Feeling a Bit Sore?

Now that the holidays are over, people are heading back to the gym. If you took even a week off (like I did) for gym closures and family time. You are probably running into the same problem that I am. Sore muscles! Starting over again is hard! So, I thought I’d share with you this natural remedy for muscle pain. It works like magic for me, and I hope it does the same for you.

Recipe:
coconut or olive oil
wintergreen essential oil
peppermint essential oil
eucalyptus essential oil

First and foremost, let’s chat about essential oils in general. I love these little guys! They are big love in a little bottle. I’ve been using them since my early twenties and still find new uses for them all the time. That’s a lot of years and a lot of uses, if you know my age. Anyway, I clean my house with them, ease children’s tummy pains, release headaches, even keep ants away in the summer (they hate peppermint oil).

In recent years I came across an online company where I buy all of my oils from; doTERRA. You may have heard of them– they are everywhere now. I choose them because of their purity. I was driving in the car with a friend a few years back when she dabbed on some lavender oil. The minute I smelled it, I was overwhelmed by the purity of it. I could taste the pureness in my mouth (which was weird because I hadn’t put it in my mouth). But from that moment I was hooked on these oils only! I don’t sell them, but they are available from multitudes of people in the area (and on Amazon). They will seem expensive for a small bottle (and they are) but, you don’t need much so they can last quite a while.

Before using on children or pregnant women, please do your research. Some oils are just fine in diluted forms, other oils are not! Do your research!

Back to my original thought… Sore muscles! We all have times where we get aches and pains. Sometimes it’s from working out, but other times we twist wrong, or lift something incorrectly. This “recipe” is perfect for any of those times! I prefer to use a layering technique when I do this at home. It’s fast, easy, and works slightly better than mixing it all together. However, you can certainly mix it up in one bigger batch if that is your druthers. It is rather convenient to have it in one bottle sometimes, and you could travel with it, which is always nice.

You will need to dilute these particular oils with a carrier oil. Some oils can be used “neat” or plain on the skin. But not these. It will burn. I generally use fractionated coconut oil nowadays to dilute, but if you don’t have any- don’t worry. Back in the old days we used olive oil and I feel it works just the same.

Here is how the layering technique works:
Take your coconut or olive oil and rub it on the sore area, then drop 1-3 drops ( depending on size of area) of wintergreen oil on the same spot and rub it in for a few (as in 2) seconds. Drop 1-3 drops of peppermint oil, and rub it in. Then add your last oil (1-3 drops), of eucalyptus to the area and rub in. If the heat feels too much, you can dilute it with more coconut/olive oil.

Be careful of getting this particular mixture near your eyes, your children or your pets. Go wash your hands. Seriously — go wash. I’d hate for you to forget and then rub your eyes. Ouch!

This is my go-to when my muscles are protesting. I hope this easy recipe helps makes your muscles smile too.