Let’s make it clear: I will vaccinate my kids.

If you have ever met me chances are, I have offered you essential oils. They are a big part of my life and I use them frequently. Which makes many people concerned about the well being and health of my future children.

It started when I was in middle school, through making my own face washes and scrubs because I wanted to see what I could do to naturally even out my skin tone and clear acne. In my research to make these products, I found certain oils, such as tea tree and lavender have many antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties.

Around the same time, I was dancing about 20 or more hours a week outside of school and had been diagnosed several years prior with Osgood-Schlatter, a knee disease caused by an overused tendon. This resulted in me taking an unhealthy amount of pain medication. To where I was dependent on them to be functional.

I wish I could say at this point I realized it was unhealthy and stopped, but I didn’t. It had become a part of my routine. Wake up, stretch, take pain meds for the day.

It took me passing out multiple times and looking at the amount of empty medicine bottles I had accumulated to realize it was starting to get out of hand.

Honestly, it was a really low point in my life. Having to choose between the love of my life,  dance, and my health.

Time passed and I was still wrestling with this decision until I decided to not stop dancing, but decrease the amount of classes I took over the summer to ease the pain.

About this time, I was having some stomach issues and I was in a lot of pain. My friend offered me a blend of essential oils to help.

At first I was really skeptical. I didn’t know anything about essential oils except for in relation to face care, but I was pleasantly surprised to see how the oil blend helped my stomach ache.  

From that moment on, I was hooked.

I did a lot of research into the different oils and what specifically could help me as a dancer.  Some of my favorites are peppermint for headaches and other muscle pain, jasmine for stress and anxiety and eucalyptus to help with a stuffy nose.

The best part of using essential oils has been being able to share this new-found knowledge with my friends and show them an alternative to medicine.

Everyone could benefit from using essential oils. I’m not saying essential oils are a “cure all” and you shouldn’t vaccinate your kids, but maybe next time when you have a headache, instead of reaching for Tylenol, try peppermint oil instead.