You guys love your essential oils! How to Use Essential Oils for Crohn’s disease is wildly popular, so I knew it would be great to have Emily come on to share her expertise in managing stress with essential oils. Enjoy!
What Happens When We Are Stressed?
When a stressful event or condition is perceived, the sympathetic nervous system is activated. When we are experiencing positive emotions, our bod release serotonin, dopamine, or oxytocin resulting in a positive sensation in the body. Conversely, when we are experiencing stress, the body starts releasing cortisol, and the body’s response will be in fear or urgency.
Overtime, if we keep experiencing stress, our body’s immune system and emotional well-being will be compromised with cortisol and it will start to respond this way reactively.
In our current world we are experiencing new stressors that previous generations haven’t, like advances in tech or social media making you affectively ‘available’ at any given moment. With stress, physical illnesses manifest, from headaches to digestion issues.
What if we could manage our stress naturally and quickly? What if we could choose our mood we want to feel, and then actually feel it, using our sense of smell? Managing our stress effectively using plant compounds, instead of using sugar, coffee, drugs, alcohol, or interacting with certain people, doing certain things because of how it feels, to get a ‘chemical hit.’ That’s where aromatherapy comes in.
Essential oils effectively reprogram our stress response on a chemical level. Healing is important for not only our emotional wellbeing but for our physical wellbeing. Our sense of smell is one of our most powerful senses over our emotions, thoughts, and behaviors, and it has a direct impact on our central nervous system.
Essential oils are powerful plant compounds, which emit a quick response once inhaled: only 22 seconds! They are an effective support tool you can use to shift out of old habits and ineffective coping patterns.
It’s so empowering to be in control of your mood rather than victimized by your emotions, and essential oils are natural solutions we can use to influence our emotions, in the same way mood-altering drugs do. Instead they are natural substances with healthy results.
Here are some of the powerful healing properties:
- Cleanse negative memories
- Reduce stress, anxiety and tension
- Support DNA correction and expression
- Release stuck emotions
There are three ways to use essential oils, and these ways listed below are specific to doTERRA brand because they have been quality tested (Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade) for these uses. Essential oils, while they may seem like small doses, are incredibly powerful and its important to use them in safe ways. Below are the safest ways to use them, in order:
- Aromatic: This is the fastest and safest way to affect your mood and release stored emotions. Diffuse oils of choice in a diffuser, inhale straight from bottle, or apply a few drops to your hand blended with a carrier oil such as jojoba or fractionated coconut oil rub. Then together and cup over your nose breathing in. Using a diffuser is a more natural than burning candles where most contain toxic chemicals, and it provides a stronger more natural scent which quickly affects your mood in positive ways.
- Topical: This method aids the body to move from a stress response to a restorative environment where emotional healing can take place. It is the second safest way to experience the oils, you just want to be sure to blend with 1 drop of a carrier oil, as these are potent substances and you don’t know which blend or single oil you have sensitivities to at first. Apply the blended oils as close to brain as possible, such as on forehead, under nose, back of neck, on temples, or on the pad of your thumb pressing on the roof of your mouth.
- Internal: Use this powerful method of ingesting oils sparingly, as it releases toxins and nourishes cells and the body directly. I recommend aromatic and topical use on regular basis, saving internal uses in moderation for times when you really need it, say with oregano oil when you’re feeling sick. Since these are such potent substances, even if they are 100% natural they are very strong and can be harsh on your stomach or esophagus over time. I suggest putting 1-5 drops in a veggie capsule, as this is the safest way to protect your esophagus and stomach lining while enjoying the benefits. You can also place 1 drop of chosen oil in honey to dilute it or under tongue.
Below are some specific oils you can use to manage your stress effectively. Essential oils aren’t limited to their use in supporting emotional well-being, this post is focused on the stress management properties. They are used manage to physical and spiritual well-being in daily life as natural alternatives to chemicals, used as medicine or household cleaning products.
Specific oils to use for healing stress:
- Wild orange
- Frankincense
- Vetiver
- Roman Chamomile
- Lavender
Do you use essential oils? What benefits have you experienced? And most importantly, what are your favorite oils and combinations?!
Emily Smith is a Certified Integrative Wellness Counselor, a Wellness Advocate for DoTerra, and a transformation coach who discovered that an integrative approach to manage and release stress naturally was the missing link to her own health. She teaches women how to live whole and balanced lifestyles as they move through times of uncertainty. You can find more about Emily and her business at Guide to Wholeness Healing.
