How to Find Essential Oils That Work with Kavita Sahai on The Healers Café with Manon Bolliger

my normal self. And my son at the time was in and out of the hospital for reactive airway, and was on all kinds of different steroid medications. And within six months, he was off all prescription meds. So I was like, What is this witch oil? I must learn all about it. And so that was kind of the point where I made this shift from more of a finance career into plant medicine.

Manon Bolliger  03:12

Okay, wow. Yeah, I mean, it’s interesting how it often takes a bit of a health crisis. Right. And then it’s also listening to, you know, what’s an obvious internal lie, right? Like, you’re perfectly healthy, like, how could a perfectly healthy person be sleepless, have all kinds of other symptoms, you know, and yet, because of some lab work, that doesn’t tell you anything and other diagnostic tests that leads us nowhere. Pretty well, you know, tells you something that is not true. And you know, as a society, we just believe that.

Kavita Sahai  03:52

Right. And I think at that time had I known I would have gone and sought out a naturopath but I didn’t you know, I just went for the traditional so it wasn’t even detailed bloodwork, right. It was basic bloodwork.

Manon Bolliger  04:04

Yeah, I mean, I’m sure there would have if you had gone to a naturopath, would have been other blood work. But you know, we’re used to so called treating healthy people. Because really, they’re sick. But they’ve been told they’re healthy, right?

Kavita Sahai  04:19

Correct. Correct. Yeah. Well, it’s funny, because through the process, just again, through talking to someone I discovered I had Hashimotos not that I had it. I thought I had it. So I went to my physician and was like, I think I have Hashimotos. And she goes, No, you don’t. And I was like, Well, no, I think I do, why not run the test. It’s a $7 test. And so she did and she’s like, oh, you know what you do have it but it doesn’t matter. All it means is one day you’ll have a thyroid issue. And I was like, well, could I prevent this thyrois issue like could we maybe? She was like no. So that’s when I sort of dove in and did my own research around you know, nutrition and supplements and different things. But the oils, I think what they really helped me because at the time I had a leaky gut, and I wasn’t absorbing anything. So there were no the nutrition nor vitamins nor supplements, nothing was absorbing, but the oils go right into your bloodstream, right? So that I was actually feeling the effect of and so I could start to sleep, which was the biggest issue. And once I could sleep, I could think how to handle the rest of it. So I worked with her, I helped her grow her company, eventually sold to investors. And then I thought I was done. And then I ended up talking, again, in conversation with this woman who’s, uh, you know, renowned aromatherapist published. And, you know, she wasn’t using any of this knowledge. And so I was like, Oh, my gosh, I think I’m just meant to do this work and, you know, ended up using her help to help source the best ingredients create the best formulations, I think one of the issues that you see in the industry is everyone’s putting essential oils in everything. And nobody’s talking about the quality or the formulation. Like I always tell people, you could take five ingredients and make something and a chef could take five ingredients and make something and they’re going to be very different things. There’s, you know, Formula matters, quality of, you know, the plant species and that type, it all matters.

Manon Bolliger  04:21

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I don’t know if you know, where are you from?

Kavita Sahai  05:57

Originally India.

Manon Bolliger  06:00

India but now, where are you?

Kavita Sahai  06:02

In Florida.

Manon Bolliger  06:05

In Florida, okay. Well, I’m in Canada, they’re trying to get rid of natural substances. And they’re actually making it that we have to do the same tests as for drugs, right, which are in the millions and millions of dollars, right? And it’s like, yep, obviously, we know the agenda. We know they’re trying to…

Kavita Sahai  06:49

Of course, it’s all driven by the pharma drugs, right? Who don’t want you to be able to make any claims, even though this is probably the oldest form of medicine that’s ever been around. And most pharma drugs are actually based on the plant pathology and, you know, composition that they just take, and then 10 time it right.

Manon Bolliger  07:07

Ten time it and also modified just enough that they can patent it. Right? That’s basically it.

Kavita Sahai  07:14

Right. For No, for no real good reason, right. And without thought to what the side effect is, because Mother Nature, there’s not really a side effect when you use it the right way. Right. So

Manon Bolliger  07:22

Yeah, and I think it is using it the right way. I mean, I do think that things do have side effects if you don’t know what you’re doing, right, which is why like being trained, properly matters.

Kavita Sahai  07:37

It matters, formulation matters, safety around products, and dilution. And so that was part of my discovery was I was using them wrong, I was putting oils directly onto the body, I was probably doing more harm than good. And so when creating the brand, I really wanted to use pre diluted pre formulated, you know, easy for that person who needs it, because they’re probably not thinking or sleeping right. So I really wanted to make it that easy.

Manon Bolliger  08:06

Yeah. Can you kind of bring us through the steps like the critical thinking steps of, you know, a lot of people say, Oh, I have this oil and must be the same? Can you kind of bring us down to somebody who’s maybe they’ve heard that this is interesting, and can help people. And now they’re like gung ho, and they just go to any pharmacy or any health food store pick up. The first one, they can see the one with the best advertising funds. Like, what would be the steps that you learned? Because obviously, you share that you did it wrong to start with? So what what does one need to know and be aware of?

Kavita Sahai  08:47

Yeah, so I think there’s there’s two things. One is the quality and how, what is the quality of the oil, so it takes one pound of plant material to make one drop of oil. So when you think about that, if you’re getting really cheap oils, you really have to wonder, can I get a pound of lavender for this one drop, right? Like, am I going to get 10 pounds? Or 20? But like, what is that actually going to cost? And so what people do is they press it many times. So usually you cold press the oils to extract the essential oil part of it the essence. But people can do that many times they can do mixed plant material, where it’s not all lavender could be other plant species. And so that’s really what you want to look for you want to look for is the Latin name on there. Go to the company website, are they actually showing you the testing results? Right? Are they actually testing to make sure that what they say is lavender is actually lavender like does that even go through so that that’s one thing like are you actually getting the good quality ingredients? The second thing is what I call ingredients stuffing. So what you’ll do is you’ll see these formulations and I’ll have like 10 Different essential oils, well you have to dilute them so if there’s 10 in a bottle, you’re barely getting a drop, like you’re not getting enough for it to actually be able to be activated right so usually three to four at the max in a formula. And I do like the idea of formulas, because again, you know, with oils, one oil is good, but sometimes the two different oils will have really great synergistic properties. So it’s like one plus one equals five. So I do like when it’s pre formulated. But then the other thing you want to look at is what other ingredients are in there. So people are putting all kinds of different synthetics to again, just preserve or hype, the formula. I’m not, I’m not quite sure what the rationale is. But really, you want to be looking for pure essential oils of high quality and then a carrier oil. Personally, I think jojoba is the best organic jojoba is the best carrier oil because it provides for maximum absorption. But regardless, you just want to make sure again, it’s just one pure carrier oil.

Manon Bolliger  10:44

So because the carrier oil is the one that allows the other ones to, to mix improperly kind of.

Kavita Sahai  10:55

Correct, correct, because you never want to put it directly on your skin. You always want to have it in a carrier oil, even in the bath, like people put essential oils in their bath, you still want to put it in an oil and then put it in your bath. Right?

Manon Bolliger  11:07

I see. Yeah. Okay. I didn’t know that. I actually haven’t used essential oils at all in my, I am not in practice now. But when I was in practice it was just something that never came my way. You know, it’s not I’m nothing against it just never. But I did have a sense that it’s powerful. And that you’ve got to know what you’re doing that.

Kavita Sahai  11:35

Yeah, it is. And that’s the thing, I think, unfortunately, because it’s been put in so many random products, like people don’t realize that either they’re not high quality. And that’s not that’s why but the potency is probably 30 to 50 times of like an herb from a garden. So if you were to eat peppermint versus a drop of peppermint, that’s almost a 70 times difference in potency. So you really want to be careful.

Manon Bolliger  11:56

Yeah. So what have you found it works well, for like, you know, if somebody were because I have people listening here that are looking at all kinds of modalities, you know, maybe just as patients clients, you know, and they’re wondering, where should I start? So what what conditions would you see are really respond well, to this, you know?

Kavita Sahai  12:23

So I would say, I mean, there is a wide range, just because Mother Nature was you’re just basically opening up the cabinet of botanicals. But if you’re looking for a place to start, I really feel like the biggest place is with stress. Stress and Sleep are probably our two best sellers. And I think that’s because you are the most responsive, like your…the limbic system of your brain, which is the first place that smell is gonna go to through your factory senses is immediately the kind of emotional control center. So it’s going to help to bring that calm, you feel the effects a little bit more immediately. And so I think that’s like a really great place to start. And really, I think stress is the root cause of most health issues. So it’s a great thing to be able to couple with anything else.

Manon Bolliger  13:10

Right. And then and what do you typically, or is there like a questionnaire you go through? Or are people sort of just pick? Yeah, like, what brands would you pick? Or how would you go through, you probably have a brand or you work for a brand, right?

Kavita Sahai  13:29

So I have my own brand. It’s K Sahai. And so we have a wellness quiz that someone can take it can describe their different conditions, and it would suggest what oil would be best. There’s, I think that there’s again, many different ways that you can approach it, it can be through the different energy bodies, right? That you’re trying to do we have ours are also coordinated to the different chakra systems. So to the sunset, you know, that’s something you’re looking for, we always say like, is there a color that you’re craving, if you find you’re always reaching for something, it could be that that’s an energy center that needs support. So that’s another way to kind of approach it and integrate it into the practice. But I think a simple you know, a simple really high quality lavender or sandalwood, you know, again, it’s just going to help to ground the person and help them to calm that fight or flight feeling.

Manon Bolliger  14:28

Right. Okay. And what about for like, nerve pain, because that’s something that you know, mainstream medicine only has blockers of pain, which sometimes work sometimes don’t mostly don’t. And Nevermind the side effects list.

Kavita Sahai  14:45

Right. Well, nevermind the side effects for any of it right.

Manon Bolliger  14:49

Well exactly. But if you look at pain medication given that it is not a cure, it doesn’t in the least you know, it may stop a pattern let you know that bet has some merit, you know, but really, there’s very little to offer with people that have, you know, neurologas and all that. And then, you know, as far as the vitamins and supplementation that there are things, but again, you know, there’s only so much magnesium and sometimes coffee.

Kavita Sahai  15:21

And again, you have to be able to absorb it. If your body is not in a position to absorb it, you’re just peeing it out.

Manon Bolliger  15:28

Exactly. Yeah. So what, as far as like, I’m just gonna say not sure, obviously, or, you know, homeopathy, I mean, there’s lots of things that may work, but, but that’s one that a lot of people have, and a lot post the latest experiment on humanity a lot.

Kavita Sahai  15:50

You know, aromatherapy does help with the loss of smell in training, right. So there’s, there’s that, you know. As far as specific oil, I’ve heard of lavender and ginger being used for nerve pain. I haven’t, you know, we don’t have a specific formulation for it, to be honest.

Manon Bolliger  16:11

Yeah, I wonder if that given, you know, that we’re now seeing, I mean, you can enter when people are sitting in a room and you’re asked, Do you know anyone who’s been affected by what’s going on? Everyone’s got their hand up, you know, trying to look at any official sources directly or in the past? You know, it sounds like oh, it was such a small, miniscule event well worth the compromise. And anyway, well, we know is not true. And truth comes out eventually. So you know, and now we’re in this big awakening where people are, you know, sadly, but realizing that they’ve been duped and…

Kavita Sahai  16:52

Ya know, I have good friends whose sons since taking it have had headaches.

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Kavita Sahai  17:38

And we’re talking what, three, four years later, constant migraines?

Manon Bolliger  18:15

Yeah, that’s what I was wondering, like, I would think that herbs, like, like, this kind of thing might be very helpful because you’ve got to work with the autonomic nervous system. All of this causes stress, right? The mental stress of realizing that you can’t trust the people you thought you should trust, which is, you know, huge as the major betrayal. So there’s a lot of emotional components.

Kavita Sahai  18:45

There’s a lot of emotions.

Manon Bolliger  18:47

And then there’s true, you know, Spike damage, and, you know, at least I think 30 pathways that it can damage the human being. Right. So, yeah, that’s why I was thinking that there would might be a great avenue for, you know, the demand is there. And that’s what I was wondering, you know.

Kavita Sahai  19:05

Ya, know, it’s, it’s an interesting look, look, I think all of the different oils do help support the systems and they do help the, you know, support the different pathways, right for pear. Specifically, I couldn’t suggest which oil would be best, you know, depending like, if it’s, if the way it’s manifesting is in migraines, then I would say like peppermint and lavender are really great. You know, if it’s real, like pain, pain, and then Helichrysum and juniper and myrrh. Like those are really great oils for that. So some of it sort of depends, I think on how it’s it because what I think has been interesting is it’s really different in each person.

Manon Bolliger  19:44

Well, it’s an accelerator of their predispositions. You know, which I think is why so called modern medicine. You know, those doctors have a hard time understanding it, you know, because It feels like individualized therefore it can’t be caused by the thing.

Kavita Sahai  20:06

I think everyone’s very clear what caused it, but whether they decide they want to say or not, but it is, it is I think you’re right. It’s just accelerating what was already there and then. But I think the only real way we can address is by supporting our systems to do what they do best.

Manon Bolliger  20:26

100% And I think that’s what, you know, everyone I interview that has possibly something, you know, natural to help the person. I want them to have hope. Because, you know, so first of all, most of the doctors at least here in Canada, they’re in denial.

Kavita Sahai  20:45

Here, too.

Manon Bolliger  20:46

Okay. So there’s a huge denial piece. I’m like, what do you think this came from? I don’t know. You know, it’s like, Oh, my goodness. Okay. So first of all, they’re not really understood. And the doctors, I’m not saying they’re lying, necessarily. Like it’s possible, like in Canada 92% of the doctors took it themselves.

Kavita Sahai  21:11

Yeah, no, here to I’m sure. I don’t know what the statistic is. But I believe that they I believe that they believe it was the right move, and that they still do. I think, I think that most unless they have a huge reaction in their own family, I think they still believe that it was for humanity, the right move, or, you know, whatever it is. But the question is what but no one’s having a conversation now is how do we support people’s health and their immune systems and all the things that we’ve triggered in them?

Manon Bolliger  21:47

And that’s why I think there’s a huge opportunity for, you know, natural health to really go, okay, it doesn’t matter, you know, your doctor doesn’t get it yet.

Kavita Sahai  22:00

Well, and I think consumers do, I think this is probably has to be the biggest wake up call, right?

Manon Bolliger  22:06

I think so.

Kavita Sahai  22:07

And so it’s like, well, if I have to think about it for myself, and I always tell people experiment, like it worked amazingly well, for me, it might not for you. But you have to give it a try, like try something consistently for a month. Different natural modalities that don’t have the side effects. And then see an experiment. It’s your health, I can’t think of a greater place to invest your time or money.

Manon Bolliger  22:33

And that’s from a Wall Street broker.

Kavita Sahai  22:36

Right. That’s my stock tip of the day.

Manon Bolliger  22:40

Oh, that’s funny. So just switching back to that. So are you finding any…like, obviously, you made a business grow? Because of your knowledge, right. And I find, you know, that there are no coincidences in life. And we have our path. And it may seem strange, but it always makes sense. You know, so when have you been able to bring into what you’re doing now from your past? What is it that you’ve? Yeah, that you realize because of it?

Kavita Sahai  23:19

You know, I think what I realized was a lot of how I shaped product development, right? So I made it for people like me, it was the busy person who knew they wanted high quality but didn’t have the time to mix and concoct and, you know, sell to their friends, right? Like, I just I made it for me, and then I made it in fun packaging, like I just wanted it to be like fun and feel like health was fun. And so I think it was the experience of what it felt like and knowing that I needed it to be easy, like affirmations are on the box. If you can’t think of any in the moment, just use that one. And really just trying to make this whole thing fun and easy came because of the experience I had.

Manon Bolliger  24:01

Right. Oh, interesting. You don’t have any boxes around do you?

Kavita Sahai  24:06

Oh yeah, of course here I’ll grab that.

Manon Bolliger  24:08

You said it’s fun. I’d like to see it.

Kavita Sahai  24:30

So like this is our breathe muscle ease. Just easy enough to roll on.

Manon Bolliger  24:44

Oh, I see. Okay, yeah.

Kavita Sahai  24:50

All so good.

Manon Bolliger  24:54

So how much do you like? So you have been you have your journey right with it. So It took three months, you said.

Kavita Sahai  25:02

I’m sorry, what’s that?

Manon Bolliger  25:04

Three months right to…

Kavita Sahai  25:05

To feel better

Manon Bolliger  25:06

To start to feel better. Right? And just by doing this?

Kavita Sahai  25:12

Right. Well, I mean, that was the thing. It was literally she was just like, it was kind of like she was just like, just breathe. Right? Put it on your pulse points, take a breath three times a day. And that was it. And what I liked about it is it was fun. It wasn’t like It’s like rolling a perfume on or something. Right. All right, and have to swallow something. I don’t have to swallow a big pill. I don’t have to like, drink some nasty liquid. Like, this is fun. This is easy. So it was easy to do. Right? Because again, the best medicine is the thing that you’ll actually take right? The best exercise is exercise you’re actually do. Yeah. And so it was one of those things. And then all of a sudden, I was like, Wow, I’m sleeping better. My focus is better like it just also. And then from I really do believe sleep is one of the cornerstones of health. And so from sleeping better. I think a lot of other things started to resolve.

Manon Bolliger  26:03

Yeah, yeah, it’s like you put the body back essentially in balance, and then it knows what to do. Right?

Kavita Sahai  26:10

It does it says you just need to support it. You don’t need to shock it with chemicals.

Manon Bolliger  26:17

Or a bunch of natural things, too. Right?

Kavita Sahai  26:19

Yeah.

Manon Bolliger  26:20

My gosh, I’m not one of those naturopaths that, you know, sold supplements as a large part of my income. I was like hands on and you know, listening, right? So I think my supplements might have maybe, maybe 10% not even right.

Kavita Sahai  26:39

Whereas I feel like most it’s 50.

Manon Bolliger  26:41

Oh, it is 50. Absolutely. And people come up with these massive bags of things I can’t swallow.

Kavita Sahai  26:48

I did switch to a naturopath through my journey. And I you know, I always had a hard time swallowing pills, but I would somehow end up walking out with like four or five bottles every time.

Manon Bolliger  26:58

Ya know, and I think it kind of misses the point. You know, it’s, it’s to me, it’s a bit like the allopathic model, but with natural things. You’re still chasing physiological effects, you know, rather than looking at the root of what’s wrong, that person is not sleeping. And usually, they’re in stress. Right. So they’re autonomic nervous systems out, right. And if you can address that, I mean, I do it. You know, I do it differently. I’m sure you have you heard of Bowen Therapy?

Kavita Sahai  27:33

I’ve heard of it.

Manon Bolliger  27:34

Okay, so I have Bowen College. And I have a program called simple solutions for stress. And it’s really, it’s a physical therapy, that resets the autonomic nervous system.

Kavita Sahai  27:48

Amazing.

Manon Bolliger  27:49

That’s just all it does is exactly the same thing it gives you. It allows you to get to sleep, and to digest your food and dressed.

Kavita Sahai  28:02

And it’s amazing when you do those two things, how everything else falls in line. Yeah, no, look, I think, I think natural medicine is just like, you know, the oils, it has to be the right has to be the right quality. It has to be the right formulator. Yeah, yeah. It’s like, all those pieces really have to align. And then it works beautifully to help support whatever root cause issue might be having. But in spite of that, sometimes it’s just like, you can’t throw everything at it.

Manon Bolliger  28:27

No, no, exactly. You can’t. Cool. So I’m just trying to think, what have we not covered that you think it’s important either, as also healthcare practitioners that might be interested? I have a lot of doctors watching these shows.

Kavita Sahai  28:45

Yeah, I mean, I think the biggest thing is really be open. You know, it used to be, I can remember when meditation was thought to be like a crazy woowoo thing. And I think that when thinking about these new modalities, whether it’s oils, or even affirmations, like, people get well, just by telling themselves, they’re gonna get well and really believing it. And, again, I think that that emotional control center, if you can help bring that into your practice of really helping give them a ritual to make them feel like I’m going to be better. I believe that that’s tremendously helpful. And sometimes you just need the something to anchor in the ritual, which is why we put affirmations on the package because I really do feel if you can make it a ritual that’s pleasant, and then people you’re gonna get compliance and that’s in that’s the biggest thing. So I would just say, be open to some of these different modalities.

Manon Bolliger  29:38

Yeah, and I like the idea of a habit to right because it is a continual affirmation, you know, every time you do it, it’s like a little piece of self love. Right? You know, it’s not like once a week.

Kavita Sahai  29:55

Right, right. It’s just constantly and you know, I tied it to my meals because It used to be that we prayed before we ate, right? And why did we do that? It’s again, it was to calm our nervous system to get the food in. That’s why every culture prays before eating well, now nobody prays before eating. So I just made putting on the oil, my, you know, before I ate because it would help keep me calm and digest better. And it was easy to tie it to a different ritual.

Manon Bolliger  30:20

Yeah, yeah. Well, I think it’s, I mean, I think they still do gratitude, you know?

Kavita Sahai  30:25

Yes. But not so much before eating. Like, I haven’t seen people be like, you know, I think people do like morning gratitude or evening gratitude, but I just don’t find that it’s before a meal anymore.

Manon Bolliger  30:34

I don’t know. I still do it. I’ve. Yeah, I just feel like, it actually allows me to center and take a break between what I’m about to enjoy. And I’m a real foodie. I love food. So I like to see my plate and then go, Wow, amazing. Thank you so much.

Kavita Sahai  30:57

That’s amazing. I love that.

Manon Bolliger  31:00

But I could see adding a little something.

Kavita Sahai  31:03

No, I think it’s, the whole point is the practice of praying before eating was just a way to like, again, get yourself ready. And center yourself and ground and not be like, oh, and then you know,

Manon Bolliger  31:15

Yeah, or the way you were doing your junk food.

Kavita Sahai  31:19

Exactly junk food and animal and even then I wasn’t sitting to eat was like on the run. Right? So,

Manon Bolliger  31:25

Yeah. Anyway, if you look at you know, now, now that so much truth that’s coming out. It’s amazing how everything, including the fast food, all of this, I mean, of course, there’s a demand for it, because ignorant people will demand things, you know, that are easy, but you know, we’re all slaves in a system makes it easy for us to demand things that go faster, because it would have time to do a lot of the things you know, or we think we don’t have time.

Kavita Sahai  31:58

We think we don’t have time. That’s right.

Manon Bolliger  31:59

Yeah, I think. I mean, I think there’s so much to be changed. As, look, we’re entering the most exciting time in world history.

Kavita Sahai  32:06

I think so too. I think there’s this awakening that’s happening, people are starting to realize that like, you know, things that are packaged, and just microbe may not be the best for you. And you know, maybe you should have whole produce. And I even think we’re gonna see it in the beauty world too. Like right now. It’s, the skin is our largest organ, and we’re putting just about anything on it. And I think there’s going to be an awakening around that too. Like, should we go back to plant oils?

Manon Bolliger  32:32

Yeah, or even just actually good nutrition. Right. It’s not like I don’t use…

Kavita Sahai  32:38

Right. Right. And look how beautiful your skin is. Yeah, exactly.

Manon Bolliger  32:41

I eat internally. So yeah, I think there’s a lot to be learned. And shared. I think a lot of this is old knowledge. Right? It just got set to the side for interests that were financial. And I think health and all that. I think it’s time you know, people are realizing that is all we’ve got without it we can’t do anything.

Kavita Sahai  33:08

Exactly. It is it is truly wealth. And so truly, it’s time to invest and try and see what works best, but there’s no reason why everyone shouldn’t be looking and feeling vibrant. They’re really the tools are there.

Manon Bolliger  33:23

Alright, well thank you for sharing your knowledge and your life story.

Kavita Sahai  33:28

Thanks for having me.

Ending

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