Respiratory

🍂 Autumn Wellness Tips: Essential Oil Blends & Immune Support for Fall

Liz James · September 1, 2025 ·

Before there was social media and Starbucks, what senses and memories clued you in that

Autumn was almost here?

For me, it was watching the leaves start to change, seeing wispy corn stalk leaves blow in from nearby farms, seeing pumpkins almost ripe on the vine, and of course (at the pharmacy) a full on uptick in people coming in with prescriptions for “the annual Fall crud”.

I’m so thankful for these Freebies this month! September also heralds football season and like football

…… the best defense is also a great offense!

Fire up that diffuser and enjoy your own “punkin spice” blend that is your FALL “scent with benefits” (Back to basics pro tip: Healthy alternatives are keeping toxins out of your home …. and out of your body, AND these also help create an inhospitable environment for “the crud” to thrive, unlike the synthetic stuff which tears the immune system down. Win win! )

3 drops clove
3 drops cinnamon bark
2 drops nutmeg
1 drop ginger
1-2 drops orange

4 drops cardamom
3 drops orange
2 drops cinnamon bark
2 drops clove

Now, about those Immugummies!

Have you tried them before? I use them as a healthy sweet “snack” alternative when I want to pop something sweet in my mouth. These tickle the tastebuds and offer the benefit of elderberries and 1,3 beta-glucans ( a super important component harvested from a type of algae that has been shown to improve immune system response, esp when it comes to upper respiratory tract health). What an easy way to support the immune system!

Nobody’s got time for “the crud”, especially as we glide into the busiest time of the year! Use your tools

so you can cross your finish line strong!

xoxo~ liz

Young Living Says Thank You

Liz James · November 1, 2023 ·

Here in North Texas, we went from Summer

weather to Winter

(29 degrees) in the blink of an eye, and now it’s November with Thanksgiving and Christmas

right around the corner! With all of the gatherings planned, along with shopping, and big “to-do” lists before the end of 2023, Young Living ushers in the season for us with a great group of freebies for November.

Who uses Grapefruit regularly? If not, please reconsider! With the holiday munchies available everywhere you turn, we need all the help we can get. Studies like this https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17615482/ can be found on the YL website, indicate that getting grapefruit into your daily habits might be a great addition as we navigate the next few months of carbs and sugar!

Sometimes the overwhelm can kick in this time of year, and it can be challenging to remember the reason we are “doing all the things” or that we have the ABILITY and Resources to do anything…. much less…. all the things. We receive Gratitude with gratitude

this month as a freebie. Nope…. this oil isn’t magic (tho it does smell lovely!), but it does bring intention and attention to the room. Words matter, and a specific scent paired with a word helps the brain recall the reason. (Plus, I love that there are oils in this blend that actually stimulate certain neurotransmitters that are present when gratitude is in play

Inner Defense. The best offense is a great defense! Inner Defense is a brilliant support to keep handy for those days

when you just are not feeling up to par. It’s also a FABULOUS tool in terms of prevention.

PROTIP: I travel with a bottle of ID because when we travel we often run into cooties

that like to ruin the trip. I take 1 capsule a day (always take it with fatty food!) preventatively whenever I’m on the road OR whenever I know I’m going to be in a big crowd of people.

One Heart is an oil blend that was introduced in support of the Young Living Foundation. https://www.younglivingfoundation.org/ WHAT?? You didn’t know that YL had a not-for-profit foundation benefitting people all over the world? They do, and have impacted people’s lives in ways that nurture, rescue (literally!), and protect. In essence, the YLF does “in the physical” exactly what the oils and products do for each of us. One Heart is a beautiful (and helpful!) fragrance that contains pricey oils like jasmine, frankincense, ocotea, northern lights black spruce, and more. Not only is this a great oil to drop into your diffuser, but remember that each oil within a blend has specific properties that act upon our body…. and this particular blend has some great ones that support the body all year round. “Perfume with a purpose”

RC is a “must-have” on standby (and inaction) for this time of year. We tend to think of RC as for “respiratory and congestion”, but leaving it at that would mean underutilizing its capabilities. RC is a blend of oils that are also great for focus and energizing. I know several people who also carry this oil to their pedi appointments and drop a few drops in the soaking water.

Sometimes the holiday season brings out the grouchy in even the most cheerful of folks. PROTIP: It’s just hard to be grouchy when Citrus Fresh

is in the room…. so drop this beauty into the diffuser and watch moods change for the better! Turns out, it’s not our imagination…. there’s science to back it up. (homework: go read about Citrus Fresh in the “discover our research” portion of the Citrus Fresh writeup on the YL website).

Happy November friends! I’m curious…. who has Inner Defense in their home already? Give me a

if you do! (If not, here’s your chance to get it for free

and save some money in the process! As they say, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

)

xoxo~ liz

Seeds of Thyme Answers About Frankincense

Liz James · October 10, 2023 ·

Good word from Seeds of Thyme

. My two all-time personal favorite ways to use Frankincense are:

as an ingredient in my easy-peasy DIY face serum

and

as an ingredient in the most miraculous DIY “pain bomb” capsule

(ok, 3 ways!

)

as an ingredient in my easy peasy all purpose nasal spray. (I’ve probably gifted a couple hundred of these bottles of amazingness over the last 10 years and taught hundreds more how to make them).

God-given goodness

what is frankincense?

Young Living’s September Free Gifts

Liz James · September 1, 2023 ·

Kicking off September

ya’ll! Can you believe we are already well into the second half of 2023? In addition to

football and

falling leaves, Fall always brings an uptick of unwell days in households everywhere. Thankfully, WE HAVE TOOLS!

Since you are here…. you have access to them, and this month some of the best wellness tools are FREE with qualifying purchase.

Orange Vitality: Orange

is such an amazingly charming secret weapon. Sure, it smells amazing, but pretty is as pretty does. It offers digestive support and immune support (among many other things. Don’t forget to check out the scientific research

available on the Young Living website. A quick peek there on orange revealed 6 studies (there’s way more than that out there in Pubmed should you really want to dive deeply).

Thieves Chest Rub: I’ll just say this….. It’s silly not to take advantage of this freebie right now, because when the

hits the airways, you want ALL the tools handy right then right now. Thieves Chest Rub (on the chest, back, and/or bottoms of feet) is a massive game changer. You’ll pat yourself on the back for getting this freebie before you actually need it.

Nutmeg: Now, you might be thinking…. what can I use nutmeg for besides making some killer fall recipes?

Nutmeg supports cognitive

and immune function. A lesser-known fact (we should all do a challenge and try using it this way for a month)…… nutmeg may be useful for people who tend to wake up too early

or in

the middle of the night!

I’m excited to try this for a month before bedtime and see if I notice a change in my own sleep patterns!

Just like Thieves Chest Rub, when the proverbial poop hits the oscillator, you need tools on hand STAT. Raven is one you need on the bench to run in and play. It plays well with its teammates. There are some great study articles on the YL website (go look!). Here’s a peek at a few titles for the nerdly inclined like me

“Suppression of inflammatory and infection responses in lung macrophages….”

“Effect of eucalyptus oil inhalation on pain and inflammatory responses after total knee replacement: a randomized clinical trial”

I might just be most excited about the FREE NingXia Greens as this month’s freebie. We’ve been drinking it regularly since it was introduced last year. (My favorite power drink is NingXia Greens + YL Inner Beauty Collagen + NingXia Red + Zyng

). The NingXia Greens is a daily dose of 60+ fruits, vegetables, herbs, algae, and mushrooms. I challenge you to find a better way to get all that micronutrient-dense, digestive and immune-supportive help in a single supplement. This is a supplement that has been on my order every single month since it was introduced….. but not this month since we will be getting it for free

. (and that YL-branded glass is pretty cute too!)

Did you learn something new in this post about a product you thought you knew? What are you most interested in trying for the first time or using in a different way than you might have used in the past?

Happy Game Day!

xoxo~ liz

Young Living November Gifts

Liz James · November 1, 2022 ·

Charlie and I woke up early this morning (a normal thing!

) and one of the first things we talked about was how fast November arrived this year. Soooooo fast! This year is scooting by!

The first of every month is a little like Christmas…. getting to see what Young Living is offering us for free (with qualifying purchase)!

Loyalty rewards are like getting a gift card with your 100PV purchase. 10 points spend just like

in the Young Living store on an order in the future. If you are not yet using Loyalty rewards as part of your thrifty shopping, you are missing out on savings! 10-25% back on your purchases? YES PLEASE!

YL Vitality Drops ($10….but free this month!). Did you know that the vast majority of people living in the USA have a fairly significant electrolyte imbalance and don’t even know it? Gatorade and other sugary (or fake sugar) drinks designed to boost electrolytes are helpful, but they create an even bigger problem by causing inflammation in the body (both sugar and fake sugar does this). Get your electrolytes with a healthier alternative that tastes delicious too! YL Vitality drops is an electrolyte blend that also contains more than 70 naturally occurring trace minerals ….. something else we tend to be deficient in. (The Grapefruit Bergamot flavor is my favorite!). What does a mild electrolyte imbalance look like or feel like? Glad you asked! ……. dizziness, irregular heartbeat, brain fog, fatigue, muscle cramps, constipation, headaches. (When you have the opportunity to try a product for free….. take advantage of it! You never know what you might be able to accomplish with it! I’ve had several ah-ha moments in my walk with YL that have been health game changers for me personally!)

Thieves Hand Sanitizer (the big one… 7.6oz member value $36.75ish I don’t think the large size is even available to buy right now ) ….. it seems like we live with year round germ season. Thieves doesn’t just help reduce infectious germ

spreading, it also has a little bit of extra ooomph. It also helps support a healthy immune system. You won’t find that in your standard hand sani’s.

I know so many people whose “gateway” oil was/is DiGize (member value $37.75…. but free this month!). Why is that? Well, it’s because our guts are assaulted in 1001 different ways, and if you experience any

(or lack of

!) occasionally, DiGize just might become your new bestie. Apply directly to the belly button (don’t knock it til you’ve tried it!) for some quick relief. (Side note…. if you have any really stinky gym clothes, I add a few drops of DiGize to my laundry detergent and it does a fantastic job of giving my clothes a fresh scent. If you’ve ever struggled with gym clothes laundry funk, you can thank me now for this tip!

)

Thieves Chest Rub (member value$30….but free here!). We have all gone thru a couple of years of really nasty hacky cold and flu seasons, and this is one staple you do NOT want to not have on hand when you have a house full of hackers

. Not only does Thieves Chest Rub help loosen up and relieve the hacking, remember….. it’s also got Thieves in it. And what does Thieves do?….. it helps support a healthy immune system. News flash…. if you’re hacking

, your immune system needed some support like yesterday!

Digest and Cleanse ( member value $31.75…. but free this month!) had been unavailable for forever and a day, and I know some people are doing the happy dance

that it’s back in action. Tis the season for eating and over eating. These capsules are loaded with ingredients that stimulate digestion. For those of you who don’t like the smell of DiGize topically, this is a fantastic “on the go” (pun intended!) capsule for a sluggish or overtaxed digestive system.

And finally….. my friend Frank! Most people think of baby Jesus when they hear the word Frankincense (member value $84.75….but free this month!). And while anything that was good enough for Jesus is good enough for me, there’s more to Frankincense than simply a good smelling gift given by a very wise man. Even back in the day, Frankincense was known for its amazing health and wellness properties. Today…. if you were to simply search the word frankincense in pubmed.gov, you’d find over NINTY SEVEN PAGES of studies on the effects of frankincense on the body. I urge you to let your fingers do the walking and just spend a few minutes learning about this powerhouse of an oil. I use it daily in my DIY face serum (because of the effects it has on the skin), and in doing so….. I experience other beneficial results throughout my body and mind. It truly has been an amazing (and dare I say, miraculous!

) addition to my healthy and wellness world for me personally.

Which freebie(s) are you most excited about this month?

xoxo~ liz

(PS: if you are not yet a YL member, and are looking for someone to help guide you on your health and wellness journey, I’d love to help you! Message me or get started here: https://tinyurl.com/vt3bnufw