7 Daily Health Habits

What are your daily health habits? 

This New Year I’ve started implementing some daily health habits for some self love. They are little steps that I feel have helped my overall mental, emotional, and physical health. 

Most of my daily health habits include using essential oils. (Shocker.....I know!) Here’s what I do each day:

In the morning:

1. The first thing I do is turn on my Himalayan Salt lamp in my living room. It’s an orange-pink hue and helps to make waking up easier with it’s warming glow. Himalayan Salt lamps purify the air, help with stress and depression, and helps with your house Feng Shui.  
2. Then I add Young Living essential oils to my diffuser in the living room. I add whatever I’m in the mood for. Whether it’s for immune support, emotional support, or an uplifting aroma. 
3. The last morning health habit is my daily shot of Ningxia Red from Young Living. I always add a drop of Thieves Vitality and others as well. My latest concoction is Thieves, Raven, Lemon, Digize, and Grapefruit vitality- a drop of each. Ningxia Red is great for energy and is full of antioxidants. 

In the evening:

4. After dinner I take supplements and a few are from Young Living. I take magnesium and fish oil that I get from Target. From Young Living, I take a Life 9 Probiotic, Super C vitamin C, and Multigreens which is full of greens to help boost your intake. All the Young Living supplements also have essential oils on them too. 
5. I’ve also been doing Yoga each day and meditating as often as I can. I’m loving “Yoga with Adriene” on YouTube and am currently in my 2nd 30 days series of hers. I love meditating but sometimes run out of time or just have too much to do. I downloaded an app called “Breathe” that does guided meditations for about 5-10 minutes long. I like it and it’s quicker than my usual meditation length so I do get to do it more often than usual. More about meditating HERE. 
6. Each night I drink a cup of green tea with a dash of honey and a drop of a Vitality oil. Lately, I’ve used either Digize of Thieves because it’s flu season y’all. 

7. My last and all day long daily health habit is using my essential oils. Topically, aromatically, and ingesting. I love them so much. 

Find out how to get yours HERE. 

In good health,

xoxo

~K

Gratitude

Gratitude means the quality of being thankful. People seem to always blame others and be resentful. It's time we take a moment to show gratitude.

The easiest and quickest way to show gratitude is to make a gratitude journal. Grab yourself a notebook and your favorite Flair pen. Each night, make a list of 3-5 things that you are grateful for that day.  That's it!  It's a great way to reflect on your day and be positive.

Gratitude may even be telling someone how grateful you are for them in your life.   Write them a thank you note, send a text, just use your voice to show how much they are appreciated!

I am grateful for you!!

xoxo
~K

How can I get started with essential oils?

The easiest way to get started with essential oils is to first research.  The essential oil market is so saturated now that they are selling them at big-box stores with only a few dollars.....BEWARE BUYER!  A true essential oil (even if it says 100% pure) is not pure for only a few dollars.  These are chemically made "essential oils" which show minimal if not any traces of plant matter that makes up an essential oil.  You will not see the benefits of using these "cheap oils"!

A great place to start your research is at Seed to Seal.  This explains the process in which true essential oils are created.  Starting with the seed, then cultivating the plant, distillation process, testing of all oils, and sealing the bottle.  Young Living is one of the best companies out there for essential oils!  They have farms all over the world and hold high standards to give you the purest, most natural oils ever!

The easiest way to get started using essential oils is by purchasing a Starter Kit.  This is a small investment to give you 11 of the most commonly used oils and an amazing diffuser! Plus samples of other products and information on the company, products, and usage.  You will become a distributor and get 24% off any other purchase.  The only commitment you have to make, is by ordering $100 of product before your year is up.  If you chose not to purchase anything else, your membership will simply expire with no other penalties.  

The oils that come in the Starter Kit include:

• 5 mL Frankincense
• 5 mL Lemon
• 5 mL Lavender
• 5 mL Copaiba
• 5 mL Peppermint
• 5 mL Thieves blend
• 5 mL Purification blend
• 5 mL PanAway blend
• 5 mL R.C blend
• 5 mL DiGize blend
• 5 mL Stress Away blend *Bonus oil

There are so many things you can do with these oils that it would last awhile and get you familiar with using essential oils.

However, Young Living offer so many more amazing oils, products, and specials that you will probably not stop there!

To look into purchasing a Starter Kit, click here and create a "member" account for pricing and information.  If you are interested in order a few oils to try it out, click here and sign up as a "retail customer".

Please feel free to email me with any questions at krissyswango@gmail.com.

In Good Health-

xoxo ~K

Essential Oils 101

My journey with essential oils began last school year.  I had a student wil a lot of behavior issues.  His parents were very supportive and willing to try anything.  His mom came across an article on how essential oils can help with students' attention and behaviors.  She bought a blend and began using it on him.  Within weeks, I saw HUGE improvments! 

This made me start to think....is there a way to heal our bodies without chemicals and with natural ingredients? 

YES THERE IS!!  Essential Oils are the answer!

I started looking on Pinterest (it's better than Google if you ask me) and found a lot of information.  My sister invited me to join a webinar about essential oils and I was so excited about the possibilities to naturally heal my body!

Did you know as women we put 500 chemicals in our body a day!  This can be through make up, medicine, hair and face products, as well as food.  I thought to myself, "I want to eliminate as many chemicals in my body as I can!"

So I signed up to get a starter kit through Young Living Essential Oils and was very excited to start using the oils.  In the Premium starter kit, I received 11 oils, a diffuser, and samples. 

Once my oils came, I started expermienting and am very happy with them!  I will be sharing about each oil in seperate posts. 

Essential Oils have the highest frequency (MHz) than anything else.  Which means there is a better chance for overall wellness.  A lot of essential oils are not 100% pure, but mixed with other carrier oils (coconut, jojoba, almond, avacado, olive oils etc.).  Young Living essential oils are 100% pure and a therapeutic grade.

Essential Oils can be used three different ways: topically, internally, and inhilation.

Topically
Oils can be applied neat directly to the skin.  They can also be mixed with a carrior oil and applied to skin.  Mixing with a carrier oil helps your oils last longer (which I learned the hard way...lol). 

One of the best places to apply oils is to the bottom on your feet. Your feet have a lot of pores and absorb oils quickly.  Your spine is another great place too.  If you are having issues with the top half of your body, apply from the bottom to the top of your spine.  If you are having problems with the bottom half of your body, apply from the top to the bottom of your spine.  Pretty much, you are pulling the oils towards the half of your body that needs it. 

Internally
Most therapeutic oils can be consumed internally (see labels for more information on oils- NOT ALL be consumed).  There are a few ways you can do this:

• Simple add it in a liquid (coffee, water)
• Make a capsule like these
• Add drops of oil on a spoonful of honey
• Add drops under tongue or on the roof of your mouth

Inhilation
The fastest way for essential oils to be absorbed into your body and bloodstream is direct inhilation.  When a drop of oil lands on your skin, it takes 2 seconds for it to be absorbed in your bloodstream. This can be done by:

• Breathing oils directly from the bottle
• Add a drop of oil on hands, rub together, and inhale.
• Using in a home diffuser and the starter kit comes with a great one!  The diffuser mixes water and the oils and creates a cool mist, almost like a humidifier.

How to get a Welcome Kit
Order a Premium Starter Kit as a wholesale member through my link and I will send you a welcome gift! Young Living is a referral business. Meaning that you have to order through someone’s link – someone that referred you! I would love it, if you purchased your oils through me.

As a thank you, I will send you an awesome welcome gift with some tools to get you started with your oils! If you sign up as a wholesale member with Young Living, you get 24% off all of your essential oil purchases! Often people are confused by the term “wholesale member”, not realizing that there is nothing required of them.

If you sign up as a wholesale member you have absolutely no obligation to purchase more oils or to sell the oils, ever! If you want to keep your wholesale membership, then you have to order 50PV (essential $50) worth of oils or products a year, that’s all. If you don’t do that, there is no penalty, you’ll just lose your 24% discount.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR YOUR STARTER KIT

The “Enroller ID” and “Sponsor ID” boxes should already be filled in for you. If they aren’t for some reason, my ID is 2073220, and you can fill both the boxes with this number.

The Premium Starter Kit (which is what I got) comes with:

• The 10 Everyday Oils Collection (5 mL bottles) Lemon, Lavender, Peppermint, Thieves, PanAway, Frankincense, Copaiba, Purification, R.C., and DiGize. 
• A home diffuser
• A bonus oil! 5 mL bottle of Stress Away
• Aroma Glide roller fitment turn your most used oil bottle into a convenient roll on
• 10 sample packets (I keep these in my purse for traveling and emergencies while out)
• 2 NingXia Red 2-oz. samples (antioxidant supplement)

When signing up, not only do you get amazing oils to use to help heal your body, but you also get a superb network of people.  There are Facebook groups and newsletters that give you ideas and help.  And the company is excellent!  They have a Seed to Seal guarantee.  Young Living was founded in 1993 and they only sell about 28% of the products they make.  The other 72% of their products are used as pesticide- talk about organic!!

Ok, enough rambling on and on about this great company and products.  If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at KrissySwango@gmail.com.  :)

In good health,

~Krissy

*These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat, prevent or cure any disease. 

Meditation 101

Last month, I went to a Stress Relief workshop with Melita. She went over herbs to help relieve stress (Tulsi AKA Holy Basil, Chamomile, Lavender), Yoga practices (legs on wall, bridge), and meditation.  I never really considered meditating, but thought I would give it a try outside the workshop.  I have been really stressed lately, so anything that can help I would try.

I have been sticking to it for a month and have seen dramatic improvements!!  I have been more relaxed, less stressed, and patient (which is usually my mantra).  I have been meditating 3-4 times a week and I notice those days I don't meditate, I feel slightly off.  Which to me, that slightly off feeling lets me know that my body, mind, soul, and spirit need it. 

There are many great apps you can download to help you meditate.  I tried Headspace last year and it is nice with getting the foundations down.  Here is another list of great meditation apps. 

But here is how I meditate.  I may not be doing it right, but it is what works for me.  I will be researching more to find out other ways. 

1. Sit in a comfortable seat on the floor where it is quiet.
2. Close your eyes and relax your body, but keep your spine straight.
3. Be aware of your environment- sounds you hear, smells, tastes. Notice what is going on around you, so you will not be startled or come out of your meditation if you hear a noise (dogs barking, or in my case, a cat rubbing against me). 
4. Focus on your breathing.
5. Then, do a fill body scan- start at the top of your head to your toes.  Be aware of areas of discomfort.  Try to focus on those areas of discomfort and relax them or adjust your body to help alieviate any discomfort.
6. Alternate nose breaths- Begin by covering you right nostril and breath in through your left.  Then, cover your left and breath out your right and inhale through your right.  Cover your right and exhale out your left. This is one cycle.  Complete 11 more times for a total of 12 cycles.
7. Next, it is time for your mantra, which is a word or sound repeated through meditation to help keep your focus.   Mine is usually patience or strength.  The mantra needs to be repeated 108 times.  This is tracked by moving your thumb and middle finger along a bead on a mala necklace.  I made my own Mala from buying supplies at Michael's store.
8. After your mantra, it is time for prayer.  I start my prayer by recognizing people in need or who need extra thoughts.  Then, I give thanks for things in my life, or forgiveness.  While I am praying, I bring my hands together to my chest.
9. Last, I say an Om and re-state my mantra.  And finally, I say Namaste! :)

Meditation should be something that you look forward to and that should be done around the same time each day.  If your mind wonders to things during your meditation (to-do lists, something you forgot at work, what you will be eating for dinner), allow it, but then redirect it back to your meditation.  It can last 5 minutes by just taking breaths, or 15-20 minutes which is my usual length. 

 

This is the Mala I created from Michael's.  I used 108 beads, made my own tassel from thread, and attached an Om charm to it.  The beads are made of sandstone, and are usually very cold.  Which is quite refreshing after my 3 mile run.  I usually meditate after exercising. 

Om ॐ

My journey begins with Yoga.  I had done some Yoga videos at home and enjoyed it for an after work-out stretch.  I had always been interested in going to a class, but am very socially awkward about trying new things by myself.  In February 2014, my BFF Kori was down visiting one day and suggested we go to a Yoga class.  I knew of a studio right next to my school, BlissBlissBliss, and checked the website for a class.  We ended up going to a Restorative Yoga class, which was nice, but rather slow. 

I decided to ask a co-worker to go with me, since she had been there before.  She suggested a Hot Yoga class with a great instructor, Melita.  I wasn't crazy about being hot and doing Yoga, but gave it a shot. 

After the first session, I was hooked!  I loved it because no matter your ability or level, you can do everything!  There is always a modification, whether it is something easier or harder.  It would be a learning process, but I wanted to be involved.  And whoa what a workout!  My legs were killing me the next day!  #nopainnogain

I attended classes once a week, while continuing my normal exercise routines.  I was loving the flexibility and mind-body awareness. 

I began with a setting a goal and practiced to achieve that goal almost daily.  I decided on Crow pose - which is also known as crane pose or Bakasana - and is usually the first arm balance learned by Yoga students. Crow pose strengthens the arms, wrists and abdominal muscles in addition to stretching the upper back and opening the groins.  By May, I mastered it!

However, I took 5 months off of Yoga (!) and have lost it, but will continue working on it.  Life happened in the summer, and then school happened.  I know I shouldn't make excuses...But I will get my Crow back!

So with Crow flying away from me, as well as my Yoga classes, I decided to work on my headstands.  I have been able to do them, by rely heavily on the wall for support.  I have been praticing EVERY day (#yogaeverydamnday) and have mastered it without a wall!!! 

I am back on the Yoga class band wagon and very inspired by my sister who is not only getting her 200 hour Yoga certificate, but also attending a SUP Yoga Training.  (If only I was as brave as her and got my certificate...)