Wednesday, April 19, 2017

How to Heal Chronic Pain and Live Better: An Interview with Jenn Hudgens

Today I am excited to introduce you to my good friend Jennifer Hudgens. She is a Doctor of physical therapy and a yoga instructor, who is committed to helping empower people through essential oils.  Her life was changed forever at 25 years young. An accident left her disabled and reliant on large amounts of medication. 

She decided this wasn’t the life she wanted to live and got herself off of all of her medications, working closely with an acupuncturist, massage therapist and beginning a daily yoga practice. For years, Jen attended my Tuesday afternoon Vinyasa Flow class where we became good friends and got to know each other on a deeper level. After hearing her story and seeing her fierce dedication to her own self-healing, I gained so much respect for her. Jen took her journey to the next level when she decided to commit to Yoga Teacher Training where she once again amazed me with her focus and dedication.

After dealing with pain and emotional stress for over 4 years, Jen was introduced to essential oils.  Very skeptically, she began trying them to manage her pain. With amazement and relief, she realized they were actually working! Since then, Jen has been driven by her passion, helping others who want to gain their health back, and those who want to find healthier options for caring for themselves and their families. 

Our teacher/student relationship has beautifully evolved over the years. Now, Jen educates me on the healing power of essential oils and has helped me incorporate them into my daily life. She posts helpful daily tips on her facebook and instagram page, @natural_wellness_tips and is always happy and excited to introduce "beginners" to the wonderful world of natural, plant-based healing from the inside out.



Here is a bit more from Jen, in her own words . . .

When I was first introduced to essential oils I thought they were hocus pocus and just smelled nice.  I thought to myself, there is no way these things can actually help me!

You see, just a few years ago, I was dealing with daily back pain ranging from a 4/10 all the way to a 9/10 on really bad days. I have a spinal cord injury, herniated, disks and arthritis from an accident I was in back in 2009. I was told by doctors that there was nothing that could be done and I should take pain pills every day. Say what?! Pain pills, every day?! There is NO WAY I was going down that path!

I am a little stubborn and knew in my heart that there was a better way to care for myself. I found amazing support in practicing yoga every day and making regular visits to the acupuncturist and massage therapist. However, sadly, all this did was lessen my pain temporarily. Never fully got rid of it.


I remember sitting at a table thinking that the woman talking to me was completely out of her mind, telling me all the things I could use essential oils for, including my severe back pain. What was she talking about?! Thankfully, that day, I decided there was nothing to loose and took a leap of faith. For the first time, I gave essential oils a try. Now, I'm happy to say, I've been living free from chronic pain!


In addition to alleviating my back pain, essential oils have also personally helped me manage the following:

  • Headaches
  • Cramps and PMS
  • Fatigue
  • Difficulty sleeping
  • Decreased Clarity
  • Unstable, ungrounded energy

When you are using essential oils, especially to cure serious issues in your body, quality truly matters. Many essential oils are labeled therapeutic grade or 100% when they are not that at all. It is false advertising and a bit deceptive. One great tip for you is if the bottle also says, ‘for aromatic use only,’ ‘for perfume use only,’ ‘do not ingest,’ you are most likely dealing with an altered essential oil filled with synthetics. 

I personally only trust one company and that is doTERRA.  They have raised the bar when it comes to quality of essential oils. They source all of their essential oils from their natural habitats, and have NO additives and absolutely NO impurities. Lavender is simply that, pure lavender. 

While pure essential oils are absolutely important to me, I think what attracts me most to doTERRA is their humanitarian work. Many of the countries they source their essential oils from are impoverished.  doTERRA works with these communities through their co-impact sourcing mission creating fair-trade work environments and their Healing Hands Foundation, a non-profit that focuses on building up and giving back to these communities. Take moment to read what they have been able to do in Nepal alone since the earthquakes that devastated that nation.

So where do you even start? This journey of beginning to use essential oils in your life can be overwhelming. Turning to your oil case instead of your medicine cabinet is a personal choice, and it can take some knowledge and support before you feel comfortable doing that. I am here to help you connect the dots, simplify the use of oils, and help you create clean and healthy solutions for yourself and your family.

As a special gift for taking the time to read my story, I have put together this amazing free workbook on how to create your own personal, powerful morning routine.

My journey towards self-healing is never ending. I've learned a lot about myself and life along the way. If you ever want to reach out to me and chat more about any of this, please do! We can all learn so much from each other and grow together. 

Here are my personal daily words of wisdom that I tell myself and others:
  • It doesn’t matter how devastating your journey has been, you can recover and come back better than ever
  • You and only you can make the choose to pursue the life you want.
  • The life you want is worth the fight, it may not be easy but it will be worth it.
  • Whole living and wellness isn’t only about one area of your life. It is about all areas of your life.
  • Listen to your gut, your intuition, your heart. Follow it. It always knows what you need!

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