I'm going to tell you a personal story. It's quite long, but I've had an unexpected and quite amazing massage experience with doTERRA essential oils and I wanted to share it with you in case it resonates with you too, whether your a client or a massage therapist.

My own massage therapist wasn't remotely interested in talking about doTERRA with me or using them in her clinic. I respected that. I did, however, give her some free oils because I was genuinely interested in a professional comparison with the doTERRA oils with what she was currently using. The results were staggering and her clinic has now been converted to doTERRA, all without me mentioning another word to her about it. I will share her thoughts with the rest of her clinic patients another day, but today I want to tell you about my own experience, because I have first hand experience of the results.

Some background

I've been having massages for around 15 years now and around 10 years with my current massage therapist. She has magic fingers and knows and understands my body, what it can tolerate and not tolerate. We're in a good rhythm. I walk in, tell Jennifer how I'm feeling, and she knows how to massage me on that day. I know how much pleasure / pain is involved in a massage on any given day before I walk in the door because I am very much in tune with my body.

I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and then Multiple Chemical Sensitivities down the line. This was over 20 years ago. Today, I manage my lifestyle, ration out my energy, and with careful care and planning, can lead a relatively normal life. I am, however, not very strong, and my ability to recover from strenuous exercise, massage, eating foods that don't agree with me (etc.) is not as good as most people.

I hate things that smell. That is, until I found doTERRA.

I have now had 2 massages with the doTERRA oils. I didn't want to blog after just one massage because I wanted to repeat the experience. Today, I did that.

The essential oil blend we used

doterra-pasttense

Typically, the essential oil blend in doTERRA that's used for muscle tension relief is called Ice Blue (or Deep Blue in the USA). The ingredients in Ice Blue are Wintergreen, camphor, peppermint, blue tansy, blue chamomile, helicrysum and osmanthis. The first day I had my doTERRA massage, all I had in my handbag was PastTense, which is traditionally used to relieve muscle tension that's associate with headaches. The ingredients in PastTense are Wintergreen, lavender, peppermint, frankincense, cilantro, roman chamomile, marjoram, basil, rosemary.

Both blends have wintergreen as their first ingredient. They both also have peppermint which is a cooling oil and they both have a version of chamomile. I personally prefer the PastTense blend (as my body also loves Frankincense) so while I had no option but to use PastTense on my first massage, when I had my second massage with the doTERRA oils, I chose the PastTense again because that blend just resonates with me better. I can only assume that the Ice Blue will do a more thorough job, but I chose the PastTense.

Note, I usually loathe anything with Lavender in it. I have tried many brands and many products that have this oil in it. For me, it smells like old lady wet bathroom!! I can tolerate the doTERRA Lavender, although I do choose not to use it on its own. Blending it with other oils is fine for me. PastTense has a really strong smell, and I know people who don't like it due to the wintergreen oil, but this combination is really well balanced and is pleasing to my nose and my body. Despite the strong smell, a smell that 12 months ago may very well have thrown me off the deep end emotionally.

Buy the doTERRA PastTense blend
Buy the doTERRA Ice Blue Blend

How much PastTense did we use

PastTense comes in a roller ball, and it is a 'neat' blend, meaning that it only contains pure essential oils and no carrier oil. Despite some literature suggesting it's ok to use essentials oils on the skin neat, I do not advise this. If you're working with a trained aromatherapist and they tell you to use something neat, then they're trained to do so, but for the average person, please always dilute your essential oils in a carrier oil. In the clinic, my massage therapist uses canola oil. At home, I use coconut oil. I always carry a small jar of it in my handbag when I'm handling essential oils in case I spill something on myself, as washing it off makes it worse. Always dilute with a carrier oil when you're applying topically, and always dilute a spill with a carrier oil so you don't burn yourself. These oils are potent and should be treated with the utmost respect.

For each major section of the body, Jennifer did a quick roll of the doTERRA PastTense on her palm and then immediately diluted it with lashings of carrier oil. She refreshed for each leg, my shoulders, the fronts of my legs and the torso. At $31.33 per bottle, we'll get at least 10-12 massages out of the bottle, possibly more. When you're paying $70 for a massage, adding $3 to the price so it doesn't hurt (read on) is a small price to pay.

What was the difference in the doTERRA massage vs my regular massage

The difference was remarkable, not only in the reduction of pain on the table, but the speed of my muscles responding and the recovery the next day. I literally thought it was too good to be true, so I tried it again before opening my mouth and telling anyone about it.

The first week I was expecting Jennifer to have to hit a large number of trigger points to release tension, especially in my hips. She could feel the tension in my body before applying the oils and we made the typical joke about her getting to hurt me and then me shouting FUCK at her. It's a good thing, trust me. The relief when someone trained gets the right trigger point and just releases the tension in your body is magical. A small moment of pain for an extended period of relief. That's what a good massage is all about when you walk in as stiff as a board.

So, she puts the PastTense on her hands, dilutes with the carrier oil and rubs it in to my hips, then my legs. Normally, she'll warm the muscles up, and then go in for the kill! This time, the warm up with the doTERRA oils released everything. There were no trigger points to find and release. They were gone. It happened through my whole body. I walked in expecting a lot of pain (and glorious relief afterwards) and came out feeling like I had one of those airy fairy holiday massages where you fall asleep during the massage.

When I got home, I was full of energy. I'm normally quite tired after a massage and need to take a nap. Not that day. Jennifer followed up with me the next day and asked me how I was feeling. She was a little concerned that it could have knocked me about (I'm a sensitive canary). I told her I felt fabulous. The recovery was next to nothing and I went a couple of weeks without feeling any of the tension coming back. Considering I have recently taken up archery and I'm putting my body through some serious paces, this was really pleasing for me. Building up strength without paying for the recovery afterwards is a really big deal for someone recovering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, so I was tickled pink.

Take 2 - the second doTERRA oils massage

Not wanting to read too much in to one massage, I waited 3 weeks until my next massage (I usually go every fortnight) and went back today. Oh, today my shoulders and hips were really tight. Today was going to be an amazing test.

Today I felt some weird sensations for me. Today, we had to work a little harder and deeper than normal to get the tension out. I could feel the extra pressure as Jennifer was rubbing my legs. She kept asking if the pressure was ok (because she's awesome and caring) and I kept saying yes. I could FEEL the pressure, but the pain I normally associate with that pressure was not there.

The whole massage was great until she flipped me over on my back and was massaging the fronts of my legs. The first one was no pain, the second leg, I think I did let the f*bomb out once. I commented that my left leg was worse and I wondered why that was. She then told me that she'd forgotten to refresh the oil on her hands and was massaging that leg without the doTERRA oil. The difference between the two was remarkable. She literally ran up my leg ONCE without the oil before I swore at her (she loves me, it's all ok!), and then once the oil was added with a gentle rub first, there was no more pain. It was this moment that I knew I was on to something.

My body LOVES wintergreen. Now, for those of you who are formally trained in aromatherapy, you will know that wintergreen can be toxic. As with all poisons, it's in the dosage. I would absolutely NOT use wintergreen every day. It's a remedy for stiff muscles. It was applied all over by a trained massage therapist. If you don't wash your hands straight after and you touch any sensitive parts of the body, look out, it's gonna hurt! Treat it like you would Dencorub or similar products.

Respect the oils, learn how to use them safely, and they can form an amazing part of your daily regime. Essential oils aren't just the ingredients found in organic skin care to make them smell pretty. They have many benefits and properties that can help to nurture and heal your body. Just remember, if you have health issues, and you're using essential oils, please do so in conjunction with a qualified professional. As I say with nutrition advice, make sure your source is a trained professional, whether it's a personal consultation or you're reading a book or a blog.

This story above is my personal experience with PastTense and doTERRA oils. It was done with a trained massage therapist who has studied aromatherapy massage. My experience may not be your experience and I urge anyone using essential oils to patch test and ALWAYS dilute.

Massage Therapists

If you're a massage therapist and you want to discuss wholesale access to doTERRA for your clinic, please contact me. I'm happy to chat to you about it and send you some oils to try, no charge. My own massage therapist has been using a combination of Lemon, Lavender & Peppermint on her clients with results that are similar to my PastTense experience. I am more than happy to supply any trained massage therapist with free samples to try in their clinic.

While doTERRA wholesale access it available to anyone who signs up with a kit (and we've had lots of customers sign up to get 25% off all their doTERRA purchases), I only business build with trained professionals. If you run a massage clinic and you're interested in generating a residual income by having the products available to sell to your clients in your clinic, please contact me for details. I am passionate about the oils, and even more passionate about treating them with the respect they deserve and ensuring anyone who works with them does the same.