The Essential Life

In February 2015 I began working on another aspect of our self-reliance goals. Although I greatly appreciated our modern medicine and the ability to go to a doctor when we were sick, I also wanted to not go to the doctor if I didn't need to. I wanted to start learning about herbal oils so that I could use natural remedies to help heal our family. I had to do this in two parts. (1) Acquire oils and (2) learn how to use them.
I decided that adding an automated purchase plan and allocating a portion of by monthly budget towards buying oils would allow me over time to acquire oils for my family. However a step I skipped at the beginning was purchasing a good reference book. A few months ago I was given a reference book that our family has found extremely helpful.

We have really loved the information and the easy use of The Essential Life.
However before we got this book we were left to discover for ourselves what oils we would use and when. I started with a kit that had several oils in it. Then I started purchasing the oils that weren't in the kit and learning when and how to use the oils. When my daughter was born 6 weeks early I started using Onguard daily to keep from getting sick as I was  in and out of the NICU daily. When my son cut the tip of his finger and stitches didn't work the end fell off. A friend suggested we try Helichrysum and his black finger began to heal and he started getting feeling back to the end. When my 2 year old son had a yeast infection on his diapered bum I was able to use Lemon to bring comfort and healing to his sore bum.  When I  suffered from an infection on my foot from a cut I was able to use Lavender. All of these times (and more) I was able to use natural herbal oils to help heal and comfort my family.  We still go to the doctor if we need to, but I have really enjoyed the ability to use the herbs that our Earth holds for the benefit of my family. As I have we have become a little more self-reliant.