Relieving Stress with Essential Oils

How to use essential oils to relieve stress

A little stress and tension are useful to help you achieve your goals and can be inspirational for creative work. If you are too relaxed, it feels as if you are resting or on holiday, and this can make it difficult to accomplish your tasks. However, too much stress is a common complaint these days, and when stress and tension become overwhelming you need to have some techniques to help you relax.

Stress starts in the mind and the emotions, but swiftly moves into the physical body, causing tight muscles, shallow breathing, headaches, insomnia and loss of appetite. Once embedded in the body, the stress must be released physically as well as emotionally and mentally. Try to avoid too much alcohol and caffeine. Even though they seem to help in the short term, they stress the body further and are therefore counter-productive.

Useful remedies to relieve stress using essential oils

• Massage is the best way to release physical tension. Try to visit an aromatherapist regularly if you find yourself feeling stressed out a lot of the time. A full body massage with appropriate essential oils releases physical stress, calms the mind and emotions, and in this way helps prevent stress arising again too quickly.
• Self-massage can also be very beneficial in releasing physical stress. Focus on the neck, shoulders and chest, and if stress gives you a headache, massage your scalp as well. Choose essential oils that are good for tense muscles, such as lavender, rosemary, marjoram and roman chamomile. Include emotionally calming oils that are also sedative to help calm the mind, such as bergamot, neroli, rose otto, benzoin, Clary sage, jasmine, melissa and sandalwood.
• Bathing with calming essential oils also releases stress from mind, emotions and body. Include frankincense to help deepen your breathing, which promotes calm and relaxation. Geranium is primarily balancing, so if you need to be active after the bath, you will still have some energy. Thyme is good for fatigue and exhaustion; it helps revive and strengthen mind and body, and also stimulates the appetite.