DISCLAIMER: The thoughts expressed here are completely, 100% without compensation. These are my own personal opinions, nothing more. 

 

No matter how many times I take it, the Myers Briggs type indicator tells me something that is sometimes painfully obvious: I am more than slightly introverted. No, this doesn’t mean I don’t like people—I have built my live working for and with people—it just means that in new and unknown social situations where I am about to make another BFF, I get a little nervous. OK, maybe a lot nervous.

This was incredibly noticeable to my long-time bestie Heidi one morning before a maternity session. I was calmly discussion (maybe frantically expressing) my qualms when Heidi quietly got up from the seat at her counter and moved towards a flat wooden box. After carefully selecting a dark, ominous bottle, she descended upon me with a spicy-scented substance and smeared it all over my neck and behind my ears. I stood still, part in shock and part just taking in the soft fragrance, and inquired as to what exactly is was.

“Balance,” Heidi said with the upbeat enthusiastic voice of a true essential oil user, “it’s a grounding blend by doTERRA meant to ease anxiety.”

When it comes to homeopathic medicine, I am a bit more than a bit of a skeptic, but I do keep an open mind. In my previous life, I loved creating homemade cold process soaps which I would scent with all-natural essential oils, so I was aware of the aromatherapy side of oiling. I didn’t put much stock in it, however, and I really just enjoyed the smells it created (lavender rosemary is still a major personal favorite).  

This Balance blend, though, it seemed to work. With each deep inhale I took while waiting for my client in my Corolla, I felt a little better—and it wasn’t just because of the breathing exercises. That little extra aroma really did make me feel better, and I was in better friend-making form than before.

Am I still skeptical about some aspects of essential oil usage? Oh, yes. But do I experiment a bit with oils now? Absolutely. In the year since I was first fully introduced to doTERRA, I have learned that these extracts do have their place. From their role as a key ingredient in an all-natural salve to calm a mosquito bite or two or twenty to a couple drops serving as an alternative to lime juice in a Moscow Mule, essential oils have found a necessary place in my life. Not only does their usage helps me feel better, but I also know by supporting doTERRA I am actually making people’s lives better, too; this company institutes co-impacting sourcing, which allows the company to develop long-term sustainable relationships with farmers and harvesters in which all parties mutually benefit.

It’s a win-win, and that’s a good thing.