Where to even begin? I have so many thoughts running through my mind right now, so I will just dive right in and hope this makes sense!
The studio is going oily!! What does that even mean? Well, in a nutshell, the studio is on a mission to rid itself of every single toxin and chemical that does not belong, which is surprisingly so much more than I ever imagined. I have spent the last several years of my life devoted to loving on the tiniest, most precious, purest beings out there – newborns. I thought I was doing enough, the studio is always clean, everything is folded and tucked away nicely, but it turns out I could be doing more, so much more for these littlest clients that I love so much (and yes, I really do love these babies so very much).
I have a dear friend who has been sharing her love of essential oils with me for a few years now, never pushing them on me, just offering me some to support sleepless nights, bad tummies, headaches, etc. Our conversations always went something like this:
Me: Arleigh (or one of my other munchkins) has a lot of congestion
Friend: Let me make you a blend of oils to try.
And for the past few years, that suited me just fine. She never once asked me to dive into using oils for myself, never tried to get me to buy anything I didn’t need – none of it. But one day recently, she mentioned something to me that opened my eyes wider than I expected. She mentioned how essential oils could be beneficial in my studio. Natural, pure oils around the purest little newborns, well DUH! In the words of Jeff Foxworthy, HERE’S YOUR SIGN! The idea rolled around in my head but like so many people, I continued to use excuses for why I just couldn’t dive into using oils. “I’m too busy to research oils right now.” “What a task that would be to change everything to natural products.” “I’m not one of those free-love, hippy, crunchy mommas.” Y’all, I used them all. I told myself these things daily because I was scared – SCARED – of trying something so natural and healthy. Now how silly is that? But I can bet there are a ton of you right now reading this who have had the same exact reaction to the use of essential oils. “Oh, I’ll try them one day.” Yeah, except every single day that we continue to flood our bodies with toxins, that’s another day we are not promoting health and wellness for ourselves and our families.
So, one day I did a quick search of the use of essential oils versus the toxic products I am so used to using – bright blue dish soap that goes on my dishes that then hold the food I put in my body, laundry detergent that coats my clothes and then lays on my body ALLLLL day while I sweat. Multi-purpose cleaner that I spray all over my counters and then let my children eat off of, lay food on. MY CHILDREN, Y’ALL! My poor children who don’t have a choice are having their tiny little bodies flooded with toxins when I could make such a simple choice to research a little more and understand the idea of replacing chemicals with natural, pure oils from the EARTH. Not from a machine that mixed chemicals together that I cannot even pronounce. Not to ramble too much, but friends, take a minute to do a bit of research to see how many chemicals we are pumping into our bodies, even before breakfast. It’s alarming and scary and time we take action to protect ourselves and our little ones.
Now, how does this affect the studio? Well, simple! The studio is going oily, from cleaning products to hand soap to hand sanitizer, ALL natural and free of chemicals. I’m actually quite embarrassed it took this long to open my eyes to this. Not only that, but gentle, wellness promoting oils will be diffused in the studio prior to your session to create a calming, relaxing atmosphere for my clients and tiny little babies. And it gets even better. There will be an Essential Oil Make and Take station set up for all of my clients to use. What does this mean? It means that my clients will be able to explore the various oils I have in the studio and make samples to take home with them to try. Amazing things for postpartum mommas and new babies!! Also, the studio will be stocked with literature on essential oils and the many benefits to using them so that clients can read and explore as I work with their little ones. Talk about two birds with one stone, right? AND – all newborn clients will receive a goody bag in the mail with a sample of oils to use during pregnancy AND will leave their newborn session with samples of oils created just for tiny little ones. Can y’all tell how excited I am to share this wellness journey with everyone? I want to shout it from the mountains, THERE IS A BETTER WAY TO LIVE!!! *Now let me add this, if you are already using oils, now you get to bring your precious new baby into a studio that aligns with your beliefs for a healthier lifestyle. Isn’t that exciting? And let me also add this, if you want nothing to do with oils and think I’m a crazy hippy lady, I will NEVER push these on you. NEVER. Sure, I will still have them in the studio, but believe me, I am not one to ever push something on anyone. Rest assured, you will not be walking into an infomercial! 🙂
So, I will wrap this up because honestly I could go on and on about this journey. Let me just say I am so excited to be on it and I hope some of you reading this will consider joining me on this journey. Does this mean my home is 100% free of chemicals as I type this? Heck no. It’s a process, not something that has to be done overnight. Slowly but surely, I am on a mission to replace chemicals with natural essential oils. I hope I have inspired at least one person to take a look at what we are putting in our bodies and filling our homes with. I can’t wait to revisit this blog post in 1 year, 2 years, 5 years to see how far I’ve come on this oily journey. Anyone want to start this journey with me?! If I’ve ignited a fire under you and you are ready to take the plunge into a healthier lifestyle, let’s chat! I’m an open book and will share any and everything I can with you about this process. Shoot me an email: info@kelseyrayphotography.com or if you are ready, head on over and order a starter kit, which includes a diffuser and 11 of the most common, most used oils. But please, let me assure you, this isn’t about me selling you something, this is about me sharing a way of living for you and your family that can be so much better than what we have been so blindly led to do. Join me! Ready? Click HERE
Interested in a starter kit? Here’s what comes in it! Afraid you don’t know what to do with all of these oils? Don’t worry, you get to join a community of women and men just like you, learning and using oils in their everyday life! And for fun, check out the newborn session I had with my new diffuser, my baby! 🙂
