How to Use Essential Oils for Emotions
Emotions are the internal reactions we have based on our unique personalities and life experiences. They are an important way of our body telling us whats going on . We will all experience emotions differently and they can have both positive and negative impacts on our lives.
We usually categorise emotions as either being positive or negative. Negative emotions can impact our health greatly, especially if we don’t deal with them effectively.
It is important to learn how to deal with these emotions and have mechanisms in place to help us cope.
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Ways to deal with negative emotions
How you deal with your emotions with vary from person to person and between circumstances but here are some ideas of ways to you better cope with your emotions.
1. Exercise
2. Meditation
3. Deep breathing
4. Having a hobby or ‘me time’
5. Making sure your getting good sleep
6. Aromatherapy
These are only just a few ways of managing your emotions and stress levels, find what works best for you.
How can essential oils benefit your emotional health? (science/limbic system/olfactory system etc)
Essential oils are a great way to help positively impact your emotions. Everyone is different is what smells they like and how their body responds to individual oils.
Whenever we smell an aroma (including oils) the scent will be processed in the brain.
The first step is it goes through the olfactory system. This is responsible for controlling our sense of smell.
The olfactory system is connected top the limbic system via the olfactory nerve. The limbic system is the part of our brain where our emotions and memories are stored. This is why we can sometimes have memories or associations invoked when we inhale an aroma.
This response by the limbic system is what often causes an immediate rush of feelings; our emotional response.
As you can see there is a lot of science that happens behind the scenes in our bodies. You may need to a play around with some scents until you find the right one for you
Why use essential oils to manage emotions?
Safe and natural
Essential oils are a natural way to help impact your mood in a positive way. As long as you are using them correctly and following some basic safety guidelines then they are also safe to use. They can help soothe, calm, and uplift the emotions in a natural way and are quite potent so you only need to use a small amount to create an impact.
Quick response
As I just mentioned essential oils are potent and quite powerful. This means that a small amount goes a long way to helping you manage your mood. Within minutes essential oils can impact your whole body so they can have a very quick impact on your emotions.
Whilst every body is different essential oils are a great tool to use alongside other methods to benefit your overall well-being.
Simple and easy
For a lot of people aromatherapy can seem a bit overwhelming at first. But at its core it is really quite simple and easy. Once you start to learn a little about how some of these oils work you will easily be able to start integrating them into your life.
I always recommend starting out with just a few oils and learn how to use them. Once your feeling confident in using oils then you can start introducing some new one s and learning more. This stops you from feeling too overwhelmed at the start.
One of the most simple ways to use these oils is just by simply smelling them. You can just open a bottle of oil and take some deep breaths in…. pretty easy and your getting amazing mood benefits simply by inhaling.
Oils to use for emotions
Uplifting oils
The following are examples of essential oils that can uplift and rejuvenate emotions:
Cypress
Douglas Fir
Grapefruit
Lemon
Lime
Peppermint
White Fir
Wild Orange
Calming oils
Here are a few examples of calming oils that can be used to promote soothing, calming and grounding emotions:
Clary Sage
Eucalyptus
Frankincense
Geranium
Jasmine
Juniper Berry
Lavender
Roman Chamomile
Ylang Ylang
General oils
Arborvitae: The grounding aroma of Arborvitae oil can help promote a sense of peace and calm.
Basil: Diffuse Basil oil to lessen occasional anxious feelings.
Bergamot: Both calming and uplifting, Bergamot can be used to reduce feelings of negativity and stress.
Cardamom: The clear, refreshing aroma of Cardamom oil can help promote a positive mood.
Cedarwood: Use Cedarwood oil aromatically to help relax the mind and body.
Clary Sage: Clary Sage creates a restful environment while reducing feelings of stress and anxiousness.
Clove: Many people use Clove oil for its stimulating and energizing properties.
Coriander: Coriander oil can be used to promote feelings of calmness and relaxation.
Cypress: The refreshing aroma of Cypress oil can be energizing and can help reduce anxious feelings.
Douglas Fir: Use Douglas Fir oil to promote a positive mood and sense of focus.
Eucalyptus: Eucalyptus is commonly used to lessen feelings of tension and promote relaxation.
Frankincense: Use Frankincense oil to induce feelings of peace, satisfaction, and overall wellness.
Geranium: Inhaling Geranium oil can produce a calming, grounding effect.
Grapefruit: The fragrance of Grapefruit oil is light and uplifting for the user.
Jasmine: Use Jasmine oil to evoke feelings of peace, joy, and self-confidence.
Juniper Berry: When used aromatically, it can promote positive feelings and lessen feelings of stress.
Lavender: People commonly use Lavender oil for its relaxing and calming properties.
Lemon: Use Lemon oil aromatically to promote a positive mood.
Lime: The chemical constituents of Lime oil make it useful for promoting emotional balance and wellbeing.
Marjoram: For centuries, Marjoram oil has been used for its calming properties.
Melissa: Use Melissa oil to help calm tension and nerves.
Myrrh: Myrrh oil can help increase spiritual awareness and promote a creative, inspiring, energetic mood.
Patchouli: Aromatic use of Patchouli oil can help ground and balance emotions.
Peppermint: Use Peppermint oil for an invigorating energy boost.
Petitgrain: The aroma of Petitgrain oil can help ease feelings of tension and promote feelings of calmness.
Roman Chamomile: Use Roman Chamomile oil to promote peaceful, calming feelings.
Rose: The scent of Rose oil can be emotionally uplifting.
Sandalwood: Sandalwood oil can help enhance mood.
Spearmint: The fresh aroma of Spearmint oil uplifts mood while promoting a sense of focus.
Spikenard: Frequently used in aromatherapy, Spikenard oil is renowned for its grounding properties.
Tangerine: Apply Tangerine oil topically to help promote feelings of happiness.
Vetiver: Vetiver oil can have a calming, grounding effect on emotions.
Wild Orange: With a revitalizing aroma, Wild Orange oil can provide energy on a stress-filled day.
Ylang Ylang: Apply Ylang Ylang oil topically for a calming, uplifting effect.
How to use oils for emotional wellbeing
Aromatically
The best way to use essential oils for mood is aromatically. As we learned earlier what we smell directly influences our limbic system which then creates an emotional response.
There are many ways of using these oils aromatically. You can diffuse the oils in a diffuser, wear aromatherapy jewellery, inhale directly from the bottle, drop some onto a pillow or make up a room spray.
Topically
Topical application is also a good way of using the oils for mood management. If you are using the oil topically you will most likely smell the aroma giving you both methods of application.
You can make up a rollerball or have a massage with oils but make sure you always dilute oils before applying them topically to the skin to avoid any skin sensitivities.
Ideas & Recipes
1. Place a few drops of your chosen oil in an essential oil diffuser and diffuse in rooms where you want to promote feelings of peace, energy, or positivity (your bedroom, office, study area, etc.).
2. Use a spray bottle to spritz essential oils over your clothing and enjoy the aroma throughout the day.
3. Place one to two drops of oil on your hands, rub the palms together, cup your hands over your nose, and breathe deeply to experience the emotional benefits of the oil.
4. Use calming, soothing, and grounding essential oils during your next massage to promote relaxation and enhanced emotions. You can easily make your own DIY Massage oil to use at home or take with you.
5. Rub uplifting essential oils on the bottoms of the feet in the morning to promote invigorating, energizing feelings, or rub calming essential oils on the bottoms of the feet before going to bed to promote peace and relaxation.
6. Spritz calming essential oils over your pillows and bedding to help promote peaceful thoughts as you go to sleep.
7. Apply essential oils topically before physical activity to promote energizing, uplifting feelings.
8. Place a few drops of an essential oil on the floor during your shower (away from the water path), and breathe deeply. You can also easily make up a batch of Shower Melts to pop on the floor during your shower.
9. Add a few drops of a relaxing, grounding, or soothing essential oil to a warm bath. Make sure you dilute in a carrier oil first or make your own bath bombs or body wash.
10. Apply essential oils to the temples, shoulders, and neck to experience the mood-enhancing benefits as you inhale the aroma.
Diffuser blends for emotions
How are you feeling? Diffuser blends
Stressed
3 drops Lavender
3 drops Lime
1 drop Spearmint
Tired
2 drops Juniper Berry
4 drops Wild Orange
4 drops Grapefruit
Worried
3 drops Patchouli
3 drops Bergamot
Sad
2 drops Bergamot
2 drops Frankincense
2 drops Elevation
Uplifting and Grounding Diffuser Blends
Relax and Uplift
3 drops Patchouli
3 drops Bergamot
Rejuvenate
2 drops Lavender
2 drops Bergamot
1 drop Lemon
Positive Thinking
1 drop Myrrh
1 drop Eucalyptus
1 drop Lime
Calming Diffuser Blends
Calm and Uplift
3 drops Coriander
3 drops Peppermint
3 drops Balance
Inhale and Exhale
2 drops Juniper Berry
2 drops Grapefruit
1 drop Douglas Fir
Relax and Refresh
3 drops Lemon
2 drops Lavender
1 drop Rosemary
As you can see, aromatherapy is a great way of helping to manage your emotions. It is actually very easy and doesn’t need to be complicated. Once you understand what some of the oils can do there are countless number of ways that you can use them to help manage your emotions throughout your day.
