When I first procured a bottle of holy basil essential oil I really had no idea what it was for or how to use it. Like all new oils I get, I immediately opened it so I could smell it. No longer a novice I have long since given up having expectations of what aromas may come and let loose my curiosity. It smelled like something old and powerful and I half expected a genie to appear with wish granting magic. Since that did not happen and I lacked any good information at the time I tucked the bottle in the back of my oil box. It was not impressive and I gave it a meh passing thought of one day I’ll get to figuring out what to use it for or maybe next time there would be a genie inside it. The bottle sat for months in my oil box where I would pass it by in search of other oils I needed at the time. If I had only realized how much magic that little bottle actually did contain and that I did in fact need it.
Fast forward about a year, I started hearing more about holy basil. My customers began asking about it and I really didn’t know. So I started researching and using it myself. It always amazes me the number of people who assume natural things are not effective but have themselves not tried them or have tried inferior products because they were cheap. Little wonder there were no results right? I always tell my clients what I use and how so I can give them insight into my experience to help them in their own journey of natural products and oils. Since we each respond differently to oils and natural products it at least provides a little insight for knowing what to expect.
Given the oil has been known for over 5,000 years I guess I shouldn’t be surprised there was quite a bit known and that we are still uncovering more about it. It is in fact an ancient oil people had been using for centuries for a lot of different things including religious ceremonies, meditation, medicinal and beauty support. Interested I pulled the bottle out and started working with it in my own daily protocols to see what happened. My initial use was simply to put a drop of it nightly on the bottoms of my feet.
Known as the oil of spiritual integration, holy basil is a sacred herb prized in India still today. It is used in the Hindu religion for ceremonies and mediation. It is said to help harmonize the spirit and shift our vibration away from negative energies as well as the stress those factors cause in our body. It is an oil used for emotions felt in the heart to aid in healing from trauma and hurt. By supporting our spirit in this way, holy basil is believed to help us open up our heart to our true purpose which is believed in Hinduism to be defined well before we were birthed on this planet. Hence, why this oil is used in religious practices for supporting the work of creating a spiritual awakening.
When it comes to physical health, holy basil oil also offers significant benefits. Holy basil is supportive of healing from adrenal fatigue, metabolic stress and other stress induced physical limitations and discomforts that result in things like low energy and weight gain. I also learned holy basil oil is helpful while detoxing from chemicals including metal toxicity that cause PH and hormonal imbalances. It is helpful with headaches, sinus pain and sleep apnea concerns. As if that were not enough, holy basil is also known to help with sugar and glucose level management and elevated cortisol levels that result in inflammation.
The more I learned about this oil the more I realized I did in fact have a magic bottle with a genie in it. Nightly I applied this oil to the bottom of my feet alongside my normal immunity and rest protocol at bedtime. Knowing most oils increase their benefits when used in conjunction with Copaiba I included it with my Holy Basil foot bottom application. After about two weeks I noticed at the time I was applying this oil to my feet every night I did start to immediately relax more. The initial impression of the old oil smell now seemed comforting and soothing and I looked forward to it every night. It seemed to trigger in me a feeling of wanting to relax and I felt calmer.
Currently, the doTERRA Holy Basil is not labeled for internal use. This is disappointing as there are incredible benefits from internal ingestion of holy basil which is an edible plant. I did however find Gaia Herbs has a Holy Basil Leaf capsule that is gluten and soy free as well as vegan. I began taking 1 capsule in the morning and 1 in the afternoon with meals as directed on the bottle and continued my nightly oil application protocol with the doTERRA Holy Basil oil and Copaiba oil.
After three months of this usage, I noticed there was a definite shift in my energy levels during the day and I generally felt happier, more optimistic and positive. Nothing else had really changed in my life, as I am still at a corporate job I don’t particularly care for and have the normal problems I did before I started this protocol. Yet, I felt different. It was noticed by those around me as well. No longer just logging off work and trudging through my evening chores I was hoping on the treadmill and had something left in my energy tank to use! I was making jokes and laughing more and had more patience for my son. I felt more relaxed overall. Life was as stressful as it always has been but I just felt in balance with it all.
The other thing I noticed was I was not as drawn to sweets and carbs like I am when I feel run down. That sluggish feeling that makes me think I need a cup of coffee or a pick me up treat in the afternoon because I’m feeling slower and more tired as my day goes on. That feeling was less and less the more consistent I became with using holy basil. It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy a sweet treat when I had them but it was no longer a matter of needing them to get a burst of energy to finish up my day or soak up the numb depression like feelings I had previously. That certainly helps with knocking off a few pounds without really trying anything too. I particularly liked that I felt more in control of what I was eating as a result.
Holy basil is an adaptogen. This means it helps us both in lifting energy and relaxing. This particular oil helps us adapt to environmental factors like stress and use them to our benefit rather than letting it simply delete us. It makes us more resilient. From hormones to energy levels to stress, adaptogens help keep everything in balance. Their effect makes them very important to counteracting adrenal fatigue which is a major root cause of weight gain that seems a struggle to lose. These adaptogens include Ashwagandha that has anxiolytic effect to improve energy levels and mitochondrial health. This is where we find the reasons holy basil can help with the normalization of our body’s systems including blood glucose, blood pressure and lipid levels. It is also here we find the reasons it helps provide the positive effective on memory and cognitive function.
Why this is all important is because our body feels the effects of stress long after we encounter it. Whether is physical stress of doing something by moving our body that causes strain or inflammation or encountering an emotional situation that is stressful, our cells carry that. It takes us a long time past the time we even remember it for our cells to recover from those experiences. Since the majority of us live in fast paced, non-stop stress lives, this builds up and our cells harden as a protective measure against it. Built up over time is where we find the symptoms from adrenal fatigue, low energy, depression and other impacts from stress. How we heal from these experiences is where we can see the difference between being able to lose weight, regain our strength and energy and even feel more happier or not.
In most dieting and exercise programs we simply restrict our body causing shock. When our bodies are holding on all this stress, no amount of dieting or exercise is going to shift the scale because our body sees it as simply more stress that is negative. Using natural products like holy basil helps us rebuild healthy cells and soften our cells to absorb nutrients we need to regenerate healthy cells. If we ignore this step in our healing then we are further stressing our body and emotional systems prolonging our ability to see positive changes like losing weight, sleeping better and having more energy. The key is in first detoxing our body of the stress impacts, recovering our cell regeneration that is healthy and then applying dietary and exercise changes that are propel our progress. If we skip this step we are simply just stressing out our body more and frustrating ourselves with lack of progress.
Those were exactly the results I started to experience in the recovery of my own energy, better sleep and ability to focus during the day. The trick is in not rushing this process so that our body is best positioned to then apply dietary changes and exercise that supports our goals of health and weight loss. I soon realized the more I healed from stress impacts through using protocols that included holy basil my body naturally told me when it was ready for more. I could feel it in my energy levels that I was interested and able to go for a walk and start working out. My appetite changed where I honestly craved healthy foods to support how I was feeling and it was then I knew this was the diet and exercise routine that was going to finally work for me. If I had not first helped my body recover from stress impact then it would have just been another failed diet attempt that left me frustrated.
So while it is not an actual genie popping out of this bottle of oil, it is in fact granting wishes I have for living healthier, dropping a few pounds and feeling my best more often. It is also supporting how I want to feel without the punishing aspects of restrictive dieting and impossibly hard and expensive diet foods and exercise programs.
Are you open to learning more about holy basil and how it may help you? Check out the upcoming dates for the next Metabolism and Weight Loss class that talks about holy basil and the steps I took to recover my energy and heal my body from stress. dragonspitapothecary.com/book-online
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