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.

The first step towards gaining health and wellness is often becoming aware that there is something amiss in our lives.  This could be a thought pattern we cannot get away from, an energy slump at some point int he day, an ailment from our body, or pain response, confusion, or passionate emotions we cannot seem to get under-control; and an infinite number of other things.

When I was going through my Bell's Palsy, I was aware that my right eye was not closing as much as my left, and I was not able to control it the same.  This happened while I was in the car driving to work.  I was brave enough to take a photo of it, and to send it to my husband for his opinion.  While at work, I recognized that my speech was getting slurred and I was talking like Sylvester Stallone. So I knew I had to do something fast.

I didn't realize until I was talking to the urgent care doctor how many people ignore these things, don't seek medical attention, and just hope it will go away.  My doctor, and nurse and acupuncturist said the same thing.  Too many people wait too long to address their health and wellness concerns.

I'll challenge you to incorporate a practice of mindfulness everyday in order to catch things at the first signs. Doing this consistently will allow you to track changes in your wellness as the days and weeks pass.  This is often vital information that makes the difference between a symptom and a cause.

The work that I do with my clients often starts with addressing symptoms, and then spreads to tackling the cause which provides them a lifetime of healing and greater wellness overall, instead of a Band-Aid that masks the symptoms. This is true for mental, emotional and spiritual health as well as for physical and energetic health.

Mindfulness can be something as simple a paying attention to the thoughts that you are thinking, or the emotions that you are feeling, or the sensations you're having within your body, or the tension/pain that you are experiencing. You don't have to work with being aware of all of these at once. I recommend that you pick one of them to focus on, and choose a particular time of day to spend 5-10 minutes being curious about what comes up as you focus on those aspects of yourself.  Explore with calmness and curiosity what you find, and with zero judgement write it down, and contemplate why you may be experiencing that particular thought/emotion/sensation/pain, and write down what you come up with.  Stick with one aspect of mindfulness until you feel comfortable with it.

Once you've been able to establish mindfulness within an area of yourself, you'll be able to act upon the information that you've received, and this is where mindfulness meets empowerment!  This is an exciting shift that I'm looking forward to helping you with. 

Diffusing an essential oil in the area you are in while you enter this state of mindfulness can help you connect more to your body, emotions, and mind.  Below is a list of essential oils you can use for this, please note this recommendation is for the inhalation of the difused essential oil either through an active difuser or through a passive difuser - not for topical application. I have included botanical names and variety types when there are multiple essential oils with similar names and there are contraindications that would require you to set up a consultation to ensure you can safely use them while having certain conditions or while on certain medications.

To help with mindfulness with your thoughts:

Basil Ocimum basilicum  L ct Linalool (note other varieties have contraindications - set up a consultation prior to use)

Lime

Ylang Ylang

Coriander

Lemon

Lemon Myrtle - has contraindications with certain medications - set up a consultations prior to use

To help with mindfulness with your emotions:

Clary Sage

Siberian Fir use only Abies sibirica  Ledeb. (note other varieties have contraindications - set up a consultation prior to use)

Cypress  use only the botanical: Cupressus sempervirnens.  L. (note other varieties have contraindications - set up a consultation prior to use)

Geranium - has contraindications with certain medications - set up a consultation prior to use

Peppermint - has contraindications with certain medical conditions - set up a consultation prior to use

Sandalwood Osyris lanceolata  Hochst. & Steud., Santalum album L., Santalum austrocaledonicum Vieill. varieties only (note other varieties have contraindications with certain medication - set up a consultation prior to use)

To help with mindfulness within your body:

Frankincense

Copaiba

Lavender Lavandula angustafolia Mill. use only this botanical (note, other varieties have contraindications and would not be effective)

Litsea aka May Chang- has contraindications with certain medical conditions and medications - set up a consultation prior to use

Patchouli - has contraindications for certain medical conditions and medications - set up a consultation prior to use

Rosemary - has contraindications for certain medical conditions and medications - set up a consultation prior to use

Star Anise Illicium verum J.D. Hook. - has contraindications for certain medical conditions and medications - set up a consultation prior to use

Let us know what essential oil you've used to increase your mindfulness!