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I had a health scare a few years ago.  In a nutshell?  My liver basically stopped working.  So everything else in my body started to shut down as well. I couldn’t eat.  I couldn’t function.

The funny thing was, I thought I was super healthy.  I had been dairy free almost my entire life.  Gluten-free for at least 7.  I had weaned myself off sugar.  I practiced yoga daily.  So what gave?  I was doing all the right things.  Or so I thought.

What I had neglected to think about was the products I was using in my home.  Some of them were still toxic and I didn’t even realize it.

So, I went on a mission to go from “super healthy” to “UBER healthy”.  I was going all in at this poker table.

I decided I wanted every aspect of my home life to reflect my new core values.

I’ll admit, training my family was like training a pack of dogs.  And from time to time my husband would try to sneak that bottle of Windex into our home or the junk food he knew I’d never eat.  But I did the best I could to make my house the healthiest home environment I could.

When I decided to make the switch and make my home environment less toxic, there were 6 major essentials I had to tackle.  I’m going to share them with you.  

1). Switch Out Your Toxic Cleaning Products for Non-Toxic Cleaning Products

I began with changing all my toxic products out for non-toxic cleaning products. Instead of using Tide, Windex, Clorox, and Ajax, I switched all of my products over to Seventh Generation. You can use whatever organic non-toxic product that speaks to you. I chose Seventh Generation, because I like the scents and I feel that the products work effectively (not all non-toxic products are created equal).

2). Maintain Your House

Like all things in life, it is easier if you keep up with things rather than letting things go or allowing messes, laundry, dishes, and disorganization to take over your life. It takes minutes, about 20 to sweep through your whole house to keep it maintained. It is so easy to be lazy and to not deal, listen all of us don’t want to deal from time to time, but on a daily basis, if you go through your house with the intent of maintaining it and keeping up with what needs to be done it will make your life a whole heck of a lot easier than letting everything pile up and become overwhelming. The cleaner the environment can make the difference in the world between how you feel emotionally and what you are able to get done, then letting things go and get crazy. A clean house also keeps you healthier, germs are cleaned up and you are less likely to get sick.

3). Use Non-Toxic Hand Soaps and Skin Care

You might not think of it, but all hand soaps, bar soaps, face wash, body wash, and everything you put on your body matters. If you are going to make the jump to live a non-toxic lifestyle you have to change everything, meaning it doesn’t stop at what you wash your clothes and dishes with, it goes all the way to what you put on your body and in your body too. I changed out all of my hand soaps to Pangea Organics foaming pumps. First and foremost, foaming soap is less messy and better all around as a hand soap option as a opposed to liquid soap. I use doTERRA On Guard to wash my dishes. On Guard has been proven to kill bacteria and viruses and so why not wash your dishes with germ fighting soap that is organic, all-natural and armed with the power of essential oils. In addition to changing out the basics, I went in and overhauled my skincare line. I now use a combination of doTERRA anti-aging creams and wash and Pangea Organics both in the shower and on my skin. I absolutely cannot live without Pangea face oil. It saves my skin from the dryness and heat of this desert I find myself living in.

4). Get Rid of Plastic and Switch to Glass

Glass is better than plastic, period. For leftovers, water bottles, kid containers and pantry items. In my pantry I put most of my packaged good into Ball Jars and the same goes for leftovers in my fridge. When I need a water bottle for my fresh squeezed juices or water or smoothies I put them in glass. Plastic leaks and unless it is BPA free is will leaks chemicals you don’t want in your water or food.

5). Eat Organic Foods

Even on a budget, eating organic foods costs less than the price of illness or cancer. It doesn’t take much to make the shift. Organic means safe. It means standards, so whenever you can buy local organic produce and fruits. Try to eat very little packaged and processed foods and try to eat a lot more natural food than processed foods. If you are going to join the non-toxic movement you have to think or your body as your house. Create a non-toxic environment for both your outer life and inner life and let the two mirror each other in harmony.

6). Switch to Holistic Medicine

Wipe out those over the counter drugs, or at the very least let them be a last resort. Arm yourself with the power of essential oils. Essential oils have been proven to be more effective and better natural medicine from anything to moods, illness, pain, aches, ailments, ointments, remedies than over the counter drugs created in chemical labs. Before you reach for chemical laden drugs, try treating holistically. Holistic medicine doesn’t have the side effects chemical drugs often do.

I have given you six powerful tools to create a non-toxic home environment. What would it take for you to make the switch? What holds you back? I would love to hear your thoughts, please them in the box below.

If you found this article useful, please share it with friends. Post it on FB, Pinterest, or Tweet it.

XO, Hayley

P.S. If you are interested in the power of essential oils and you want to make the switch, you know I only use the best, so click HERE

I would imagine everyone experiences anxiety from time to time.

But have you ever had full blown panic attacks or had to go on anti-depressants, because the symptoms were so bad your will wasn’t strong enough to handle them?

I have.

Yep, you heard me right. Upon graduating from college, I couldn’t have foreseen the heightened levels of anxiety and pressure I’d undergo trying to become a successful lawyer. I was so afraid of letting my parents down and not achieving the level of stature and recognition I thought I needed to achieve in order to be seen, respected, or looked at with any measure of pride.

It was awful.

I pushed myself like a slave owner charges his servants to submit to his will.

I wasn’t sleeping.  I couldn’t concentrate.  Any hope I had at holding a decent first year associate job was going down the drain.  And my emotional instability was the root of it’s disaster.

I couldn’t eat.  My weight got WAY too low.  So low that most people self-diagnosed me with an eating disorder.  Who knows – maybe I even had one.  I needed control in my life and I sure wasn’t getting it anywhere else. My life had become a living hell, with me at its center.

I went to doctors to help me ease my pain.  I begged for anti-anxiety meds.  What did I know at the time?  Apparently nothing.  Only that I needed to feel better.  Not that I needed to get to the root of my problems.

So Xanax and Prosac became my friends and yet I continued to push myself, still filled with the same fears.  Still doing the same old song and dance.

The meds just masked the truth of all these fears I have been housing inside. Fear of failure, disappointment, the pressure to succeed and be seen a certain way. It was like carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders.

Anxiety is no joke.  It is the worst feeling in the world to feel like your world is spinning out of control.  And if you let external factors take over, you can literally let your life fall apart, masking the real issues.

It was years later that I turned to holistic healing.  I knew there had to be a better solution than synthetic medications that were destroying my gut and not healing the roots of my problems.

I turned to yoga, self-awareness, changing my attitude and natural medicine.  

But I have to tell you.  It took me awhile to become a believer.  As a daughter of a physician, I thought going inward and using holistic products like essential oils was kookoo for cocoa puffs.  Where was the science?

Come on. Connecting to our true nature and using products given to use from the earth were enough to heal?  For real?

YES!

Essential oils have been used for thousands of years to treat ailments, illnesses and emotional and hormonal imbalances.

Our sense of smell is connected to our limbic system, which is the seat of our emotions. Aromatherapy works at a cellular level to deal with all the emotional upheaval associated with anxiety. Essential oils can calm anxiety and even make it disappear before it arrives.

Here are five oils you can use to help calm your fears:

1). Ylang Ylang, pronounced (eeelang, eeelang), is notorious for balancing the solar and sacral plexus chakras, and can help alleviate stress and lower anxiety.

 2). Lavender relieves mental stress and is a great relaxant.  It can even help you sleep.

3). Geranium helps release negative memories and nervous tension. It is extraordinarily uplifting.

4). Bergamot is calming and uplifting. It is known for its anti-depressant properties.

5). Wild Orange is elevating for the mind and body and is known to bring joy and peace. It has been scientifically documented to combats depression and boost immunity.

The most effective way to use these oils is aromatically.  Put a few drops in a diffuser and let the aroma take over.  If you don’t have a diffuser and need a quick release, put a drop or two in the palm of your hands and deeply inhale several times.

I have given you some great essential oils to try to combat anxiety. Please try them and let me know what you think by leaving your comments in the box below.

If you liked this blog and know anyone who may benefit from this insight, please share it with them via Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter.

XO, Hayley

P.S. If you want to know where I get my essential oils, cause you know I only use the best, click: HERE