Reviews

The Fascinating World of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy: Benefits Beyond Belief!

January 23, 2019 by Joi 2 Comments

Sweet Orange and Eucalyptus Essential Oils

Admittedly, I can often be “late to the party.” I’ve always blamed this phenomenon on being an only child. When you live in your own little world, sometimes news travels in (and out, at times) slowly.

Truth is, sometimes it trickles in.

Whatever the reasons, people all around me (literally… as in my own family, but more about her in a minute) have been using, loving, and swearing by essential oils for months upon months and I am just now really jumping on board.

Only child or not, a debilitating headache that isn’t responding to either Ibuprofen OR hot showers will leave you searching for relief. Here’s where my essential oil expert daughter comes into play.

My youngest daughter, Stephany, has been a HUGE believer in and user of essential oils and aromatherapy for years, now. I knew this and appreciated a few of them – such as lavender (my favorite scent) and citrus (very close second). I’ve known the beauty of lavender long before the phrase “essential oils” came into play. However, whenever she talked about peppermint for pain relief or eucalyptus for congestion, I don’t know, I guess I thought, “Well, it clearly works for her, but I’m sure it wouldn’t work for me.”

Then came the headache from the inner circle of hell, and I found myself willing to find out!

Peppermint Essential Oil

I told her about the headache and she gave me a bottle of Peppermint Essential Oil and a “carrier oil.” She uses Jojoba Oil as her “carrier oil.”

What’s a carrier oil? Sounds mysterious, doesn’t it? It is simply an unscented base oil that you add a few drops of essential oil to before applying it. Steph uses Jojoba Oil she buys off of Amazon. I found Avocado Oil at Meijer that I’ve used. Some people use coconut oil – although I’d think the scent would combine with the essential oil’s aroma and be an issue.

Back to the evil headache. I added a few drops of the peppermint essential oil to the Jojoba oil and rubbed it directly on my forehead. Playing the role of Doubting Thomas, I wasn’t actually expecting much (if any) relief, so I didn’t actually “time” how long it took for relief to come. If I were to guess, however, it was less than five minutes.

The pain literally faded away and a headache that had hounded me for hours was a thing of the past.

She had my undivided attention at this point.

It turns out, Peppermint Essential Oil has a very strong, proven history with alleviating pain. Since the headache experience, I’ve used it on everything from neck tension to leg cramps.

It never lets me down. I have no idea what magic it has up its oily sleeve and, frankly, I don’t care – it brings relief without doubling down on Ibuprofen and that’s all I could ask for.

Recently, while shopping at Meijer and I went to their essential oil section. This essential oil convert loaded up on several – as well as the avocado base or carrier oil.

Eucalyptus Essential Oil

Fast forward a few months – I came down with my annual cold (he arrives with his nasty attitude every year between January 1 -January 10). Being an “extra” kind of gal, I ALWAYS get bronchitis at the end of my cold. I have no idea if it’s because I have asthma or if I’m just terribly lucky, but without fail – it happens each and every year, dating back to when I was in Elementary School.

I’m nothing if not consistent.

When my chest was insanely congested, I would rub a little Eucalyptus oil (along with the Avocado Oil) directly on my chest. The relief was amazing. However, the BEST way I put the Eucalyptus Oil to work was (naturally at the advice of Steph) by adding a few drops directly on the floor of the shower. While taking a warm shower, the Eucalyptus surrounds you and clears your chest, head, or anything else that might need it!

I’m in the process of giving Self Help Daily a much-needed overhaul – more about that in the next post. I will be adding a great deal of information about essential oils and aromatherapy. In fact, I’ve created a new category for each. There is simply too much natural-healing to be enjoyed and experienced with essential oils to ignore them any longer.

I’m reading and researching like a college student in search of passing grades when it comes to essential oils and I’ll be sharing everything I come across here on the self help blog. I’m excited to see just how many miracles these oils can bring about. (Naturally I’m being very liberal with the word miracles here…. a cured headache has that effect on me.)

Sweet Orange Essential Oil

Steph gifted me with more essential oils for Christmas – my beloved lavender, eucalyptus, and one that was very new to me: Sweet Orange Essential Oil. One of the first things I thought of when I saw it was cleaning. I love, love, love cleaning products with a citrus scent. It can be tough to find orange-scented cleaners, though. Sweet Orange Essential Oil makes it easy to add a fresh, feel-good aroma to any cleaning solution. Just add a few drops and you’re good to go.

Having said that, I actually have a different favorite way to use Sweet Orange Essential Oil. I call it my wake-up call. On mornings where it’s particularly hard to get up and get going, I simply sniff my orange essential oil.

And, yes, I realize how weird that may sound.

However, since it never fails to give me the get up and go that I’m lacking, I’ll just keep on sniffing!

Many people report that doing so can also lift your mood. Sweet Orange essential oil has also been linked to a stronger immune system.

Hmm.. maybe that could help me end my annual cold/bronchitis event.

See this page – Sweet Orange Essential Oil – for a great deal of information about this particular oil.

Lavender Essential Oil and Aromatherapy

Lavender Oil is another one of my favorites and one that anyone… absolutely anyone… could and would benefit from. It’s all about RELAXATION (sorry for the all caps treatment, but relaxation is something I get excited about).

My favorite way to buy Lavender Oil is in spray bottles. It makes it easier to spray onto your pillows and/or favorite blankets of throws.

Heck, I’ve even sprayed it on my pajamas before.

There’s simply something beautifully relaxing about the scent of lavender. If you’ve never tried it, I hope you will asap. It is magical.

Aromatherapy and Essential Oil Diffusers

Essential Oil Diffusers, like the LiteMist Ultrasonic Diffuser are very popular and for a great reason. They put aromatherapy to work for you, without you having to do much more than pour and plug. A diffuser would be a great way to take advantage of lavender, eucalyptus, and sweet orange essential oils.

Though my favorite way to use eucalyptus oil will always be in the shower. It’s just outrageously effective. Just be sure not to use too much. You’ll feel like you stepped into an alternate universe – one with cough syrup for oxygen.

I’ll be adding a lot more information about essential oils and aromatherapy to the website. I have my face buried in two books at the moment, taking notes like my life depends on it.

~ Joi (“Joy”)

Where to Buy Essential Oils and Carrier or Base Oils:

Many department stores now carry a good selection of essential oils and even carrier oils. However, from my own experience, the best quality oils are found online.

Essential Oils on Amazon

Carrier Oils for Essential Oils on Amazon

Physical, Emotional, and Mental Benefits of the Recolor App: It’s More Than Just FUN!

August 2, 2017 by Joi 4 Comments

Beautiful Music Lover

I’ve been wanting to tell you about one of my favorite new apps for a long time now. However…. as is so my way… I’ve been waiting for today, National Coloring Book Day.

Yes, my brain does work like that….

The app is the Recolor App and I love it with all of my being. I have the app on both my iPad and my iPhone. I really have no idea how I ever got along without it and am anxious for you to get your fingers on the free app and fall in love too.

Recolor is a beautifully creative and high-quality coloring book on mobile, including +1100 gorgeous art illustrations. It’s as easy as possible to figure out – you won’t even need a teenager to explain it to you.

Below are a couple of benefits to this creative and fun app.

Ice Cream Cone: Some Images are Simple, While Others Are More Complex

RELAXATION: Fun Way to Relax and Unwind

People, crazily enough, seem to think that if you work from home you are a stranger to stressful days. When I encounter such mindsets (depending upon the day I’m having at the time), I either laugh or fight to contain a plethora of words that’d make my mom blush.

Regardless of your vocation – lawyer, writer, housewife, teacher, blogger, salesman, stay-at-home mom, businesswoman, nurse, office manager…. you know what a stressful day looks like, what it sounds like, and what it feels like. Basically, if you’re a human, you’re intimate with stress.

One of the best ways to deal with stress is to unwind and to get your mind as far away from the stress as possible. The Recolor app allows you to do just that by “escaping” into a fun world where your biggest concern is whether to make a cat orange, black, or white or whether you want to create a lake scene that depicts the lake during the day or evening.

Ahhhh… just thinking about this creative world makes me feel peaceful.

A “Mandala”

MENTAL FITNESS: Get in Touch With Your Creative Side

As you may know, I have a mental fitness blog (Out of Bounds) where I share tips for staying mentally sharp, preventing Alzheimer’s and Dementia, battling anxiety and stress, etc. I do untold amounts of research for my mental fitness blog (as well as each of my blogs, of course.). The top experts in the field of mental health recommend “exercising” your creativity as well as your memorization and critical thinking skills. Yet the creative aspect is one many people ignore. A lot of people will eat the foods necessary for brain health, read thought-provoking books, and even make sure they learn how to do new skills or educate themselves in new areas.

While each of these areas are excellent… make that very excellent… if they’re ignoring exercising their creativity, they aren’t doing all they can for their brain’s health. Your brain craves the opportunity to be creative as much as it craves the opportunity to learn new things.

Adult coloring books (physical or virtual) are a fun and excellent way to provide this creativity your brain desires. The “mandalas” (one is pictured above) can be especially mentally-stimulating. If you decide to make a certain shape a certain color, it’s kind of stimulating, mentally and creatively, to sort through the “puzzle” to find all the similar shapes.

It’s also very stimulating, creatively, to decide on harmonizing colors. Choosing a color scheme is one of my favorite things about the app.

COPE WITH ANXIETY: Entertaining Way to Keep Your Hands and Minds Busy

While I, personally, do now struggle with anxiety, I have read a great deal about the fight many people face with it. In fact, I have several members in my family who deal with anxiety and the many colorful ways it manifests itself.

One of the fastest, simplest, and most beneficial ways to cope with anxiety is simply to occupy your hands and your minds. When you do so, it gives the “nervous energy” that’s buzzing around your head a place to go! It’s as though you usher them into the art room and close the door behind them.

Don’t worry about them, though, they’ll be far too busy having fun to worry about the door being closed.

There’s simply a lot to be said for spending time with an activity that’s all about colors, beauty, creativity, and good old-fashioned fun. You can share your creations with others in the Recolor Community, or you can simply use it as your own personal space to unwind and experience adult recess.

Physical Benefits

No, coloring in a great coloring app isn’t going to burn enough calories to qualify as physical fitness (unless, of course, you color while on a treadmill or stationary bike – which are excellent ideas actually), but when you look at the benefits named above, you have all you need to know about the physical benefits. Where our minds and hearts (emotions) go, our physical bodies follow. When we’re under stress, dealing with anxiety, or not stimulating our minds enough, our physical health suffers.

By the same token, when we’re taking care of these other areas, our physical health responds favorably.

You might even find yourself snacking less at night (especially if you’re one who snacks as a result of stress or anxiety), which most definitely is physically beneficial.

I hope you’ll check out the Recolor App – you’re going to love it. It’s free, fun*, and… trust me… fabulous!

* It’s free to download and you receive new “free” images to color daily. There is an option to pay for access to far more pictures, colors, and effects but I personally have never done so. It simply isn’t necessary, unless you just can’t get enough of the fun!

An Image I Haven’t Colored… Yet!

More About Recolor

Each image, when clicked, fills your screen. You’re presented with a palette of colors to choose from. You scroll at the bottom to find more. Above the image, you’ll see an option (looks like a finger swiping) that allows you to “sweep” the color across an image as opposed to filling one small area at a time. You can easily undo a color if it no longer suits you… then promptly find one that does.

In addition to a great variety of colors, you can also choose an “effect” for your image. The free ones are Shadow, Wall, Crumbled Paper, and Art Paper. They’ve also come out with “Filters” for your image – kind of like instagram filters.

There are so many delicious options!

One final note – I love the diversity this app showcases. The individuals available to color cover various races and sexes. It’s just another thing this app gets “right.”

TIP: If you find a picture that was especially fun to color, go back and “edit” the picture by coloring it all over again. See the beautiful music lover at the top of the post? She has worn red, orange, gold, and purple. While she was stunning in each, she and I both decided that purple was her color. Makes her smile stand out, don’t you think?

Check out the Recolor App today.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a coffee picture to color…

Adult Coloring Book Review: “Wonderland”

May 25, 2016 by Joi Leave a Comment

Wonderland Adult Coloring Book by Amily Shen

Wonderland: A Gorgeous Adult Coloring Book

Over the years, I’ve seen a lot of brilliant inventions, imaginative creations, and creative solutions to problems. I’m always blown away by the human mind and what it is capable of. Adult coloring books are one of the most inventive and downright “clever” solutions of our time. They allow free expression while giving you an outlet for creativity. What’s more, people swear by them for dealing with both stress and anxiety.

There are a flood of adult coloring books on the market, which is, if you ask me, a wonderful thing. The fact that there are so many give you the chance to find the ones that resonate most with you and your personal interests.

They also pretty much ensure that you never have to color the same picture twice…. ever!

The adult coloring book shown here, Wonderland, is one of my personal favorites. The pictures are so absolutely wonderful, looking at them makes me smile each and every time. The drawings are also intricate enough to allow you to spend plenty of time on each page. The adult coloring books with larger, simple pictures kind of defeat the point. It’s the whole process of spending time coloring the small details that allows you to relax and focus on something other than your bad day at work, your stress level, or the anxiety nagging at you in the background.

Follow the White Rabbit into this imaginative adult coloring book inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, featuring intricate pen-and-ink drawings by acclaimed artist Amily Shen.

Meet the Cheshire Cat, attend the Mad Hatter’s tea party, and play croquet with the Queen of Hearts in this evocative tale that invites you into a strange and beautiful new world of coloring.

Using Adult Coloring Books for Stress Relief

Why are adult coloring books like Wonderland so effective for dealing with stress? They provide you a simple, brief amount of escapism that isn’t remotely negative or harmful.

In fact, allowing yourself to create something beautiful is actually beneficial. So you’re helping yourself by…. well… helping yourself!

You could delve into a lot of complex reasons WHY adult coloring books help you cope with stress, but I think the simplest way to describe it is this: They take your mind away from things that are weighing it down and give it a break.

Breaks aren’t just good, they’re glorious. And necessary.

If you have certain, set times when you enjoy your adult coloring books, not only is it an escape from stress at that moment, it gives you something to look forward to all day. Having something to look forward to is one of the best ways to cope with stress. Even during a particularly hectic day, your mind says, “It will be better later!”

Most people enjoy coloring in these books in the evening and notice they have the extra benefit of helping them drift off to sleep. It’s a lot easier to sleep when you’ve unloaded extra stress and burdens. Light sleep is the best sleep.

Using Adult Coloring Books to Cope with Anxiety

Many people who deal with anxiety say that it feels a lot like “pent up energy” – as though parts of your body are on high alert, expecting something… anxious for something. We’ve all experienced anxious moments, haven’t we? That’s why we’re able to sympathize with those who live in what seems like a perpetual state of an anxious moment.

While adult coloring books have the biggest reputation for helping with stress, I think a huge advantage of these books lies in how they can help individuals cope with anxiety. Sitting down with a great adult coloring book gives that anxious, nervous energy an outlet. It’s as though you can corral all of that energy and give it something to do.

Wonderland is Filled with Intricate Pictures

This is one beautiful and highly enjoyable adult coloring book and I’ll let you in on a little, not so well-kept secret: They’re impossibly fun for everyone….

If you regularly feel stress or simply have occasional stressful days.
Whether you deal with anxiety on an almost daily basis or simply feel anxious because of work or health-related issues.
Even if you are a rare bird who seldom ever feels stress or anxiety, you will love expressing yourself and getting in touch with your creative, artistic side again. Sadly, most of us abandon this side of ourselves when we graduate. Adult coloring books help bring back creativity, along with all of its rich benefits.

I highly recommend Wonderland – you will absolutely love every single page.

~ Joi (“Joy”)

P.S. If you use small-tipped markers instead of coloring pencils, you’ll achieve much more vibrant pictures!

Note: I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for this review. The opinions are entirely my own.

Adult Coloring Books: Because Creativity Isn’t Just for Kids!

February 4, 2016 by Joi Leave a Comment

Whatever Is Lovely: A Coloring Book for Reflection and Worship is, without a doubt, one of my favorite books. It’s a creative, mentally stimulating, visually appealing, and Spiritually refreshing breath of fresh air.

Who’s not going to love everything about that?!

I just wrote a Whatever is Lovely Review on Out of Bounds (my brain health/mental fitness blog) – click the link to check it out. OR.. you could simply go straight to Amazon and order your own copy – that, too would be a brilliant move.

Just be sure you have some colorful crayons or colored pencils on hand because your creativity is about to run amok as it chases stress and anxiety right out of your life.

I kid you not.. you’re going to LOVE this book.

~ Joi

Review: Better Eyesight for Busy People

February 1, 2016 by Joi 2 Comments

Better Eyesight for Busy People (Eye Exercises)Something I regularly do on Self Help Daily is set aside a particular frame of time to focus on particular subjects. I’ll gear my research, reading, writing, and reviews toward a subject I think my readers will benefit from. Empty Nest Syndrome, Overcoming Bad Habits, Developing More Confidence, Happiness, and Building Stronger Families are just a few of these special focus subjects.

While I’m sure we’ll revisit the subjects above – over the course of 2016, I’m going to show a great deal of attention to the following subjects:

aging well and staying healthy
mental fitness and brain health

I’m kicking off the series with a book review that fits both categories. Sometimes fate seems to like me. When I was asked if I’d like to review Better Eyesight for Busy People, I thought, “This couldn’t be more perfect if it were paid to.”

One of the KEY components of aging well is to, obviously, maintain and properly care for each of your senses. Our hearing and eyesight are two things we tend to take for granted, until it’s too late. When we’re being fitted for hearing aids or picking out a snazzy pair of eyeglasses, we often wish we’d listened to all that rock music a little more quietly and wish we’d done our part to keep our eyes healthy and strong.

While we can’t possibly prevent every single thing that could go wrong as years pass, doesn’t it make sense to do everything in our power to put the odds firmly in our favor?

Better Eyesight for Busy People is a small booklet of 12 EASY eye exercises that you can do regularly. I love that it’s such a convenient size (a little smaller than a iPad mini) and is as light as a feather. You can take it with you anywhere and review the exercises you have performed that day and the ones you need to do.

{Review Continued Below..}

Better Eyesight for Busy People (Eye Exercises)

You may wonder why I said this book was tied to mental fitness. After all, it’s pretty obvious how it’s connected to aging well, right? But, mental fitness and brain health…… not so obvious.

Here’s the thing, in order to stay mentally fit, prevent dementia, and continue to strengthen our brains, we need to be on top of everything around us. We need to be able to read, observe, and see the world as it deserves to be seen. When an individual’s eyesight begins to weaken, they tend to withdraw from life. They often adapt the attitude of, “There’s nothing worth reading, anyway” or “I have better things to do than going to that museum…”

They disengage and withdraw from life and I don’t have to tell you how disastrous (and sad!) that is.

Help for Tired Eyes

See the exercise pictured in the photo above? Not only is this exercise apparently great for strengthening your eyes, I’ve found it to be AWESOME for tired eyes. After staring at the computer for hours or after reading a few can’t miss chapters from an Agatha Christie mystery, my eyes usually feel as tired as I would if I ran a few miles (not much chance of that happening unless I’m being chased by a snake, but that’s beside the point). This exercise revives them and makes them feel like they’re ready to get back to work. Or, better yet, on to the next chapter in my mystery.

For less than $6, this booklet gives you (and those you love) 12 great eye-strengthening exercises – allowing you to take a proactive part in how well your eyes age.

See Better Eyesight for Busy People for more information. The book is also available to download onto your iPad, iPhone, or Kindle ( Click Better Eyesight for Busy People
for the Kindle version.).

~ Joi

*** I’m going to begin three Focal Subjects on my Mental Fitness Blog, Out of Bounds, this week: Relaxation, Overcoming Stress, and Silencing Anxiety.