In the media we have seen so many brave women come forward with their stories about postpartum depression. It is a common story and a struggle many women go through and often alone and without resources. My own struggles were not planted in depression, but rather deep anxiety and it continued until my daughter was about 16 months old. I was unhinged and not myself. Finally I turned towards natural solutions and that’s when things started to shift for me. I learned about the health benefits of essential oils. Pure plant essential oils, therapeutic-grade top quality, gave me the support I needed. The little brown bottles aided me, comforted me and increased my health and wellness levels to a place where I found peace, happiness and sleep once again! I diffused blends into the air, rolled some on my neck, feet and wrists and felt better within days. It was simple and it worked.
Why do we often miss the basic healing we need and either suffer or immediately jump for medicine? Sometimes all we need is to close our eyes and breathe, take a bath with healing Epson salts, drink more water, detox our systems for a minute or look for healthy solutions from food, essential oils and natural products. Many parents I speak to in my classes ask for relief from headaches, trouble sleeping, aid in managing stress and rising emotions. Just the act of communication can lessen tension; talk therapy is so beneficial and healing. Beyond that we discuss using essential oils in a daily routine. The simple task of inhaling peppermint oil can open your airways and lessen a headache or give you a pop of energy. A combination of Lavender, Copaiba and Vetiver essential oils can help you relax and fall into a healthy deep slumber. Citrus and many other oils can aid in emotional balance. These are all areas of life and human experience parents need support with and oils can be the natural solution.
Back in 2013, I was running a natural products company I founded in 2006 and I was burned out. I started Eco- Me in my kitchen pantry and grew it into a national cleaning and pet-grooming brand. It was hard work and my stress levels were through the roof. I was 38, married, but mostly married to my work… and then it hit me, there must be something else. I decided to sell my company and focus all my attention on having a baby. Unfortunately my doctor found my egg count to be very low and the quality to be questionable. We decided to try infertility treatments and moved forward with IVF (In Vitro Fertilization).
The long and short of it is that IVF is expensive, stressful and your body goes through the ringer. Between hormone shots, pills, surgery, embryo transfers and miscarriages the next 4 years were bumpy to put it nicely. My marriage was tested, my body was tested and my mental and emotional wellbeing went down the toilet! I was a hot mess and cried all the time. Sometimes it is so challenging to see the sun through the clouds. But we persisted and hung onto each other, clinging onto the hope that one day we would have a baby. And, we did, finally in 2016 our sweet Ellie Aviva was born.
I had a very emotional pregnancy, which led to an extremely challenging year of postpartum anxiety. I knew I wasn’t depressed, my heart was filled with gratitude for the birth of my daughter, but I could not get away from the stressors in my brain and intense buzzing that reverberated throughout my body. I stared at the baby monitor for hours hoping she was breathing, clinging to any movement she made. I some times accidentally woke her from a deep sleep to feel for a heartbeat and would stare at her endlessly hoping she was okay. This intensity made little room for my own recovery and even less room for those around me. This was not a winning situation.
From my years at Eco-Me I was educated about essential oils and their powerful antibacterial properties and natural uses for home cleaning. Since then I have learned so much about the amazing health and wellness benefits of essential oils. Used for over 6,000 years, essential oils have the tiniest molecular structure and are absorbed into your body quickly accessing many areas of your body from your nervous, circulatory, lymphatic, endocrine, respiratory and immune systems. As fast as they act in your body aiding in your wellness they also metabolize out (unlike many toxic chemicals in our household, skincare and medicinal products). Simply inhaling a specific essential oil can influence the emotional center of your brain, the limbic system, which is connected to your blood pressure, breathing, memory, stress levels, hormone balance and more. I am now building a wellness consulting practice, raising my now extremely active toddler and working on baby number two. This time around I will have oils to guide me through my journey with fertility treatments, pregnancy and more.
The best way to begin? By focusing on a few core postpartum exercises and building from there at your own pace.