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Balms for all occasions, incl. after sun balm

I have just done the free Balm class with Angela Chambers HERE. She is also part of our wider doTERRA team and has 2 other courses on offer. One Gua sha one and one about the Five Elements. The balm course is free, the other 2 you can purchase.

Her basic Balm recipe for 100 g balm is:
3 tbsp Shea Butter
2 tbsp Almond Oil
1 tsp Bees wax

You melt the Shea Butter and Bees Wax in a double boiler and then add your liquid oil, wait until its cooled, but not set and add your essential oils. For adults experiment with 20 drops – 30 drops of essential oil per balm, for children half that and always try on a patch of skin first. The below oils are several suggestions, you can choose one or a few to make your own balm. Remember less is more and if you use a blend its already been formulated for a specific purpose.

I like balms, because you can pre-make your favorite mixes and have them ready in the bathroom, by your bedside table, in your gym bag, on your kids bedside table, on your desk, in your handbag. Of course roller bottles work as well, but a balm gives you more of that massage feeling and moisturizes the skin beautifully. I love foot rubs, tummy rubs, hand massages.

For breathing support you can add Breathe blend, Rosemary, Cardamom, Eucalyptus.

For hormone support you can add Clary calm, Geranium, Clary Sage, Frankincense.

For immune support add On Guard.

For digestions add Digest Zen, Cardamom, Ginger, Peppermint.

For Muscle rubs add Ice Blue, Marjoram, Copaiba, Wintergreen.

When anxious and overwhelmed add Adaptive, Copaiba, Frankincense, Lavender.

For head tension add Lavender, Frankincense, Peppermint and Copaiba (all of them).

For a perfume balm add your favorite essential oil scents.

Remember to store your balms away from heat and sunlight. Enjoy your balm making.

 

Here is another goodie for an AFTER SUN BALM by Samantha from Oiltribe:

With you all enjoying a summer, while we are cold here in Turkey I thought you might enjoy mixing up this natural after sun balm. Its based on a recipe by Samantha from Oil Tribe and makes approx. 2 x 200 g jars. Remember to try and put all your oils creations in glass, ideally amber glass and be careful with sun sensitive / photo sensitive essential oils (all citrus oils, apart from Green Mandarin).

1 cup natural Aloe Vera Gel
1/4 cup Fractionated Coconut Oil
10 drops Lavender
10 drops Frankincense
5 drops Helichrysum

Stir vigorously with a fork or whisk. It will change colour to almost white.

 

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Essential Oils, chest rubs and balms to support your respiratory system

I love to use essential oils to support my breath work / Pranayam. Of course this is not necessary, but adds enjoyment for me, opens my airways pleasantly and improves my wellbeing. Doing your breathing exercises regularly will help keep your respiratory system healthy. Check out my blog HERE for some breath work instructions.

I also use the oils for myself and my family when our respiratory system needs support. You can make your own chest rub and will know exactly what is in it without nasty chemicals. I also like to rub the chest rub under the feet and put warm socks over it. And of course using your diffuser or an inhaler stick with essential oils on it will also support your respiratory system. You can buy inhaler sticks online. They have a felt tip inside it and you can drop any oils on it you enjoy

Firstly the whole Easy Air or Breathe range from doTERRA is my go to. There is a roller blend, the undiluted 15 ml oil, there are Easy Air drops to suck when things are blocked and there is also a chest rub stick.

Other oils to support your respiratory system are: Eucalyptus, Douglas Fir, Cardamom, Peppermint, Rosemary, Black & Pink Pepper, Lemon Eucalyptus.

Here is a basic Balm recipe for 100 g balm:
3 tbsp Shea Butter
2 tbsp Almond Oil
1 tsp Bees wax

You melt the Shea Butter and Bees Wax in a double boiler and then add your liquid oil, wait until its cooled, but not set and add your essential oils. For adults experiment with 20 drops – 30 drops of essential oil per balm, for children half that and always try on a patch of skin first. The above oils are several suggestions, you can choose one or a few to make your own balm. Remember less is more and if you use a blend its already been formulated for a specific purpose. Use like a chest rub front and back and also rub under the feet. Remember to store your balms away from heat and sunlight. Enjoy your balm making.

I also used to find steam inhalations with essential oils helpful when I had Sinus infections. I put boiling water in a bowl, drop Easy Air and On Guard Oil in it and put a towel over my head and the bowl and take deep breaths for as long as felt good. I did this twice per day usually.

Here is another snippet of wisdom from Dr. Scott A Johnson:

Blood oxygen is a measurement of how much oxygen your red blood cells are carrying. Blood oxygenation levels are closely regulated to maintain a precise balance of oxygen-saturated blood so you stay healthy.
A clinical study evaluated the effects of a blend of essential oils on blood oxygenation levels. Women and men aged 21 to 60 years old inhaled essential oils from an essential oil inhaler (like pictured) containing peppermint, rosemary, and grapefruit (50:30:20 ratio) essential oils. The essential oil inhaler increased blood oxygenation from an average of about 95.6 to 97.2, showing that essential oils positively effect blood oxygenation. You can access the study HERE.
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Breathing exercises to improve your wellbeing

I have practiced different breathing techniques for many years now and observed the many benefits of bringing consciousness and practice to breathing cycles. I definitely expanded my lung capacity big time and when I breathe shallow or have periods of holding my breath when stressed or panicked I am now aware enough to bring myself back to deep, slow, conscious breaths. There is nothing like a big sigh of breath out and a deep inhale.

Pranyam – Breathing is a key practice and in this book he mentions that breathing in yoga came long before the asanas – movement where developed.  I practiced mainly yogic breathing techniques over the past 13 years, but I also loved attending workshops with Helle Thompson, who holds space for Transformational Breath sessions privately or for groups in Havelock North.  There are many different breathing techniques from so many teachers.

I have just finished reading the book Breath by James Nestor (link below to Amazon), which outlines and explains important research on breath. Many people are unaware how bad mouth breathing is for example and how many people have health problems because of mouth breathing. He even goes through an experiment with another breath expert, where they plug up their noses for several weeks and monitor all their vital functions and get their health monitored and checked before and after thoroughly. James Nestor visits lots of specialists and pulmonologists around the world and at the end of the audio book there are a few breathing exercises explained that we can implement into our daily rituals.

 

Here are a few breathing exercises you can practice and implement in your daily rituals. For all those techniques its best to sit comfortably on the floor or in a chair, spine straight, shoulders and face relaxed. Remember to never force anything and not overdo, especially if you are just starting out with these breathing techniques. Make sure you do the breathing exercises in a comfortable, safe environment, where you can be fully present.

Many of the breathing techniques have similar effects – lowering heart rate, blood pressure, stress, expanding lung capacity, calming the mind.

Alternate Nostril Breath:

Put the 2 peace fingers (pointy and middle finger) of the right hand on the 3rd eye chakra between the eyebrows. Use your thumb to close right nostril and the ring finger to close the left nostril. The little finger is just relaxed. Close right nostril with thumb, inhale through left nostril. Close left nostril with ring finger, open right nostril, exhale through the right nostril. Inhale through the right nostril. Close right nostril with thumb, open left nostril, exhale through the left. Inhale through left, close left, open right, exhale. Carry on for as long as it feels comfortable and right. 10 – 15 cycles to start with.

Kumbhaka Breath:

This breath is called box breathing in the above book, but is also a yogic technique, called Kumbhaka breath. The inhale, exhale and hold of breath is all done to the count of 4. Inhale for 4, hold for 4, exhale for 4, hold for 4. You can slowly increase your count if it feels comfortable.

For more relaxation / before sleep  change the count of the breath to Inhale 4, Hold 4, Exhale 6, Hold 2.

Another variation of this was made famous by Dr. Andrew Weil, called 4/7/8 breathing. Inhale through Nose for 4, Hold for 7 and Exhale though mouth with an audible sigh for 8

Repeat Cycles for as long as feels comfortable and right

Belly breathing:

I personally find this super relaxing combined with legs up the wall pose (Viparita Karani) before sleep, but can also be done sitting. Put one hand on belly, one hand on chest. Breathe into belly and feel belly expand. On exhalation feel belly lower. Do a few rounds like this then try to fill the belly with breath first and then the chest next, feeling both rise as you breathe in and as you breathe out you first try and empty the chest – feel it lower and then last the belly. Carry on for a few cycles.

Conscious breath restriction methods from the book Breath:

Inhale deeply through the nose, then pinch nose closed with fingers and hold breath for as long as feels comfortable. Use a stopwatch to measure progress over the weeks. You should not be gasping for breath on inhale. Slow and steady inhale.  Something to aim for is 45 seconds – 1 minute breath holding. Start slowly and take small steps.

Something more rhythmic is inhaling for 3, exhale for 6 and imagine anchor sinking really deeply as you exhale.