Updates from Denise Williams

If you feel like you're lacking in a few areas of your life like confidence, health, relationships, and finances, then this challenge is for you!

Starting January 11th I'll be starting an email series where I will challenge you to get intentional and use your Abundance essential oil every single day to bring more abundance into your life.

We will be focusing on four specific categories throughout the month:

Week 1: Confidence & Mindfulness
Week 2: Health
Week 3: Relationships
Week 4: Finances (Career/Life Purpose)

We are in a time right now where things can feel pretty heavy. 

With all that is going on in our world, our stress level can creep up on us pretty quickly and pretty soon we are snapping at others, losing sleep, feeling physically ill, etc. 

Stress and the cortisol that is released is no bueno. It can affect your mood, your body, and your behavior.

According to the Mayo Clinic, "Stress that's left unchecked can contribute to many health problems, such as high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and diabetes.”

I am no expert, but I am learning that I need to tend to unavoidable stress proactively instead of reactively. The later is what I have done my whole life.

Here are some of the ways I proactively deal with keeping stress lower…

1. Take a walk every day.
2. Listen to music and even dance!
3. Pray
4. Meditate
5. Listen to audiobooks
6. Take a hot bath at night.
7. Diffuse essential oils and use them topically. 
8. Fuel my body with healthy food.
9. Laugh with my family.
10. Yoga.

As moms we are the backbone of our family. If we are not well, it affects everyone. Unfortunately, we put ourselves last in the midst of taking care of everyone else.

This has to change!

It’s hard to change habits that we have had for years, but it’s possible! Just pick one way you will alleviate stress and try it for a month. Then add another.

Here are a few more ideas:

1. Hang with friends.
2. Go to bed early and get 7-8 hours of sleep.
3. Focus on slowing down your breathing.
4. Get a hug from a loved one.
5. Create something.
6. Change your mindset.
7. Postive Self Talk
8. Express Gratitude
9. Cut out things that don’t serve you.
10. Re-assess your to-do list.  

What will you choose?

Starting October 12th, I am hosting an online 21 Days of Encouragement Workshop in my essential oils member group. You'll leave feeling encouraged and refreshed from putting yourself first.

If this sounds like something you want to participate in, you can get in touch on facebook or email me at denisewilliams1@me.com and I’ll let you know what you need to join our community and get the benefit of this workshop!

This past summer I hit a point where I was finally fed up and ready to take action. 

My waistline was uncomfortable because my pants didn’t fit right, my emotions were dull and my energy was crap. I could not sleep through the night and that also played in to my low energy. Let's just say I was not a fan of this “almost fifty” lifestyle!

I kept thinking to myself, I know it doesn’t have to be this way. I don’t have to fall in to this mid-life pattern.

I had been feeling like this for awhile, but for some reason, despite guilting myself, I never moved to action. 

This time was different though. I had two gnawing factors that I couldn’t ignore anymore.

One, was the fact that my eczema was flaring so bad I knew something was going haywire in my body. I have had really small flares on my hands for years and that was the extent of it.

Now it was taking over my arms and neck and getting worse by the day. Being the kinda-crunchy person that I am, just slapping some steroid ointment on it was like putting a bandaid on it. I wanted a root fix.

I had a hunch that all of this change was due to hormones. Especially with me knocking on fifty’s door. That is when I started doing some research about hormones.

I had been on birth control for a LONG time. Too long. I was hooked on it because it kept my hormonal headaches at bay. But after I listened to a podcast from a doctor about Post Birth Control Syndrome a huge lightbulb went on. 

I take a natural approach to a lot of other things in my life, what the heck was I STILL pumping this synthetic stuff in to my body for? 

I started reading Dr. Jolene Brighten’s book Beyond The Pill and was totally enlightened to what the birth control pill can do to your hormones and the risks it poses for other diseases (heart, auto-immune, gut and skin issues etc)

If you are not getting off the pill but want to wrangle those hormones, I highly recommend The Hormone Fix. 

Reading about all of it gave me totally anxiety and the urge to jump off the pill right then and there. But I knew I needed a game plan first.

So I geared up with all the suggested supplements, hormone supporting essential oils (like Tranquil, CBD, Rutavala, Clary Sage and Endoflex) and set the date. I was never going to be fully ready, but I started August 10th. 

The purpose of the program I was on was to detox the liver, because my liver was what was processing the synthetic hormones all these years. Another goal of the program was to reset the microbiome in my gut.

I removed so many things from my daily diet that I thought I would die. But I didn’t! It was a lot easier than I thought. Maybe because there was an end point!

On the do not consume list was: soy, grains, gluten, sugar, alcohol, caffeine, dairy, peanuts. There was more but those were the biggies.

I made sure to make my emails really yummy so that I didn’t miss any of it and I think that was key. Lots of seeds, healthy fats and nuts were added in and I never felt hungry. 

The only time I felt deprived was when my family would bust out the popcorn at ten at night or my nightly glass of wine with dinner.

While I eliminated a lot of things, I added supplements like liver support, turmeric, magnesium, multivitamin, and Omegas. I also used my hormone supporting essential oils (you can grab yours here) everyday, drank lots of water, walked thirty minutes a day.

Within a week I had dropped a few pounds and more importantly, felt alert and awake. That was enough to keep me going. When I did want to give up, I kept thinking about my eczema and how it was a bigger sign of something wrong.

Most of the eczema went away within a couple of weeks and the last of it under my arms went away the very last week of the month-long program. 

I noticed less indigestion and over-all gas (TMI!) so this was also a sign my gut was healing. 

I didn’t drop a ton of weight but I did lose a lot of inflammation and bloating. I felt great AND I was sleeping all night long again! 

So now that the thirty days are up, I am taking some of these new habits with me as I head in to the future that is peri-menopause. I am not cutting out everything, but am passing up a lot of foods that don’t serve me or my body. 

I am armed and ready to conquer mid-life and not fall prey to the status quo. If you need better sleep, to feel better or to support your hormones, arm yourself with knowledge and act. You won’t be sorry!

Ever find yourself in a rut? 

Unmotivated.

Down in the dumps.

Playing the comparison game. 

Or maybe you never feel happy with the way things are going in your life and complaints roll off your tongue left and right.

Did you know that what we focus on, we see more of? Ever hear the phrase, where attention goes, energy flows? More and more, I am finding this to be true.

One of the most powerful and overlooked tools we have is gratitude.  Cultivating a habit of gratitude is free and it doesn’t have to take a lot of time. However, you will find it most certainly has huge benefits.

So what are the benefits of forming an “attitude of gratitude? An article written on forbes.com says research reveals that gratitude can:

•open the door to more relationships.

•improve physical and psychological health.

•enhance empathy and reduces aggression. 

•help you sleep better.

•improve self esteem.

•increase mental strength.

How can you start a practice of gratitude?

Starting this life-changing practice can be as easy as taking two minutes first thing in the morning to mentally list what you are grateful for. 

Or you can grab a journal dedicated specifically for this practice. Make it a habit to jot down five things you are grateful for before you do anything else in your day.  

This is what I do and I use this journal to list what I am grateful for, first thing in the morning. (affiliate link)

If you find it hard to remember this new habit, try setting some reminders on your phone. There are also many gratitude journal apps out there. Find one that suits you and you can record your gratitude on the go!

“When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.”

̴Lao Tzu ̴

One last tip- give it time. If you haven’t been practicing gratitude, it may take a bit for you to undo a previous mindset. I know that has been the case for me. 

The more I put gratitude in to practice, the more I see God’s gifts all around me and the more content I become. I hope you do too!

If you are ready to start the practice of gratitude, grab my free journal prompts below. 

If you really want to take it up a notch, join my free 3 DAY GRATITUDE CHALLENGE starting September 14th. Request access to my free FB group Health + Home right here.