Natural medicine for wellness that lasts…
Welcome to an update on:
BOGO week | natural medicine Q&A | upcoming events
{But first: Pause. Inhale through your nose. Feel your diaphragm expand. Allow your attention to follow your inhale and notice how it feels in your body. Take a looong, slooow exhale and notice tension melt away, and your body soften. You are here. And always supported by the earth. You can live at a pace that feels peaceful in the moment, just incase you needed a reminder...} So, this email isn't my shortest ever email, but probably only a 5 minute read, that I'm excited to share. Hope you enjoy this short magazine-break-in-the-waiting-room - in digital form xx
Three thangs, but first - some neuroanatomy
Did you know - smell is the only sense that reaches the emotional centres of your brain before it reaches the thinking part. Sight, sound, touch - they all route via the thalamus first, get processed, interpreted. Whereas scent goes almost directly to the limbic system.
This is why smell can change how a room feels before you've formed an opinion about it. And why it's such a good anchor for a ritual: you're not relying on willpower or remembering. You're using a shortcut your brain already has.
This informs how I've come to work with oils. Not so much as a fix - but as a signal.
(Although they are definitely a fix too - scientists are researching and confirming the benefits of the active compounds in essential oils regularly - just check out pubmed).
Something that tells your body this is the part of the day where we slow down, reliably enough that after a few weeks it starts working before you've consciously noticed.
If there's any week this year to invest in natural health - it's this week, because....
1. This week is BOGO WEEK - dealio-time
DōTERRA's rare four days of buy-one-get-one is back awn, and they've put all 8 products into a single box - the Wellness Your Way BOGO Box. It's open until 10.59am Saturday morning. It's a crazy deal - and I generally avoid such words**)
Wholesale price $245 Retail value $610 (yes read that again). Part of that $610 is the free $50 silk pillowcase you get free if you buy the box - b/c you know you need one! (& some buy them for their pets...)
So what's BOGO all about?
It is a beautifully curated set of oils to step you into essential rituals for wellness, each daily deal is outlined below.
This BOGO has you covered: Sleep, metabolism, hormones and skin, and natural fragrance.
Day 1: For a soul lift
Buy: Citrus Bloom Springtime Blend - vibrant citrus and delicate florals. This is a morning oil. Diffuse it while the kettle boils and it changes the temperature of the whole start to the day.
Get Free: Coast Ocean Blend - citrus over grounding woods and calming florals, built around the feeling of the Aussi and Kiwi coastlines. A mood-enhancing and settling blend at the same time, a hard combination to find. Wears beautifully as a personal scent.
Both oils are perfumes without the synthetic chemicals, which sadly present in most perfumes and beauty products, and are also endocrine (hormone) disruptors.
Day 2: wind-down
Buy: Lavender Peace Softgels: powerful ingredients: CPTG Lavender oil with L-Theanine, tart cherry, and traditional Western herbals including lemon balm, passionflower and chamomile. Formulated to support relaxation and restful sleep.
Get Free: Lavender Peace® Stick + Valerian - Lavender Peace Restful Blend with grounding valerian, in a roll-on stick. The ritual: Pulse points and the soles of your feet, inside wrists and back of neck - same time every night. The softgels do their thing internally; the stick is the bit your body learns to recognise. Includes: lavendar, marjoram, sandalwood, roman chamomile, ylang ylang, elderberry, tonka bean, vanilla, cedarwood and vetiver. This blend doesn't take any shortcuts, it is heavenly.
Hacks: Rub lavendar peace stick in your hair for a beneficial calming hair tamer!
Valerian: may increase GABA activity and interact with adenosine and serotonin. May reduce time to fall asleep and improve sleep quality.
Day 3: Real energy that isn't caffeine (soz)
Our entire team at the Wellness Collective take this daily. Tune in tonight to hear why this is so vital for your health at a foundation, cellular level.
Buy: MetaPWR Recharge (Wild Strawberry): this transformative electrolyte mix contains six electrolytes, over 74 trace minerals, three forms of magnesium, potassium and a marine multi-mineral complex. Hydration at a cellular level rather than just more water. (a system laden with chemicals or caffeine may not absorb water when you drink it anyway!) That's the power of a good electrolyte.
Get Free: MetaPWR Active Blend: grapefruit, lemon, peppermint, ginger and cinnamon bark. Bright and warming. A drop in water, or diffused when you need to be sharp.
BOGO Day 3 - Supporting good health at a foundational, cellular level
Day 4: women's cycles and rituals
Clary Sage - traditionally used in aromatherapy to support a healthy menstrual cycle, ease premenstrual tension and promote relaxation. The one people quietly reorder. Known for: emotional regulation, euphoric bliss, beautiful addition to hair, skin and scalp rituals, helps with relaxation and wind down. A little goes a LONG way!
Cypress - fresh, clean, woody. Rich in naturally occurring monoterpenes, which is why it's a favourite in skincare routines for oilier skin. Also lovely before movement. The oil you didn't know you need: pairs beautifully with clary sage in the diffuser, as a skin care ritual or in massage oil. Centering and regulating. You can even add a drop of cypress into your moisturizer.
With the box: Every box comes with a dōTERRA Silk Pillowcase, valued at $74. Natural fibres, kinder to skin and hair, and a genuinely nice thing to find in a box you were buying for the oils.
Price: The box is $245, dōTERRA value the contents plus membership at $621.
Closes 10.59am Saturday 29 August while stocks last:
Natural Medicine Masterclass - tonight Tues 25 8pm
Erratic sleep. Low energy. Sugar cravings. Patchy skin. Or hormones getting you down?
Join us for this masterclass, where we'll teach you how you can support these five core pillars, using pure plant-based essential oils and natural medicine. You'll be taught by two experts in the field: Buffy Gill - Nutritionist, Naturopath & Author from Be Good Organics, and
Nicky Skinner - Paediatric Nurse & Integrative Health Practitioner from Nourished & Vibrant.
All recommendations covered are part of doTERRA's BOGO releases this week, so you can stock up two-for-one while they last.
Upcoming events + retreats
It's lovely to feel days getting longer, mornings warmer (ever so slightly!) and daylight savings closer! And with that, my heart is filling with images of convening more yoga retreats and events. They always say 'it's in giving that we receive' - and my studies on somatics are showing me just why that is, at a deeply physiological level. So I'm excited for all of us to be planning some upcoming healthful events...
So - for your calendar - I'm looking at a long weekend retreat in November just out of Wellington for a Spring Soul Reset. We'll practice yoga, meditation and breathwork (all are always optional), as well as the invitation to short group sessions where I'll share what I'm learning about somatic wisdom; and I'll offer a short workshop of spring-themed journaling, to create clarity, spaciousness and focus to how we'd like to see out, and who we'd like to be - as we head into summer.
Save the date! October 26th - I'm running evening event at Bkakti Lounge followed by one of their deliciouso meals! Still being designed - watch this space.
March 2027 - Yoga and ocean swimming retreat - 4 nights 5 days. With a special guest...
Anything else? If there's something you're looking for in the yoga and retreat space - let me know.
Please reply anytime with questions, thoughts or ideas.
Ngā mihi,
Freda
