Using Essential Oils to Relieve Anger

How essential oils could be used to relieve anger

Anger is the most destructive of the negative emotions, and even a moment's anger can have a devastating effect on you and other people. Anger can be described as hot, red, overwhelming, sudden and violent; it is often characterized by being overwhelming and difficult to control. It affects mind, body, feelings and spirit, and operates interdependently among these. For example, anger can be provoked by a congested liver, and can in turn provoke high blood pressure. Lack of confidence, feeling hurt and insecure can cause anger to arise as a self-defense strategy.

Some schools of thought suggest that it is best to release anger (for instance, by shouting at other people), but this only aggravates the problem, usually inciting others to anger. It is much better to contain your anger, calm it down and - by being tolerant, compassionate and kind to yourself - transform the anger and restore harmony. Letting your anger go, rather than dumping it on someone else, is a skilful approach to dealing with it.

Useful remedies to relieve anger with essential oils

• There are several effective essential oils to help you cope with anger. German chamomile (often called 'blue chamomile' because of its startlingly deep-blue color) is especially calming. The cooling influence of the blue azulene (one of the components of german chamomile) calms the red heat of anger. The soothing sweetness of ylang ylang helps dispel the fury of anger, while rose absolute and rose otto open and soften the angry heart.
• Because anger is so quick to manifest, sniffing a suitable essential oil straight from the bottle is a useful technique for an immediate effect. A long, tepid bath that includes calming essential oils, with sufficient time to be alone, reflect and calm down, is ideal to counteract anger. If you know that a certain event is likely to trigger anger, apply a calming mood scent beforehand.
• The precursor to full-blown anger - irritability - can be soothed and calmed before it accelerates out of control. Take some time out and diffuse calming essential oils in your room. Irritability is particularly helped by lavender, marjoram, benzoin, cypress and sandalwood.