Welcome Sarah. My blog is yours for the day! x
It's that time of year again where the kids are getting ready to go back to school (some states are already back but for us in SA we still have some time to get organised) and for some starting for the first time can bring up a range of different emotions and feelings.
If you are like me, you have probably left most things to the last minute so the week before school goes back can be a bit crazy and somewhat stressful. The list of to-dos seems endless - books, shoes, lunchbox, uniforms, lunch ideas... so much to get organised so it is easy to overlook our child’s (and our own) health and wellness at this time.
Starting or going back to school can be tough on our kids (as well as us parents), so having some natural solutions on hand for this time for concentration, focus, sleep and energy are needed more than ever.
Having essential oils as a regular part of your child’s daily routine can not only help their health, but can also help boost their cognitive performance. If you're not familiar with essential oils - what they are and how you can use them, check out my website The Essential Society to learn more.
So when it comes to going back to school, which oils can you use to support both you and your child?
I want to start with the morning routine. All of us can wake up feeling tired and not wanting to get ready in the morning and there are oils that can help for a calm and energized morning.For parents, try and wake before your children if you can so you can get ready for the day before you help them get ready. Starting your day with a calming pick me up is a great way to set your mood for the day – something like Wild Orange and Lavender in a diffuser or even as a room spray will do this for you and you can keep it next to your bed and spray into the air to smell before you get out of bed or while you are getting ready.
To help wake up the sleepy heads in your house, try an uplifting blend in the diffuser or in a spray bottle and spray in their rooms. Oils to try are Lemon and Peppermint, or Wild Orange and Peppermint or my fav uplifting morning blend of Peppermint, Citrus Bliss and Lime. You could put this on in the living area of your home or near their bedrooms.
Like the morning routine, the evening routine is just as important to help your child relax and unwind to be rested for the next day.
For the working parents and teachers, the end of the work/school day can leave you feeling stressed and exhausted at times so the grounding blend, Balance can be great to inhale direct from the bottle or put a drop on your wrists and temples to help support you through the evening routine.
Later in the evening, add a drop of Bergamot, Lemon or Lavender in your favourite cup of herbal tea to help relax and relieve any stressors.
Use a sleepy time blend like Roman Chamomile, Lavender and Frankincense in your diffuser in your bedroom before going to bed to help you relax and switch off from the day.
After a day of school, kids can be tired and the last thing they feel like doing is homework so after a healthy snack, a pep-up blend is just what you need in the diffuser, something similar to what you would use to wake them up in the morning. Peppermint is always great for this as are the citrus oils.
Once the homework is done and it is time to wind down, the best place to start is in the bath. Either dilute your choice of oils with Epsom salts (usually 2 cups, Epsom salts are not recommended for 6 years and under) or in a cup of milk to help disperse them through the water.
Oils to try in the bath are Lavender, Clary Sage, Ylang Ylang, Frankincense, Balance – 2 drops should be enough. Mix and match or just use one oil – its up to you. Ask your children what they like – mine love getting involved in choosing oils to use.
Once the bath-time routine is done, give your children a message into the soles of their feet. Not only is this a nice thing to do with your child, using oils like Lavender and Vetiver with fractionated coconut oil will help them to relax and induce feelings of calmness and promote sleepiness.
Finally, add some oils to their diffuser an hour before bed to promote a tranquil bedroom allowing deep sleep. Oils to use are Lavender, Lavender Peace (Serenity), Vetiver, Easy Air, Clary Sage, Frankincense and Balance. If you don’t have a diffuser make up a spray bottle and spray the pillowcase and sheets.
If your child wishes to take oils to school with them, I would suggest making up pre-made roller bottles using the dilution guide at the start of this e-guide for your ratios.
Here are some oils they could take with them pre-diluted ready to use:
Memory – try Rosemary as it assists with re-calling information
Calming – try Lavender as it assists with restlessness
Focus – try Lemon or InTune focus blend to assist with daydreaming and getting off task
Exams and Tests – use InTune focus blend as it assists with staying on task and helps with concentration.
Apply these to the temples, wrists and back of the neck as needed.
There are also oils that teachers can use in the classroom to help aid in calming, focus and concentration.
For aiding in management moods throughout the day, you can diffuse oils or spray into the air depending on the environment you want to create.For a calming environment, diffuse any of the following on their own or as a combination – Lavender, Bergamot, Cedarwood or Vetiver. This will create a calm and focussed environment for learning.
For an energised environment, diffuse any of the following on their own or as a combination – Citruss Bliss, Lemon, Peppermint, Lime or Wild Orange. This will help lift energy levels.
To increase concentration during tests or exams, diffuse Lime, Frankincense, Sandalwood or InTune Focus blend.
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I have created a comprehensive e-guide to help both parents and teachers with some tips for using essential oils throughout the day - to create a calm classroom, increase concentration as well as solutions for optimal health all year round.
Download the full copy here.
About Sarah
Sarah lives in Adelaide and is wife to Ben and mum to Hudson (6) and Ashlee (3). She works in a marketing role in local government. She has a serious case of multi-passionitis and spends most of her time outside her day job educating others on how to use essential oils through her business with DOTERRA ESSENTIAL OILS as well as mentoring and guiding her team to do the same. She also designs e-books and logos for women in business.
If you are interested to learn more about essential oils, you can follow Sarah on Instagram (@sarah_poppy) or Facebook (www.facebook.com/theessentialsociety) to see how she uses them or you can shoot her an email at SARAH@SARAHPOPPY.COM
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