into bed, pressing the snooze button.

Own Where You’re At

Again, even though Evelyn is turning nine months old this month, like, I'm still calling it newborn land. I don't know when you can say they’re out of newborn stage, but I'm owning it. And so we, you know, just if we need more sleep, we're honoring that with our bodies because sometimes we're up more at night.

But those are some of our favorite doTERRA products that we love to use just to naturally increase our energy that are fun to share with other people when they're looking for some energy solutions.

doTERRA: And those all sounds so fun and so amazing just to have simple ways to bring that energy back into your life. Jessi, thank you so much for taking the time to share your expertise with us and all of your tips and tricks.

Jessi: You are so welcome. I hope that those of you that are listening found some new things to try, and I wish you could report back to me and tell me how it goes. But I'm cheering you on, and it was an honor to speak with all of you today.

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.