Essential Oils for Pregnancy, Birth, & Baby

There must be something in the water, because it seems like all of my friends are pregnant right now! As a newlywed myself, my husband and I cannot WAIT for this chapter in our lives. We would love to have a few children, so that means a few pregnancies, deliveries, and sleepless nights are in our future! Essential oils are a perfect companion and natural solution to all things pregnancy, birth, and having a newborn at home. I would like to share with you some ideas and resources for making this season of life even more joyous.

First of all, when considering the use of essential oils, it is absolutely necessary that you look to the quality and source of the oil. You MUST do your homework on this one. Going into Whole Foods (which I love) and grabbing whatever oil off the self is NOT the way to go. A friend of mine did this with her baby, and it caused a chemical burn on her skin when she put a few drops in her bath water. Babies' skin are so delicate that this is not the thing to skimp on. You want to make sure that it is a Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade (CPTG) oil. These are the purest, safest, most beneficial oils available. They are far superior to their synthetic counterparts, and those who experience these gems will quickly notice a distinction in their quality.

That being said, I would also suggest picking up a copy of Stephanie Fritz's Essential Oils for Pregnancy, Birth, and Babies (go to amazon.com, qualifies for PRIME). This is a great companion book to keep with you. I would like to give you a few ideas mentioned in the book to help get you started.

Morning Sickness...UGH probably one of the worst things experienced in pregnancy. If you are one of the lucky ones who does not get this, thank you lucky stars. As for everyone else, dilute any of the following oils in fractionated coconut oil and apply Ginger directly to abdomen. Other calming oils are Lavender, Geranium, and Sandalwood. Apply these oils behind ears, abdomen, and to back of neck. You can also make a tea with 1-2 drops of Peppermint, Ginger, and digestive-supporting blends, add honey and lemon as desired.

Stretch Marks: If you are interested in making your own blend, you can make a roll-on combination of fractionated coconut oil, Frakincense, and Helichrysm. Lavender and Myrrh to rub on your belly to help reduce the appearance of stretch marks.

Sore Muscles & Back Pain: I personally have used a soothing essential oil blend to help get me through the pain of back surgery and it WORKS! Combine with fractionated coconut oil and rub it anywhere that hurts. You may want to recruit your hubby on this one for a nice back or foot massage :) Geranium is one of those must-haves for pregnancy. It can be used for sore/stiff muscles, nausea, and relaxation. It can also be diffused in the air.

Labor: This is where you will want to recruit the help of a doula and/or your hubby to apply/rub oils such as Geranium as well as other grounding, calming, and uplifting/joyful blends. Diffuse, put on your feet, back of neck, or inhale. Great for promoting relaxation, and overcoming anxiety.

Baby: When your baby is born, essential oils are great to put on their feet, in bath water, and diffuse in the air of your baby's room. ALWAYS dilute and do not have your baby use internally. This is an example of why you will want to use CPTG oil, because although using the oils internally are great for us, it may be too strong for a newborn. Roman Chamomile, Lavender and calming blends are favorites for peace and calming.

Earache: Little ones can sometimes experience earaches and infections. In this case, apply Melaleuca and Basil to a cotton ball and place inside ear to soothe pain.

Mastitis: I've heard this one is awful :/, help alleviate the pain with Melaleuca, Thyme, Clove, Rosemary. When applying to breasts, always avoid the nipple.

Milk Flow: Increase: Fennel, Basil, Geranium, Clary Sage. Decrease: Peppermint.

These are just a few ideas to help get you started. You may also want to pass this along to a pregnant friend, sister, cousin, daughter, niece, or granddaughter. Essential oils can be a wonderful addition to your mommy bag of tricks, and you'll also smell great in the process! As always, if you have any questions or would like to schedule a consultation with me for the use of essential oils, please visit my Contact Me page! Happy pushing :)

Intuitive Eater's Holiday Bill of Rights

What if peace on earth could begin at the dinner table? Imagine experiencing an inner peace, free from incessant worry about what to eat. It's hard to enjoy the holidays when you are preoccupied with eating or worried about what to say to relatives who have an annual tradition of telling you what and how to eat.

Consider your Intuitive Eating Bill of Rights, as we enter the holiday season, to help you foster inner peace with food, mind and body.

1. You have the right to savor your meal, without cajoling or judgment, and without discussion of calories eaten or the amount of exercise needed to burn off said calories.

2. You have the right to enjoy second servings without apology.

3. You have the right to honor your fullness, even if that means saying "no thank you" to dessert or a second helping of food.

4. It is not your responsibility to make someone happy by overeating, even if it took hours to prepare a specialty holiday dish.

5. You have the right to say, "No thank you," without explanation, when offered more food.

6. You have the right to stick to your original answer of "no", even if you are asked multiple times. Just calmly and politely repeat "No, thank you, really."

7. You have the right to eat pumpkin pie for breakfast.

Remember, no one, except for you, knows how you feel, both emotionally and physically. Only you can be the expert of your body, which requires inner attunement, rather than the external, well-meaning, suggestions from family.

Copyright © 2010 by Evelyn Tribole, MS, RD Published at www.IntuitiveEating.org

Confessions Of A Former Dieter

Hello. My name is Melissa, and I am a former dieter. And I am about to get very personal with you. I spent 10 years of my life dieting, from the ages of fifteen to twenty-five. By now you must be thinking that I had some kind of weight problem, because who starts dieting at fifteen and then continues for another ten years? Therein lies the irony. I do not, nor have I ever, had a weight problem. I guess you could say that I was a statistic. The average American female begins dieting when she is only fourteen years old. It's really absurd if you think about it, because no girl at fourteen is even done developing. I wish that I had someone to slap me upside the head and tell me "NO!", so my goal is to be that voice of reason for you. 

To lay it all out for you, I will try to recall every diet I have ever been on: Weight Watchers, South Beach Diet, low/no carbs and sugar, vegan, vegetarian, raw, the Blood Type Diet, and restricting calories. At my worst, I was only consuming a glass of vegetable juice for breakfast, a salad for lunch, and some cooked vegetables for dinner. Oh, and also working out, pushing my body to the max several days per week. I know literally every diet known to mankind-inside and out. And where did all of this get me? It landed me in a counselor's office who specialized in eating disorders. To clarify, I did not have a particular eating disorder per say, but I was engaging in disordered eating (which is basically the same thing). I had lost all touch with my body and no idea how to even eat anymore. From the time I woke up in the morning until the time I went to bed, I spent my day agonizing over what I was eating. I meticulously counted calories like a crazy person and even calculated how many calories I was burning off in my militant workout sessions. Was I happy? Fulfilled? Absolutely not. Dieting robbed me of the joy of life, loving myself, and being in the present moment. I was afraid that I wouldn't be lovable unless I looked a certain way or weighed a particular absurd weight I had set for myself. Instead of offering my heart to others, I tried to live up to the expectations I felt society placed on me to earn love, acceptance, and approval. I believed that if I were bone thin, I would be more successful, have more friends, get more dates, and have more to offer the world. That may sound crazy, but if you have ever engaged in dieting, I know that you know what I'm talking about. We have been so grossly brainwashed as a culture as to what is and isn't attractive, that we cannot appreciate the beauty of a real, live person in front of us. There used to be a time when a woman with the figure of Marilyn Monroe was seen as the ideal, the epitome of beauty. Now, our girls today get to look up to anorexic, bulimic, and airbrushed models and actresses. That's not beautiful, nor is it real. Please don't think I am trying to shame thin people. I'm not at all. I am speaking to an unrealistic standard of beauty. Ladies, we are not men. We are biologically designed to have curves and to create and carry life in our own bodies. Think about that for a minute. Life begins inside of us. If you can't respect anything else about your body, let that be it.

We live in a very fear-based and vain culture. Lose weight or it's all doom and gloom. Take a look around, and when you encounter someone who engages in dieting, think to yourself "That is how they cope with their life. I don't do that, I do things differently." You have no idea what another person is going through, and dieting may be the only coping mechanism they know. Instead, focus on a few things that you appreciate about your body. If you can't think of anything, let me share a few of mine with you to help get the ball rolling:

1. I have danced on many, many stages and have brought down a house with a roaring applause.

2. I have helped feed the poor, talked to kids who had a parent in prison, and played with handicapped children-such an indescribable joy. The pleasure truly was mine.

3. I give one heck of a bear hug.

4. My body has survived two massive back surgeries, while still allowing me to continue doing what I love.

5. I have put my toes in the sand of some of the most beautiful beaches on earth.

When we begin to see our bodies for all the amazing things it can do instead of focusing on each and every flaw, we begin to cultivate a love and an appreciation for ourselves that is soul deep. Our worth as human beings does not lie in our bust, waist, or hip measurments. Starting today, you can begin thinking to yourself "This is my body, and this is how I move about and experience the world." This is the first principle of Intuitive Eating: Reject the Diet Mentality. If you are ready for a struggle-free way of eating that is good for both your mind and body, then come along with me on the journey to becoming an Intuitive Eater!

Deep Into The Blue

If anyone were an expert on the topic of pain and the relief from it, I believe I hold a Ph.D on the subject. To help paint a picture so that you understand, let me take you back a bit in time...

In 2006, I was in the second semester of my first year in college. I was a dance major, of course, because I had spent the majority of my childhood dancing both recreationally and competitively. The vast majority of my classes were dance-which was awesome for me. I got to major in the very thing that I considered "fun" instead of work. I vividly remember the day I walked across the campus with a blank stare in my eyes, almost like a zombie. I had just dropped all of my dance classes due to a recent diagnosis of spondylolesthesis. In a moment, my dance career had come to a screeching halt and I had also just lost a whole semester of college with these classes now dropped. Walking through the crowds of people I thought "What am I going to do now?" I remember flipping through a catalogue of other college majors. Nothing else appealed to me. Nothing. In a moment, all of my dreams, aspirations, and plans for my future in dance were gone. It was sheer panic. I was used to functioning (and dancing) in a large amount of pain, but this was different. Everything changed. From the way I showered, got dressed, walked...everything. Learning to do life all over again to avoid escalating pain became my M.O.

Fast forward to 2012. I had been teaching and practicing Pilates for a few years now. It was the only thing that rehabilitated my back to the point of having some normal life. After completing a front splits on a reformer, I moved over to the ladder barrel to do my ballet stretches. As I was in a deep side bend, I felt my vertebrae actually slip forward, pinching and pushing on my spinal chord. The pain was so horrific that it made it almost impossible to be present and alive in my body in that moment. The next day, my emergency spinal fusion surgery was scheduled, I was sent to bed for 2.5 weeks, and my life as a "normal" person was over once again.

I did not have a normal recovery. In fact, I didn't have one at all. I bounced around from doctor to doctor, and pain specialist to pain specialist. I was getting worse in PT and knew there was a serious problem. At this point, the pain was so bad that I could not function. After 1 year post-op, I was finally diagnosed with chronic pain (which was no surprise to me). Chronic pain is the closest I believe a human being comes to experiencing a pit of hell, trapped inside the prison of their own body. There is no key to let you out, no remedy or solution. You name it, I tried it: epidurals, injections, medications, etc. I was even hospitalized for kidney failure shortly after the surgery from all of the medication I was on. I was in a catch 22: take medication (that doesn't offer tremendous relief and apparently shuts down my kidneys) or take nothing-an option I didn't have. My friends and family have always characterized me as a happy, bubbly, energetic (I was a cheerleader after all!), and outgoing person. By this time, I was sinking into a black hole of depression, as I saw no way out. No doctor I went to had any answers. And I went to a lot of them-locally and out of town.

Then one day, after being connected with the right person, I was told that my fusion failed, I was severely allergic to the hardware in my back, the screws in my back were coming loose, and they were also placed incorrectly inside of me. I was heading into surgery #2. After falling apart, I picked myself back up, checked myself into the hospital, and began the whole circus all over again. 

After my now second back surgery, I was back in the medication dillemma again. Take my desperately needed pain killers, or wake up vomiting every morning- something that my newly flayed black was not liking at all. I turned to the holistic world for alternative pain relief. I tried literally everything I could think of: meditation, herbs, massage, chiropractic, acupuncture, etc. And the good news is that all of those work. Although I highly recommend all of these healing modalities, I still needed lasting pain relief- especially in between sessions. And it is hard to beat the relief that I would get from narcotics. I had a friend in the essential oil business who gave me a sample of a soothing essential oil blend. I thought it was very sweet of her, but didn't have high hopes that it would actually help. I mean, come on, they're essential oils for crying out loud. How effective can they actually be? I was used to the big leagues of pain killers, and I was taking them around the clock. A bit skeptical, I slathered a good amount across my low back. Almost instantaneously my pain was GONE. Yes, you read that correctly-GONE. In one moment, I dramatically decreased the amount of narcotics I was taking and eventually was able to stop taking them all together! I used to wake up in the morning, stiff and sore, and reach for pain killers just to be able to get out of bed and walk (sometimes with a walker). And now, in a matter of minutes, my pain completely disappeared. Using this blend of essential oils has allowed me to start driving, go to physical therapy, social events, sleep through the night, and get up in the morning. Sounds like a steep claim for some hippy oils, but honestly, at this point in my life I have no agenda to promote anything other than staying out of pain. 

Perhaps you have experienced chronic or acute pain yourself, or have watched a loved one suffer through the same thing. You may be tired of taking pain killers and all of the side effects: nausea, drowsiness, depression, and an inability to drive-making you dependent on those around you. What do you have to lose? Give essential oils a try! I personally, 100% recommend them and would like to offer the same healing benefits to you!

If you are interested in purchasing or learning more about essential oils, please email me through the "Contact Me" page on this site.

Hitting Diet Bottom

It's inevitable. At one point or another, we all find ourselves in this dreaded place. Diet bottom is the feeling of "I just can't go on one more diet!" This is the point where we become obsessed with food and our bodies more than ever before. Feeling uncomfortable in your body, wanting to lose weight, yet still cannot bear the thought of one more diet? Dieting is sort of like a Chinese finger puzzle. The harder you try, the more trapped you become. 

This is because dieting does not work! Dieting is what has caused the madness in our culture of pursuing thinness and this unattainable idealistic body at all costs. Studies have proven that dieting is linked to weight gain, obsession with food, and eating disorders. The backlash is overwhelming and causes a myriad of new problems.

Some of these "symptoms" of diet backlash include:

*Urges and cravings for foods denied to self

*Binge eating and guilt

*Feeling as though you do not deserve to eat because you are overweight

*Shortened dieting duration. Each new diet you attempt has a shorter and shorter lifespan. 

*Social withdrawal

*Sluggish metabolism

*Using caffeine to get through the day instead of obtaining the energy needed through food. 

*And the holy grail of dieting backlash...Last Supper eating. This is a phenomenon where overeating occurs at mealtimes as your body's response to the inadequate amount of food eaten throughout the day. It is as if every meal is your last, and eating until your are uncomfortably full occurs. Every meal becomes famine relief. This tends to occur more often with our "forbidden foods."

Dieting does not work, and is actually at the root of many problems. Whether we diet for health or weight reasons, the paradox is that it may cause more harm. This is because dieting is a form of short term starvation. Therefore, when given the opportunity to eat, eating is experienced with such intensity that it can feel out of control. While this out of control eating may feel unnatural, this is actually a normal respnse to starvation (AKA dieting). Yet, when this happens, the dieter is usually blamed by others or themselves has having "no willpower." Ever thought that about yourself? Do you see how this slowly erodes trust with food and self diet after diet? Breaking this cycle begins with the first principle of Intuitive Eating, Reject the Diet Mentality. More will be discussed on this topic in future posts.

The solution to the madness of dieting is Intuitive Eating. It provides a new way of eating that is ultimately struggle-free and is healthy for both your mind and body. This process frees us from the prison of dieting and gets us back in touch with our bodies. Because, ultimately, only YOU can be the expert of your own body. I believe it's high time we return to the natural Intuitive Eater we were all born to be, and once and for all cultivate a healthy relationship with food, our minds, and bodies!