Which essential oils are good for anxiety?
Guest Blog written by Lisa Johnson Owner of LJ Natural September 2021
Quite often I share natural health related articles on social media, and I can see that the most popular, by far, are those that mention how to deal with anxiety. We seem to be in an epidemic of anxiety, which is such a sad state of affairs, when really, we live in a time of such massive choice and where information on how to improve our lives is readily available at your fingertips.
So today I’m sharing a few ways to help you deal with anxiety at home.
Essential Oils
Our sense of smell is so closely linked to our emotions. It therefore makes sense that using essential oils can help improve an emotional situation and will be very effective. Here’s just a handful of oils you could pick up at your local health food shop that will help you when you are feeling very anxious:
Lavender: renowned for its ability to calm and soothe, lavender should be the first oil you try to help you relax, and as it also aids restful sleep, it’s a perfect oil for helping all aspects of anxiety.
Clary Sage: a mood-lifting oil which calms the very nervous, and creates feelings of peace.
Frankincense: helps to cam the mind, stops the mind racing, so is ideal when you are feeling overwhelmed or are over-thinking. It will gently lift the spirits and increase low energy.
Neroli: has a long history of relieving anxiety and is very helpful when dealing with shock. It’s very calming but with an uplifting, refreshing scent.
Ylang Ylang: helps to reduce rapid breathing, a racing heart and reduces blood pressure. It is very calming, eases tension, and is gently sedative.
Vetiver: helps to balance you emotionally, so if you are feeling very overwhelmed, tearful and anxious, it’s a great oil to help relieve these feelings, it also helps to dispel feelings of anger, distress and hysteria.
Please Note:
Make sure you dilute your oils before using them on the skin. You can mix up body or bath oils using approximately 10 drops of essential oil per 50mls of carrier oil. If you’d like more advice on mixing oils, just message me.
You can use all of these oils in a diffuser at home too. You could also place a couple of drops on a tissue and sniff when needed.
There are hundreds of essential oils and many of them are great for anxiety, and often, it’s a question of just smelling them and seeing which ones resonate with you. There’s a theory in aromatherapy that you are drawn to the oils that are most beneficial for you. If you really love the smell of an oil, that’s the oil to use that day.
Supplements
I’d like to add that whilst using aromatherapy and essential oils will help with the symptoms of anxiety, you are not really dealing with the root cause. As with virtually all health issues (mental and physical) improving your diet is absolutely central. I’ve recently come across a company called Mad Diet and they advocate a package of 4 essential supplements that make a huge difference to mental well-being. Please pop over to their website to learn more, as there is tons of information about not just supplements, but eating better, and see here what they recommend for anxiety:
Vitamin B Complex: essential for brain function, reduces fatigue, boosts the immune system, boosts mood, lowers anxiety and depression and helps to regulate hormones.
Magnesium: needed for over 300 biochemical reactions in the body, and most people in this country are woefully deficient in it. It relieves anxiety, improves sleep quality, and helps to maintain normal muscle function.
Essential Fatty Acids/Omega 3: our brain is made of fat and it is absolutely vital to our brain function to consume good quality fats. Taking a good quality omega 3 will help to fight depression and anxiety as well as improving ADHD in children, fighting cognitive decline (such as Alzheimer’s), and reduces many other health issues such as asthma, heart disease and autoimmune disease.
Priobiotic: as I’ve said in so many of my other blogs and on my eczema page, all health starts in the gut, and so having a really health gut full of the right kind of bacteria is central to overall health, including brain health.
Mindfulness
Yes I couldn’t write about anxiety without mentioning mindfulness. Really all it involves in stopping your brain from doing that constant chatter and worry, and instead, tuning in to the world around you in the present moment. You can do guided mindfulness via an app such as Headspace, or you can just sit quietly for 5 minutes and look at a tree moving the in breeze, or watch a candle flame flicker – and when unwanted thoughts and emotions come into your head, just notice them but let them go.
Water
Are you hydrated? Probably not, most people aren’t. Being dehydrated makes anxiety much worse. Drink a pint of water.
Write
Grab a piece of paper and a pen and quickly write down all the things that are making you feel anxious. Getting them out of your mind and onto paper makes a massive difference. Once they are down on paper, you can either fold that paper up very small and put it to one side, or rip it up and throw it away. Or perhaps you’d find it helpful to start a journal and then you’ll see which topics frequently come up and you can do something to put solutions in place to deal with those actions.
I hope this has given you lots to think about. I make a pre-blended anxiety release oil which many customers find incredibly helpful when dealing with anxiety. It does have the most gorgeous, uplifting aroma and it’s a great product to have in, as part of your mental health toolkit.
If you are local to Wilmslow, Cheshire, and would like to learn more about using essential oils at home, then book on to our next Organic Beauty Workshop where you will be able to choose the oils that most appeal to you, and make some bespoke products to take home.
Oh and lastly, don’t feel alone. Anxiety is unbelievably common and you shouldn’t feel ashamed or like you are being silly or like you need to pull yourself together. Accept that are human and that things are not always perfect, and then get busy doing all the things I’ve mentioned here.
Get in touch...
If you are struggling with anxiety and would like to find out how hypnotherapy could help you I am here to answer all of your questions.