How do you convince your parents to oil? (Part One)

Part 1 – my mom:

1. My mom has a lot of bloat and have problems digesting her food. It got to the point that she was seeing the doctor every month for her discomfort. Thankfully her doctor doesn’t like to overly medicate so most of the times, my mother leaves the clinic with some health advice but empty handed.

2. My mom also don’t feel very well after her menopause. It’s… like general unwellness? She couldn’t tell me what’s wrong but she noticed she felt really run down. She would keep telling me that it must be because of her age. At that time, she’s 64.

3. At that time, I was also very new to the YL oils and products. I heard DiGize is fab for the tums and Thieves great for keeping one healthy so I passed her these 2 oils.

4. Ok to be honest, cos we are all so new and didn’t understand then about diluting and toxic free living, my mom applied DiGize on her tums and oops broke out in rashes. It was so itchy that she didn’t use it again.

5. Looking back, I realised because she has been a housewife for 40 years, the oils were cleansing out the toxic load from her household cleaners and personal care products from her body hence the rashes. I should have taught her how to dilute the oils with a vegetable carrier oil.

6. So no oils for a while…. until my parents and my sis went on a cruise together. Unfortunately my sis and my mom caught the stomach bug there.

7. My sis being the more intrepid oiler, whipped out her DiGize and used it. Seeing how unwell my mom was, Grace advised her to oil HER SOLES. It works like a charm and she’s convinced! Hooray!

Lesson learnt: If I wasn’t able to convince my mom then, send in the other family member that my mom listens to. Hehehe.

8. From there, it was a gradual conversion. My mother, gleeful that she can oil her soles and not get those rashes, would DiGize and Thieves herself. The bloat got better. She wasn’t catching colds that often anymore.

From there on, my mom got more open and adventurous in using the oils. She also (LOL) learn how to use the oils when my dad first couldn’t bear the smells. For example, she would Immupower her soles when my dad goes out to work and make sure that the house is well aired before he comes home to a house that smells like curry spices, hahahah.

For her overall health and energy, I offered her Ningxia Red. She didn’t like bottles cos she thinks they are heavy to pour but happily accepts the sachets. Since then, I would give her 2 boxes of sachets each month. Dazzled by the possibility of great health and eternal youth, she uses her Frankincense together with her Ningxia Red. Fast forward to now, my mom at 71 now, looks like in her 50s. Score!

To improve her digestion further, we tested a bunch of products. She loves Digest and Cleanse but in the end settled on Essentialzymes and Life 9 since they work better for her, as her permanent daily supplement routine.

Whenever she falls sick now, she would raindrop herself on her soles. I numbered the bottles in sequence so it’s easier for her. If my dad is at home, she would get him to oil her. So proud of Mama!

She finds it hard to sleep at night so again we tested a bunch of products – Sleepessence, Immupro, Lavender, Peace and Calming and finally we settled on RC. Apparently it can get cold for my parents at night and blocks up their breathing so diffusing RC helps a lot with that.

So even though it’s been 8 years already, it’s still an ongoing health and learning journey for us all. Right now we are testing Illumineyes for her eyesight and she’s asking for another bottle already. I’m still praying she let me switch out her commercial household cleaners for the Thieves range but well to be honest, it’s a slow going thing right now.

Key learnings from convincing my mom to oil:

1. If whatever I say or do, did not shift her resistance to use the products, engage the younger sis to talk to her.

2. I also ask her to oil my kids and request that there are Kidscent toiletries when my kids come for our weekly dinner. When she noticed how the oils help my kids, and how good their skin is, it also convince her to try the products for herself.

3. Go slow, go low. Sometimes I forgot how gungho I am as an oiler and I would go higher in my usage. However for peeps new to the oils, the smells can be overwhelming! So going lower in amount + diluting helps a lot in easing them in.

Next up, Part 2 – my dad: