Digestzen to the Rescue
One of the most common and incredibly frustrating health challenge we have, that I'd like to say 99.9% of us can relate to at least to some extent is the experience of an upset stomach.
I've had my share of upset stomachs to know that they are no fun. As a child I can remember having so much gas and bloating in my stomach that I would need to make myself burp in order to find relief. I also remember more than a few times I would drive myself to an upset stomach by doing too much - being out in the sun riding my bike, walking around, playing on the play ground, etc. I also remember times when my stomach would do flips because I was so nervous and anxious or down right scared.
Stomach complaints cover a broad category, and can be caused by a vast number of things that range from purely physical in nature, to purely mental in nature and combinations of all ranges in between. As an aromatherapist, I have seen chronic anxiety manifest into strong stomach challenges that persisted even after the anxiety provoking trigger was gone, and I've seen physical manifestations of food allergies, heartburn, IBS cause mental triggers that last even after the "bout" of stomach issues subsides.
Regardless of the cause of the stomach concern, there is a blend of Essential Oils I always try to keep in hand for my own personal use, and am always running out of in my practice because it's hard to keep it in stock. Using this blend is something I've come to rely on for fast results, and have never been disappointed.
I'll talk to you a bit about what each of the Essential Oils in the blend do for the mind, and then about what each one does for the body, and maybe you'll understand why it works so well to help people who are suffering from upset stomachs.
Peppermint (Mentha peperita) is used to help foster a buoyant heart, and overcome feelings of unbearable pain, intense despair, heavy-hardheartedness, pessimism, and sadness. It helps us remember that life can be happy and we don't have to control our fear.
Coriander (Coriandrum sativum) is used to help gain or strengthen our sense of integrity, and overcome feelings of being controlled by others, self-betrayal, drudgery and conformation to the desires and outcomes of other. It helps us remember that if we allow ourselves to be trapped in cycles of serving others we often begin, continue to or just get used to neglecting our own needs and moral understandings.
Ginger (Zingiber officinale) is used to help us to feel greater levels of empowerment and overcome feelings of being a victim, defeated, stuck, distant, powerless, unable to take responsibility, continuing to blame others. It helps us identify, or strengthen our resolve to walk with purpose and be committed to our own lives.
Caraway (Carum carvi) is helpful in uncovering things that are hidden, and overcome feelings of being unloved, unstable, uprooted, indecisive. It is able to instill in us a sense of unconditional love so that we may remain confident in forging ahead on the correct path with emotional and spiritual support.
Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) allows us to foster and deepen our sense of objectivity and overcome feelings of objectifying others, rationalizing blame, falling into perpetual frustration, becoming inebriated by anger, inability to think clearly. It is especially helpful during times when our anger goes to our head or we become hotheaded losing control or rational function.
Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) gives us a sense of proper responsibility and overcome feelings of not being able to be in tune to our sense of self, numbness, shamefulness, lack of desire for things or to do things and sensations that we're unable to take responsibility for our actions, and allow others to do the same. It is useful when we feel defeated and have little or no desire to improve our situation.
Anise (Illicium verum) clears the way forward and helps us overcome feelings of stagnation in relationships, stifled creativity, stuck energy, and deflation. It's helpful to establish or re-0establish a sense of sure-footedeness when we feel overwhelmed or tired to regain motivation as we see the larger picture forming.
With these mental and emotional pick me ups, it's easy to see how this blend can help us make the emotional shifts needed to alter sensations that we often have associated with an upset stomach that are "in our heads" or in our hearts.
On top of these energetic, mental, emotional, and spiritual shifts that this Essential Oil blend provides us, the combination of these oils provide us with physical benefits as well.
Peppermint helps with gastric and pancreatic stimulation. It helps increase the amount of pancreatic enzymes and as such it can help with nausea, motion sickness, vomiting. It also helps with gastrointestinal, biliary and renal spasms, and so can help with colic, pain, flatulence, spasmodic IBS, kidney colic. It is also analgesic, and helps with pain and inflammation.
Coriander is also a gastrointestinal stimulant and carminative, so it helps with chronic hypotonic digestive conditions that cause distension, flatulence, colic, intestinal fermentation, dysbiosis, chronic gastroenteritis. It also is good for loss of appetite, for pain and swelling, and for intestinal parasites.
Ginger is also a gastrointestinal stimulant and a carminative . It's known to help with indigestion, flatulence, nausea; chronic gastritis and anorexia. It's also good for vomiting, travel and altitude sickness. It is also anti-inflammatory and stops spasms including intestinal colic and IBS, and it detoxifies the liver from both diet and drugs. It is a mild antibiotic for intestinal infections.
Caraway is an excellent digestive stimulant and carminative for upper indigestion, distension, flatulence and aerophagia. It also helps to counteract intestinal fermentation, and it helps to address acute and chronic liver-gallbladder congestion with indigestion and right flank pains, and helps in colonic contractions as well as being anti-parasitic and antiamoebic.
Cardamon is a strong gastrointestinal relaxant, it stops GI spams and helps with digestive conditions especially nervous indigestion. It helps with nausea, vomiting and motion sickness, and stops muscle cramps, fatigue, helps to regain focus and stops disorientation. It also balances alternating constipation and diarrhea while clearing indigestion, epigastric distension, pain, halitosis and heartburn.
Fennel is also a great digestive stimulant and helps with upper digestive atony with indigestion, flatulence, appetite loss, constipation and vomiting. It relaxes the digestive system and stops muscle spams and conditions that cause spasms such as colic, IBS, colitis, diarrhea and arophagia. It also helps to get rid of intestinal parasites.
Anise is a carminative and appetite stimulant, and helps stop stomach spasms it's often used with flatulence, appetite loss, nausea, hiccups, colic and colitis. It's beneficial in helping restore gastric secretions to reduce intestinal fermentation.
These Essential Oils have been specially blended by doTERRA in order to work synergistically and to provided added benefits over and above what the individual Essential Oils would be able to produce.
Using Essential Oils in this way for something as common as vomiting, yet as painful as IBS, allows us to achieve a state of "normalcy" relatively quickly when these symptoms arise.
There are many ways this Essential Oil can be used to help address stomach and GI concerns safely and effectively once you know that you're not taking any medications that could cause a drug reaction, and once you know that you're not going to have a skin reaction. The most common is to simply apply the Essential Oil blend directly to the skin neat for the first 2-3 hours of the acute occurrence, and then to dilute the Essential Oil to 10% and continue applying directly to the area (or to the reflex points, or to Meridian points that are associated with the GI system); a bath or compress using a dispersent with the Essential Oil so that it mixes with the water rather than being repelled by the water; or a clay pack.
If you or a loved one suffers from any of the symptoms mentioned above and you've tried this Essential Oil, or others, please let us know how they've helped you.