In April this year, I had won the Skyhigh Rewards Challenge organized by Young Living! I was at 15th position and had a chance to go for the Young Living 20th Anniversary Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah. I was excited to have won but had to make a decision to go or not. The decision was tough because the idea of bringing a breastfeeding Abdullah on a long haul flight was daunting. Leaving him was not an option (because breastfeeding him is first priority) and unfortunately, bringing the rest of the family along was over budget.
So after some consideration, I decided to just go with the baby. After all, I didn’t know if I would have such an opportunity again, and I was just grateful to be given the chance to go to the convention to hear Gary Young speak as well as to visit the Mona Farm and learn more about the oils I have been using for my family and myself. Knowledge empowers and I love to be empowered.
I was so glad I made the decision to go! We took a 6am flight on 22nd June from Sin-Tokyo-Seattle-SLC. I used a lot of Valor pre-flight to keep Abdullah calm and grounded. He wasn’t as fidgety as he usually was, fighting to move all over the place. Cedarwood and Dream Catcher oil were also used on board the flight. Dream Catcher was super duper AWESOME! Abdullah fell asleep easily within minutes of using the oil. Of course, he latched alot and on demand throughout the flight and hence there were almost no wails of discomfort! I also kept “magic” ammunition nearby which was used once or twice during the flight.. ROSE oil! I used it on baby Abdullah’s big toe and did vitaflex massage and put the remaining oil over his heart. We had to take out the Rose oil for our Tokyo – Seattle sector of the flight as the flight was so super full, I wasn’t given a seat with an empty space next to me like the rest of the sectors. The lack of space was hard for an 11 month old whose main goal in life was to touch and feel and bite everything within reach, heh.
For myself, I used lots of Believe oil to give myself the confidence to bring an active baby on a long haul flight alone and drank a lot of Ningxia Red and Ningxia Nitro. I have always been a firm believer of Ningxia Red but this trip has doubly strengthened my believe in Nitro. Ningxia Nitro is a natural energy drink without Sugar but high in Vitamin B and folic acid and natural caffeine from Green Tea extract and Chocolate EO. What I loved about it was the longevity it gave to my energy. No sudden bursts of energy like when you take sugar filled drinks like RedBull or Monster which will make you crash once the sugar high is over and done. Nitro makes me feel good with just the right amount of energy. It was a healthy kind of boost.
We survived 3 sectors of flight which took 22hours in total!
Here, Abdullah is chilling in our hotel room at Radisson Hotel, Salt Lake City Downtown.
Beautiful flowers around Salt Lake City, Utah.
The next morning, we went for Registration. The energy was overwhelming! So many people! It was almost sureal and I was overcome with a sense of gratitude of being able to be there. I knew that was a start of great things to come!
Leadership session that afternoon was also awesome. We heard Darren Hardy – publisher of Success magazine, Connie Podesta – actress, comedian and motivational coach and of course D Gary Young himself speak. I loved Connie Podesta. She is hilarious and spoke about how to speak/sell to different people. After all, the number one reason why we lose a sale is because of who and how we are! The other important takeaways was from Darren Hardy – he taught the importance of just DOING IT. Take action! Gary Young also spoke about the worse disease ever – EXCUSITIS. LOL. I bought Connie’s book and have just started reading it!
The next few days, convention proper happened. The opening ceremony itself was electrifying. Gary Young came in a hot air balloon type thing and Mary Young sang the American National Anthem (new info for me that Mary is also a soprano singer!)
Photographed here is founder and CEO of Young Living, Gary Young, his wife and VP of YL, Mary Young, and their two children Jacob and Josef.
Some photos taken during the first general session. 9000 people from all over the world attended this convention!
Hearing about how the company came to be was simply beautiful. From the days of handwritten labels, right up till today, 20 years of successfully changing so many lives! It was inspiring to listen to Gary’s stories on his journey to using essential oils and essential oil infused supplements. He too was a non believer until he learnt about French aromatherapy using unadultered oils. During his speech, we learnt about how even more oils would be out of stock if we didn’t have our own farms (yes, you heard it, the out of stock isn’t as bad as it could actually be). The most exciting news for me, though, was learning that Gary had just acquired some new land in Canada to grow Spruce. Once YL begins to have their own Spruce, this will mean that we no longer need to rely on third party farms for availability of oils like Breathe Again roll on and of course everybody’s favourite oil, VALOR!
New oils and products were also released! I love how the new oils are really targeted. Some of the products include:
Build Your Dream – this year’s convention oil! Amazing oil containing BLUE LOTUS, the newest oil harvested by Gary Young which is even more expensive than ROSE oil
Freedom Sleep & Freedom Release set – for use on individuals suffering from PTSD
Kidscents Oil Collection – pre-diluted oils for your little ones (and they smell SUPER awesome)
Reconnect Kit – mind-centered oils formulated for autism, ADHD and related disorders
Mindwise – newest supplement, said to be able to possibly reverse Dementia
And sooooooooo many more!
(I promise to write a dedicated post on the new products by the end of the week because there is just SOOOO much to write about!)
Yonie Bonawi and I posing with a huge Build Your Dream! Hehe
Other learning highlights at convention include the Autism Talk by Airase. If you haven’t heard about Airase yet, you need to check them out and join as a member. http://airase.com/
If you are passionate about essential oils and want to deepen your learning through reading articles backed by scientific research and studies, this is the resource you will want to tap in. You can find protocols and case studies here, and joining Airase at convention, for me, came at a perfect time as I sealed my commitment to wanting to help more people through natural healing. The Autism talk by Airase was a closed door talk, but what I loved was the fact that even though everything was “scientific”, the way they explained their findings was simple. Anyone who is ready to learn will be able to understand it. Perfect for me!
I also super enjoyed the Beauty Talk by Dr Luba as I learnt more about the benefits of the various Beauty products sold in YL, and also the talk by Debra Raybern. Debra Raybern, fyi, is the author of the Gentle Baby book that has helped many mothers through pregnancy and motherhood! Her sharings were insightful and addressed common concerns of parents/mothers regarding using certain stronger essential oils for their babies. Ultimately, all oils are safe for everyone if used appropriately and if you are afraid to use a certain oil for a young child, then don’t. Be comfortable with the oils you use for your kids! There are lots of alternatives available!
Convention at Salt Lake City ended with the 20th Anniversary Nitro Palooza Party. I went with the intention of just getting some free dinner (lol lol) because I was super tired out by the last few days, but actually enjoyed the atmosphere there. Train performed at the party! Turns out they have been using YLEOs for the past 7 years and use Highest Potential oil before each performance. In the end, I did leave the party early but was so happy to have at least gone for awhile. Alcohol free party serving healthy dinner, that is what I really call Clean Fun! Truly the Young Living lifestyle!
Here’s a fun photo of Patrick Mohanan from Train actually taking audience’s phones to take selfies with them. Never once singing off key even during the selfie moments haha.
Some other special moments at convention! A pic with Dr HK Lin, our roommates at convention, a pic with Stevie Baggs Jr, NFL player and Nitro spokesperson, and Jacq Ong, Yonie Bonawi and I doing a special kiss the baby moment.
Also, a special Juvia and Abdullah friendship moment! Singaporean convention babies! Hehe!
Although convention had ended at Salt Palace Convention Centre, we still had one day of Farm Day on Friday 27th June 2014. Before visiting the Mona Farm, we had a chance to stop by the YL Corporate office and warehouse. I am awed! The company is super transparent! There really is no hiding to anything they do, strengthening my trust in the Seed to Seal process even more!
This is us at YL headquarters. Loved being there!
That’s the livehelp team behind me! Yes, there really isn’t many people handling livehelp which will explain why wait times are often ridiculous haha.
Major oil, Ningxia and diffuser overload at the enormous warehouse!
When we finally arrived at the Farm, I felt like an excited schoolgirl. Posing in the fields of Lavender and Clary Sage and more importantly, being able to watch actual distillation taking place! In the below pic, I witnessed Juniper and German Chamomile being distilled. Not exaggerating at all, Abdullah knocked out within 3min of entering the distillation area haha. Must have been the relaxing scent of the Chamomile.
God’s creation – absolutely beautiful and stunning.
South East Asian team at convention 2014!
In the distillery…top left is a picture of German Chamomile being distilled, bottom left is me with Juniper and right is a picture of the distiller!
Some less important details, the farm also had a YL shop that was like a grocery store, take a basket and pick the products you want! You could really go crazy! I also tasted Lavender Ice Cream (gluten, sugar and preservative free – sweetened with Agave) and drank a refreshing Lavender Lemonade beverage (again sugar free – sweetened with Agave). Delicious! I left the Farm that evening with another overwhelming sense of Gratitude to have had the opportunity to be there.
And Farm Day marked the end of convention 2014.
The flight back was much much easier without the fears I had at the beginning of the trip.
My luggage had literally doubled in size (1 check in bag – 22kg and 1 backpack coming to USA. 2 check in bags – 23kg & 20kg, 1 backpack and 1 cabin bag leaving USA!) and I left USA setting the intent to return for next year’s convention in August 2015 in Dallas, Texas, USA.
Prior to coming for convention, I kept hearing many mention that you need to attend at least one convention in your life to truly experience Young Living. I now cannot agree with more with this statement. Till 2015, in sya Allah!
Oily Mum Musings 