I hesitated writing about periods (or my period). I don’t know why. Every woman experiences a menstrual cycle. Once a month we bleed. Once a month we potentially experience pain and have learned to deal with it in many ways. But why is our period such a taboo subject? I think that’s a whole other blog post so simply today I’m sharing how I support my body outside of just fitness and nutrition habits.

I decided to go off birth control in April of 2016. It was for many reasons from not wanting to rely on a pharmaceutical to regulate my hormones to having it out of my system for when we are ready to start a family. Since then I’ve experienced the most painful periods since my teenage years when I went on birth control to manage my painful periods in the first place. I believe this was also the reason why I discovered that I am also living with PCOS.

As an oiler (someone who loves and has hired essential oils to support my body), I turned to my resource guides and other women who have experienced pain relief with essential oils to try different oils for myself. I have found 3 key oils to support my body during the painful first few days when my period starts.

Clary Sage: Known as a calming and soothing oil. I’ve applied this directly to my abdomen when experiencing menstrual cramps when my Clary Calm roller bottle wasn’t with me to alleviate cramps and it has worked wonders. It is one of the main oils found in the Clary Calm roller.

Deep Blue: So you know, that lower back pain that sometimes comes with our periods? It’s excruciating and mind-numbing. My pain has been so bad lately that I’m actually considering taking a day off work on my first day because I can barely think the pain is so bad. I usually place a dab of deep blue on my lower back before leaving the house and I can go about my day without obsessing over the pain.

Clary Calm: I try to not leave home without this oil during my menstrual flow. It’s usually just a staple in my purse. I rub this on my belly and chest like it’s everything. When I was experiencing labour like pains back in October of 2016, which led to my PCOS diagnosis, I reached for this after taking Advil and no relief for an hour. After what seemed like 10 – 15 mins the pain had subsided substantially allowing me to sleep and rest. I traveled with this oil to Orlando, Florida for dōTERRA Leadership and had to use this when I was double over in pain during the retreat. I could barely stand upright at times and was rolling this on my belly every few hours. Thankfully I only need to take one Midol or Advil liquid gel and use this oil for the rest of the day and have been feeling amazing. The happy harmony of western and eastern “medicine”.

I’m now taking many steps to research how to support my body from nutrition, to stress relief to bring my body back into an equilibrium. Painful periods don’t have to be our normal and this is my latest health pain point to solve. Thankfully I have oils to help me through.

As always, if you’re curious to try a sample and you have yet to experience dōTERRA oils please shoot me a message through the contact form or over at robynbaldwin@gmail.com.