My Favorite Therapeutic Grade Essential Oils - Young Living

For therapeutic use, I have been using Young Living essential oils for over 12 years. I especially like their blends which I use all the time as perfumes or to affect my mood.

They also make some incredible personal care products and supplements. I love their deodorant and toothpaste, which I use every day.

Young living oils have a depth and complexity you never find in any other oils. I have been to their farm in Utah and seen how they distill their oils. Their Lavender oil is like a vintage wine, multi-layered and evocative.

Gary Young is the only person in the essential oil industry who personally goes to every location where the plants are grown and where oils are distilled. More and more, they are growing and distilling so as to ensure the supply and the quality.

Essential oils are like other commodities traded in the world. They are subject to political, economic and climate conditions just like food items and other raw materials. By growing their own plants and producting their own oils, Young Living is better able to control how plants are grown and processed, which makes all the difference in the final product.

Check out my personal Young Living website. Sign up for the essential rewards program where you get credits for everything you buy which you can redeem for free products. By becoming a member, you can get in on special promotions.

You can make money selling Young Living products. As a distributor, you get a percentage on all sales by people you sign up.

I also like Young Living for its ongoing training and customer support. They want you to know about their products and how to use them.

To start out, I recommend the Essential Seven kit. These oils are like a first-aid kit with so many uses, you'll wonder what you ever did without them. I have made a mini-set to take with me when I travel.

One summer, I went on a four day camel trip into the Sahara desert in Morocco. Obviously, you can't take much baggage on such a trip. I made a set of a dozen or so mini bottles of oils which I carried in a fanny pack. I passed around the Peppermint when people got headaches or nausea, Lavender for wounds, and stress.

That was the 'trial by fire' - my test as to whether oils work or not. I can truly say they are the first choice in treatment, no matter what the issue. I even use oils for preventing the usual ailment travelers get.... I take a drop of Frankincense oil with every meal. It works for me. I never have to run to the bathroom.

Lavender at the Salon des Plantes

Yesterday at Annabella's Salon des Plantes we worked with one of my favorite plants - Lavender.

After calling in the directions in Italian, Annabella showed us how to make lavender wands. She offered us lavender tea from both fresh and dry plants and lavender madelines....yum!

Lavender is one of those herbs that has many uses. If you lived on a desert island and could only have one herb, lavender should be your choice. It has both medicinal and culinary uses. Of all scents, lavender is the most popular. Most people like it.

Anti-bacterial, anti-spasmodic, slightly sedative, antiseptic and anti-inflammatory. I use it almost everyday. It helps with burns, poison oak, and insect bites. This is interesting because bees love the flowers and yet lavender oil can soothe bee stings. I make a spray called 'burns and bites' using lavender oil.

According to Wikipedia, "Lavender was commonly used in Roman baths to scent the water, and it was thought to restore the skin. Its late Latin name was lavandārius, from lavanda (things to be washed), from the verb lavāre (to wash). When the Roman Empire conquered southern Britain, the Romans introduced lavender. The Greeks discovered early on that lavender if crushed and treated correctly would release a relaxing fume when burned."

There are many varieties of lavender which have different properties and they all have a slightly different scent.

The guided visualization we participated in took me to a cave near the ocean. While in the cave, the spirit of lavender spoke to me and reminded me that the most potent lavender plants are those grown in harsh environments with little water. The less water, the better the oil. Lavender is here to remind us that the challenges of life can bring out either the best or the worst within us. Like lavender oil, let us bring out our healing essence!

I have grown lavender both from seed and from cuttings, although growing from seed is very slow.

Here are some  recipes using culinary lavender:

Lavender Lemonade

2 ½ cups of water
¼ C culinary lavender

1 can frozen lemonade concentrate

Sugar to taste

Bring water and lavender to boil over medium heat. Turn off heat and let stand for 20 minutes. Strain the mixture. Pour into lemonade. Add sugar to taste.

Lavender Roasted Beets

with Garlic and Lemon

Makes 6 Servings

1 pound medium beets, with 1 inch of stems remaining

6 unpeeled garlic cloves

¼ cup plus 1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil

1 Tbs. plus ½ tsp. dried culinary ‘Provence’ lavender buds, finely ground in a spice grinder

¼ tsp. finely grated lemon zest

2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup Italian parsley leaves chopped

Preheat oven to 375º F.

Place the beets and garlic on a large sheet of foil and sprinkle with ¼ cup of the oil and 1 Tbs. of the lavender; toss to combine. Fold up the foil to make a sealed packet. Place on a baking sheet. Roast for 30 to 45 minutes, or until tender when tested with a sharp knife. Set aside until cool enough to handle. Slip off the skins.

Cut the beets into quarters and place in a large skillet. Squeeze the garlic over the beets. Stir in the lemon zest, lemon juice, the remaining 1 Tbs. oil, and the remaining ½ tsp. lavender. Season with salt and pepper. Warm through over medium heat. Sprinkle with the parsley.

Serve hot or warm.

And here's my recipe for a healing spray:

Burns and Bites Spray

1 oz. aloe vera gel

1 oz. lavender hydrosol

1 oz. roman chamomile hydrosol

30 drops of lavender essential oil

15 drops of ravensara essential oil

Combine all ingredients in a 4 oz. spray bottle.

Shake and spray as needed.

Keep out of eyes.

Alleviates pain.

Promotes skin healing.

Diminishes itching.

The best lavender essential oil comes from Young Living. Visit my new young living website to order some. They have many other products using Lavender. Check them out.

Going Through Changes

Dear friends and readers. You will notice a big change in this blog. I have been asked to remove all material from Desert Alchemy and it will take me some time to do it, but I will.

Recently I have had the 'opportunity' to 'practice what I preach.' While attending a Plant Spirit Healing Apprenticeship workshop led by Pam Montgomery in Calistoga, California, I fell and broke my right ankle. I am now on crutches and restricted to my house, since I can't get outside with crutches. I cannot drive for two months. My friends are bringing me food, drinking water, cat food, and other necessities. Others do my laundry and take out the garbage. It's been a real challenge, both to be so helpless and to rely on others to help me.

One of the most difficult aspects of this is that I will be missing several events where I was to have a booth selling my herbal products. Thus, my income is greatly affected. Staying positive and motivated is also challenging. On top of that all my Alaskan Essences and Flower Essence Society essences are downstairs in my consulting room and I can't get to them.

I have been using my essential oils a lot to help maintain my sanity, keep me from spinning out mentally about 'my situation'. Essential oils can change my state almost immediately. I love the oil blends made by Young Living, especially Gentle Baby which contains geranium oil, one of my favorites.

I have been working with oils for over 20 years and I have found Young Living to have the best therapeutic grade oils. They are expensive, compared to the stuff you can buy elsewhere, but that is because they are pure and mostly organic. I use Frankincense on my toes which extend out from my cast. I can feel the healing energy and warmth move through my foot to my broken bone.

Check out their website. If you decide to purchase, please sign up under me. My member number is 124125.