One thing I have come to learn is there is a "why" behind everyone's decisions, and it is very easy for us to assume we know what their "why" is. There is a very good old saying that my parents would say to me a lot and it goes a little like this, "Assuming only makes an ass out of you and me." Just keep this in mind whenever you hear one of your friends make a change in their life that you might not understand right away. Also, don't be afraid to ask them about their "why"! More than likely they will be willing to share it. Since I have had 0 people ask about my "why" and only assume I am "that girl that joined an MLM" I figured this would be a great opportunity to share my why into this lifestyle and choice. Full disclosure before you continue reading I am very transparent when it comes to sharing about myself, some of this type of public speaking/reading can make people feel "uncomfortable". So, you have been warned. haha
Let's go back to 2019, a year of a lot of good things in my life, we got married, bought a house, and got a promotion at my job! That was also the year my hormones were all over the place, it was like trying to herd cats uncontrollable type of all over the place. I'm sure many of you, your first thought is, "Go to the doctor and get on a different birth control." Don't worry, I will spare you the thought and let you know I did just that. Also, you should know that this would be the 3rd birth control I was switched two in just 4 years. AKA no wonder why my hormones were all over the place. For those that don't know, on average it takes the body three months to know if birth control is going to work/not work with our body. So over the course of four years, my body was being told all different things when having to switch from one birth control to the other.
After a month of the fourth birth control not doing its job, I decided this time I was going to just GET RID OF THE DAMN THING! Give me a shot in the ass and take this GOD FORSAKEN thing off my hands. Every girl's dream, am I right?? Life was good, I got the shot and no period while I was on it, life was great! But of course that all changed.
While at a friend's bachelorette party, we were all getting ready chatting all things girl related. Like normal our periods became a topic we were discussing, different birth control each other was on, positives and negatives to each, and so on. I was so proud to share/brag that I no longer had to deal with getting my period because I was on the Depo shot, when one of the girls looked and me and said, "But it's it our bodies natural thing to do? Like our body needs to go through a period in order to function correctly, right? The Depo shot always made me nervous for that exact reason." My eye went wide open and you can imagine the type of thoughts that started running through my mind the days/weeks after that.
The Monday after that eye-opening weekend, a photographer that I follow on Instagram, Ashtyn, shared about how she has learned a lot about naturally balancing her hormones with the help of essential oils, and nontoxic living. Of course, I was very curious as to what this would be about/how she was able to do this while not being on birth control. I always thought one of the major reasons for birth control was to help regulate our hormones so I was super interested to hear how she was able to do this without a prescription/medicine.
Ashtyn shared that she had been using an oil blend called Progressence Plus for over a year, and after a year + of using it constantly, she was able to "balance" her hormones (aka regular period on the exact date for 6+ months in a row). I was even more in stock by this and what she was sharing. I knew that I needed to get what she was on ASAP because since getting my period I have never once had it come on the exact same day each month. Like why do so many of us think this is a normal thing?.*
*I would like to give some big credit to my husband for his support through this journey. He was completely supportive open to me finding a solution that would help. Bless him and all he had to put up with that year of hormones everywhere. Sorry about that honey, you rock, and I love you endlessly for this.
In August of 2019, I ditched my birth control and ordered a bottle of Progessence Plus and started using it two times a day like recommended. I continued to follow Ashtyn on Instagram and she shared more about using essential oils in her life, nontoxic living, and learned how the ingredients found in our everyday store-bought items are not 100% honest and contribute to a lot of hormone disruption/imbalance in our bodies as females. I learned
That our skin is our largest organ, whatever we put on our skin, is then absorbed and enters our blood, body, our organs and can affect (negative or positive) systems that take place
That essential oils come from plants through a distillation process
Many essential oils can be traced back to Biblical and Egyptian times which were used as medicine (hello frankincense)
Women put 80 toxic (hormone disrupting) chemicals on our body before eating breakfast
That essential oils come from plants through a distillation process
Essential oils can be used to replace/substitute a lot of our day to day products and household essentials (cleaners, Neosporin, ibuprofen, Dayquil, Nightquil, Vicks vapor run, Clorox, and more.
That essential oils can clean our skin/bodies while also supporting our bodies hormones and natural processes
About how to ditch store-bought products and switch them out for natural plant-based products
Not all essential oils are created equally. When it comes to essential oils you pay for what you get. If you only pay a couple of buck for a bottle of lavender at TJ Maxx then there is a good chance it is going to do more harm to your body and good.
That TRUE essential oils are made to help our bodies. For example, you should not break out into a rash when applying lavender or frankincense to your skin. This is a good indicator that the "oil" is not pure/filled with additional harmful ingredients.
That businesses in the essential oil industry only have to fill the bottle with 5% essential oil and the other 95% with whatever they want for it to have the words "100%, Pure, High Quality, or Organic" listed on it. (aka our government does not have high regulations for this industry, much like everything else make in the good ol' USA)
The word "fragrance" is not one single item but a combination of multiple items that businesses are not required to disclose.
I could continue on with the list of items I learn about from Ashtyn and essential oils from August - December in 2019. Not only was hormone balance the primary focus of my "why" but when I think of my future, the future with my husband there will come a time when we want to have kids and become parents. When that time comes I want to make sure that I put my body in the best position possible to have a baby. In 2019 I also watched/read a lot of stories of friends with premature babies, and miscarriages from soo many girls around the same age as myself. I couldn't help but picture that, that could easily be me someday. No, I do not believe that essential oils/nontoxic living prevents 100% of these two items from happening but it makes me think. How big of a difference/effect can our day to day products from the grocery store have when it comes to this part of a woman's life? We can fuel our body with the proper food, and exercise all the time but we are never asked about when ingredients we use on our skin and in our homes, why is this?
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For me, it has been a complete lifestyle audit of how well I truly know what products we have in our home and what ingredients are on the labels of the products we are using. I would like for you to ask yourself how well you know all the ingredients that are in your Bath & Bodyworks candle, and the perfume that we spray on our body. Your "why" does not/should not be the same as me, but I encourage you to questions what you are using and look at what your why is.
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