We are so excited about this new essential oils kit from doTERRA, created specially for your yoga practice. If you’re new to essential oils and want to learn more, we’ve simplified everything for you here in this article.
If you love doing yoga you’ll probably be interested in accessories to compliment and expand your spiritual practice. Perhaps you’ve chosen a particular yoga mat that you really like, and set up a space in your home with candles and crystals.
We love the idea of incorporating essential oils into your yoga practice, or even just for a quick self-care check-in during the day.
The doTERRA Yoga Collection includes three oils, called Anchor, Align and Arise.
According to doTERRA, “Anchor, Align, and Arise are the perfect blends to enhance your life and yoga practice. These blends provide aromas to steady, center, and enlighten your spirit through every breath while strengthening and stretching your body.”
You can diffuse one of these oil blends while you do yoga,
Inhale while you’re in a stationary pose like mountain pose, child’s pose or savasana,
Or even just dab a little on your wrist to grab a quiet moment during your day.
YOGA COLLECTION DETAILS
The Anchor Steadying Blend:
Contains Lavender, Cedarwood, Sandalwood, Cinnamon, Frankincense, Black Pepper, and Patchouli in a base of Fractionated Coconut Oil
Supports feelings of completeness, calmness, and courage and brings a firm trust in yourself so you can approach your practice and life with calming strength, and a solid connection to yourself and your innate wisdom.
Ideal for the following poses: Seated Meditation, Seated Twist, and Bhu Mudra (one hand on the heart, the other on the Earth).
The Align Centering Blend:
Contains Bergamot, Coriander, Marjoram, Peppermint, Jasmine, and Rose essential oils in a base of Fractionated Coconut Oil
Encourages harmony and calm progress, you to trust in yourself and stay open to all possibilities.
Ideal for the following poses: Warrior II, Triangle, and Gate pose.
The Arise Enlightening Blend:
Contains Grapefruit, Lemon, Osmanthus, Melissa, and Siberian Fir in a base of Fractionated Coconut Oil
Helps to instill feelings of happiness, clarity, and courage. Supports your stability as well as your freedom, inspiring moments of reaching for your highest potential.
Ideal for the following poses: standing arms high, standing side stretch, and Half Moon.
WHERE TO BUY THE YOGA KIT
If you’re interested in getting your own yoga essentials oils kit, order them here from our shop, or sign up for a wholesale account here to save money on oils (and earn commissions!).
I took a photo of my kit so you can see how beautiful it is! I can’t wait for you to get yours in the mail :) Click here to buy yours now.
Having jumped on the essential oil bandwagon 3 years ago, I still remember what it’s like at the beginning. doTERRA, along with rival companies like Young Living, offers hundreds of oils and a whole heap of other essential oil-based products, supplements, and of course diffusers.
Where are you supposed to start? How can you get the most from your essential oils, without putting a gaping whole it your wallet? Essential oils aren’t cheap, so you really want to make sure you’re making the right oil choices, rather than just taking an aromatic stab in the dark.
These days, it’s fair to say that we’re very much up with the play when it comes to essential oils. We’ve spent the big bucks on oils (and made them back tenfold) and we now know what works best and what’s not really worth the money. We’ve definitely got our go-to doTERRA oils and other products, and I thought I’d share those with you right this very second.
Our favorite doTERRA oils and products
As doTERRA affiliates, we always make a point of trying out all the oils and products that doTERRA produces – it would hardly be fair otherwise! The benefit of this is that we know exactly what we like, and what we don’t like…and chances are this information can help you as you sit down to make your next doTERRA oils order. Here’s what we use almost every day in our household.
Lavender essential oil
Of course this oil had to be on the list! Lavender is easily the most versatile of all the doTERRA oils – it smells amazing, it’s gentle (unlike “hot” oils like oregano or peppermint), and it can be used on both humans and pets! Here’s what we use lavender for:
diffusing in the bedroom of our 3 month little girl, Isla, as she naps during the day – but a VERY DILUTED concentration! Lavender is one of the safest oils to use with infants, as it doesn’t irritate their respiratory tracts, but we’re always very careful with it anyway. The lavender soothes her and helps her sleep better, and the diffuser helps to alleviate the dryness of the air and enable her to breathe better.
dabbing under our noses when we’re stressed or putting a drop or two on our pillows to help us sleep better through the night
diffusing in the living room to make the place smell a whole lot nicer, relax us while we work, and neutralize smells from all the nutritious cooking we do!
On Guard essential oil
We like doTERRA’s On Guard oil for two reasons: it smells fricken amazing (making it a nice oil blend to put in the diffuser) and it’s loaded with potent antibacterial, antifungal, and antimicrobial essential oils – trust me, I’ve done the research. We use it:
while traveling, especially flying, as a hand sanitizer and as a way to boost our immune system and protect us from all the colds and illness that flies about in public places!
at home in bathrooms and other damp areas that might have a risk of mold
whenever we feel a cold or sore throat coming on – a dab or two on the neck and behind the ears does the trick!
Melaleuca (tea tree) essential oil
The quintessential “first aid” oil, the potent antimicrobial agents in tea tree have made it a go-to antiseptic agent for centuries – and why mess with a good thing? We’ve always got a bottle or five of this stuff on hand for anything that needs sanitizing – be it a toilet bowl, shallow wound or graze, or questionable surfaces in and around the house. I’ve even put it in a spray bottle with some water and used it to kill mildew on grape and squash leaves!
Frankincense oil roll on
I’ve recently started using frankincense essential oil a lot after I did some research on it and discovered it’s anti-inflammatory, pro-immunity, and anti-oxidative powers…they’re pretty impressive! I’ll use it on knee joints that are a bit sore, questionable developments on my face, and on any moles that I think might be up to no good – frankincense essential oil has been shown to kill cancer cells, making it a good failsafe for any parts of the skin that seem inclined towards melanoma.
doTERRA MicroPlex VMz
I was actually pretty impressed when I read the list of ingredients in doTERRA’s MicroPlex VMz – while some of their products can contain certain things we neither need nor want, this one seems very much top quality. I pop 2 to 4 per day as a broad-spectrum multivitamin, and I certainly feel like it fills in all the nutritional gaps in my otherwise bulletproof diet. I especially like that it doesn’t have carrageenan as a filler – more of that, please!
doTERRA TerraZyme
As I mention a lot (probably a bit too much, if I’m honest), we eat a ridiculously nutrient dense diet – sort of like a hybrid Paleo and Primal way of eating, with certain biohacks thrown in for good measure. But I don’t always feel 100%, and I’m beginning to suspect that maybe my digestion isn’t as good as it should be – meaning I’m not absorbing all the nutrients that I’m putting my stomach.
With this in mind, I’ve been taking 2 TerraZyme capsules with each meal, and while the results aren’t exactly spectacular (I’m not THAT sick!), I definitely feel like I’m digesting my food more efficiently and getting more goodness from what I eat. TerraZyme has decent concentrations of all the major digestive enzyme strains, and it has the added bonus of betaine HCL, which directly stimulates stomach acid production – a very good thing!
doTERRA PB Assist
Even the healthiest of people need a good probiotic to ensure their gut is in ship shape, and as such I usually make a point of taking one at least every other day with a meal. I like doTERRA’s PB Assist as their enteric coating seems quite strong – meaning the live bacterial cultures actually have a chance of making it through your harsh stomach acid intact, ready to make their new home in your gut! I also like that it doubles as a prebiotic, which ensures that the good bacteria you’re feeding your gut with can get settled in and start thriving faster – prebiotics are a type of fiber that acts as food for gut bacteria.
Ready to get started? Find out how to get the most from essential oils AND make money doing it by clicking here.
As a species, we’ve become laughably disconnected from the world around us. As we evolved from our apish ancestors, our growing intelligence and sense of self increasingly contributed to a burgeoning arrogance. Simply put, humans began to think that they were better than all other life.
With our slow progression through the ages, new discoveries and innovations enabled us to further seclude ourselves from what we came to call “nature”. Nature was this thing separate from ourselves, filled with untamed beasts and untrustworthy variables outside of our control. To announce that you were going outside into nature was to announce your potential impending doom.
Even today, with our increasing awareness of ecological connections and the intricacies that join everyone and everything on this planet, we still divide our world in two. There’s the human or anthropocentric world, and then there’s just “nature”. We might plan the occasional weekend excursion out into nature, armed with bug repellants, synthetic camping equipment, and perhaps a can of bear spray, but for the most part we live within this insulated world and pretend nature doesn’t exist.
Personally, I think this mentality is killing us. With an increasing disassociation from the outside world over the course of our species’ history, our collective health has plummeted. Coincidence? I think not.
You see, at the end of the day, we’re still just animals. And we can only truly thrive when we step outside of our anthropocentric bubble and into the real world…the world that isn’t encased in concrete and glass.
My experience with nature
I grew up in the small town of Queenstown, New Zealand. In hindsight, I was unbelievably lucky – Queenstown is widely accepted as the adventure capital of the world, offering almost any outdoor pursuit one can imagine – skiing, skydiving, bungy jumping, mountain biking, boating, fishing, ziplining…few thrillseekers could ever manage to get bored in Queenstown.
Beyond the thrills and spills, however, was an underlying drive that governed my developmental years – get outside as much as humanly possible. At that time, mobile phones were the size of watermelons and I could only play Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego so many times on our tiny Apple Mac.
Outside, then, was a world of possibilities that would keep me and my buddies entertained for hours. We’d race around on our bikes, float down the river on air mattresses, go fishing or swimming, foolishly play around with the patches of quicksand around the river margins, hunt for lizards and bugs, and generally just do stupid boyish things. It was fantastic.
But then, as my life shifted to adulthood, the urban environment became my proving grounds. As a young professional, cities were the only places where I could make a decent living and enjoy the cultured high life I thought I wanted to live. I spent 2 years in London, England and another 4 in Toronto, Canada, and eventually discovered that a pattern was emerging: I was unhappy.
With a growing sense of discontent came new health issues. I had trouble sleeping, was constantly tired, my joints began to ache even though I was still in my 20s, and my immune system went away on vacation and never came back.
Realizing that I was becoming increasingly disconnected from the natural world that had nurtured me as a kid, I did what everyone else in the city did on weekends – I went camping, hiking, or visited the cottage. These excursions were fun, but they always ended the same way: on Sunday afternoon we’d have to pile back into the car and join the queues of other weekenders heading back into the city. My fling with nature was over once again, and the discontent seeped right back in.
It wasn’t until my girlfriend and I quit our jobs and began traveling that I realized just how much I had been missing immersing myself in the outside world. I don’t mean occasional “walk in the park” immersion, I mean spending days, perhaps weeks at a time surrounded by trees, lakes, rivers and mountains. We drove a beat-up old motorhome through the Canadian Rockies, stopping whenever we pleased and in no particular hurry, and my long-lost happiness returned.
The health benefits of getting outside
At the end of that amazing 16 month-long road trip, I had a decision to make: head back to city life, where the money flows and the nightlife is second-to-none…or return to my semi-rural roots. The decision was an easy one. My girlfriend and I are now happily settled in Wanaka, New Zealand, just a stone’s throw from my childhood home of Queenstown and within walking distance of lakes, mountains, rivers and forests. Our home has a large yard filled with native trees and shrubs, and our property backs onto a semi-wild park. Compared to our tiny inner-city apartment, it’s utter heaven.
These days, I work from home as a freelance writer and have a 180 degree view of trees, mountains and the endless sky at all times. When I feel myself getting frustrated or stressed, I simply take a step outside into my yard, stroll through the adjacent reserve, or jump on my bike and head down to the lake. I always come back refreshed, relaxed, and with a focused mind ready for the tasks ahead. I sleep better, I have less health problems, and my thoughts are largely on the positive side (the same can’t be said for 2 years-previous me living in Toronto).
And while this physical and psychological transformation was a dramatic one, it was also no great surprise. As a health writer, I’d been stumbling across research for years touting the many health benefits of simply getting outside. There’s literally hundreds of studies showing that getting out into nature can treat depression, improve mental capacity and focus, lower stress and reduce inflammation.
And it makes sense. Most of the stress that’s present in our lives has its roots in our social circles and urban environments. But when you step outside, none of that stress matters – it’s just you and the elements. They don’t require anything of you, and this glorious indifference will see your troubles quickly seeping away. It puts things very nicely in perspective.
How to immerse yourself in nature, even in the city
Obviously, if you’re struggling in your current life and feel like the world is out to get you, my advice would be to pack it all in and find your own little piece of natural paradise. But family ties, financial limitations, or a deep-seated love of your homeland might prevent that move towards a rural way of life.
Luckily, there’s a little slice of paradise around every urban corner…if you know where to look. Here’s a few tips for finding natural settings within urban environments to get your daily dose of green:
Join a community garden: these are small allotments inside urban areas that offer members the chance to grab a slice of the action and grow their own produce. Getting your hands dirty (literally) and working with plants is one of the best ways to get back with nature and rebuild your gut microbiome. Plus, you’ll have amazing, fresh, organic produce in no time!
Seek out parks that are less intensively managed: don’t get me wrong – I like manicured lawns and stately oaks as much as the next person, but I kind of think thats cheating. To really get some serious outside factor, seek out those parks that are a bit more on the wild side.
Find a water body: this might be a lake, river, sea, or even just a large pond. There’s almost always abundant wildlife growing around water, meaning it’s a great place to kick back with nature and get away from it all.
Vacation somewhere wild: rather than spending your usual two-week getaway at a plush resort in the Caribbean, why not pack up the car and head for the hills? Not only will you save a whole lot of money, spending your vacation time in forests, mountains or national parks will help to alleviate all that pent up stress and remind you that your troubles aren’t as insurmountable as you think.
So next time you’re anxious, depressed, frustrated or tired, you know what to do: just take a step outside! Nature will take care of the rest.
[This is part of an ongoing series which looks at how to naturally, effectively and permanently beat your candida problem using methods which don’t compromise your health in the process. We’ve compiled all this information and more in a 30-day protocol in our comprehensive ebook]
Candida albicans. Hearing its exotic-sounding name triggers feelings of either anxiety or confusion. Anxiety, because you’ve heard about it, suspect you have it, and have no idea how to get rid of it. Confusion, because you’ve been living under a rock and somehow haven’t even heard about it. For you poor, confused souls, perhaps you should check out this article to see whether you’re suffering from it (hint: you probably are).
For the anxious masses, we’re here to help. Because despite what you might have heard, Candida is really just a misunderstood bacterial overgrowth which simply wants to be loved. And we have just the right ingredients to shower it with love and send it back down to where it belongs (in your gut!).
As we explore in a lot more detail in the ebook, Candida is actually an important part of your gut biome, playing critical roles in nutrient absorption and protection from infection. For this reason, embarking on a kill! kill! kill! mission of destruction against Candida really doesn’t do you any good – you’ll be wiping out something which is necessary for healthy functioning of your hot bod.
Do antifungals or antibiotics work against Candida?
Yup, they work. But, they’re not selective, and essentially wipe out your entire intestinal flora, including the good bacteria which are critical for digestion, nutrient absorption, immune function, hormone balance, and numerous other vital roles. If your doctor puts you on a round of antibiotics or antifungals to get rid of Candida, you’ll possibly get rid of it but you’ll severely damage your health in the process. And it’s very likely that the reason you have Candida in the first place is because of antibiotics, as they kill the bacteria which normally keep Candida in check. What’s more, if you want to keep Candida away after your first round of antibiotics, you’ll have to keep taking them, as your body will no longer be able to naturally regulate it’s growth.
Does starving your body of sugar work against Candida?
Yes and no. Yes, reducing your sugar intake helps to starve Candida of a primary food source and in this way can help to curb it’s growth and expansion. This is what most “natural” anti-Candida diets propose, however they almost always take it too far – starving your body of sugar actually puts it into a state of stress, increasing Cortisol levels and weakening your immune system. Thus you may cut out one of Candida’s food sources, but you also reduce the body’s ability to fight it via natural means. The best approach is to reduce sugar intake and limit it to “safer” sources like raw organic honey or a couple of servings of fruit a day (max).
Do natural antifungals work?
They certainly seem to! And the leader in this area is none other than little old apple cider vinegar. Mixing raw ACV into your water once or twice a day sends this glorious antifungal through your digestive system, bringing it into contact with your Candida overgrowth and letting it work it’s magic. It somehow possesses the ability to support a healthy gut biome by fighting bad bacteria, controlling bacterial overgrowth or infections (i.e. Candida), and backing up good bacteria. Essentially, it fulfills the same role as pharmaceutical antibiotics or antifungals but has the decency not to kill everything like they do.
Are essential oils effective against Candida?
Yup, certain oils are very useful in your fight against Candida. Lemon essential oil, for example, has a strong detoxifying effect on your body, helping to cleanse your blood and support your liver. It also supports healthy immune function, and in this way provides a strong building block upon which your body can start to control the Candida overgrowth on it’s own, without the assistance of drugs or fancy schmancy diets. Other anti-Candida oils include frankincense and oregano essential oil.
Does diet matter?
Ah….let me think about that…YES!!!!! Of course it does. Diet is one of the key reasons why most people fail to bring their Candida overgrowth under control. It’s not rocket science, but eating a diet rich in saturated fats, healthy organic vegetables (lots) and fruits (not so many) and good quality protein sources (grass fed or pastured organic meat and eggs) will help your body re-balance its hormones and rebuild its immune system so that it can get to work on your Candida problem. Another big step is avoiding processed foods, grains, and most dairy products. There’s a whole lot more information on this (38 pages on diet alone, to be exact!) and how to structure your diet in our ebook.
Stick with it and let us know if you have any questions. You can do this!
Don’t we all need a little more balance in our lives? This is definitely something that I’m seeking in my quest for a slower, more natural lifestyle.
Even if you’re rushing around in the city, at the office, through the supermarket, in and out of appointments and vehicles, you can maintain a little bit of connection to the Earth with the grounding, woodsy scent of Balance.
Balance is one of my favourite essential oil blends. To begin with I know it’s pure and safe for the one precious body I have to care for, because of where it comes from. Whenever I inhale it, I immediately get images of beautiful shady trees, dappled sunlight and warm earth. My lungs open, I breathe deeper, and I feel muscles that I didn’t even know were tense begin to relax. I feel clearer like I’ve just taken a mini little mental walk in the forest.
The blend is made up of 5 different essential oils in a base of coconut oil. Frankincense, Blue Chamomile, Blue Tansy, Ho Wood, and Spruce. Each of these have potent molecular activity on the brain and cell processes, however even just the pure aroma itself, and the act of taking a quiet moment to yourself to inhale it, is very therapeutic.
Here are some details about the 5 essential oils which make up Balance: (source)
Spruce: Spruce is found to ground the body and balance our ability to give and receive. Its herbaceous scent helps expand the bronchials to deepen breathing and release tension or emotional blocks that may reside in the throat, jaw and chest.
Ho Wood: Ho Wood is slowly taking the place of Rosewood. Rosewood is becoming endangered and so good companies are choosing to remove it from their blends. It is very similar in composition, just simply more sustainable. Ho Wood is a powerful sedative, offering grounding and calming effects on the nervous system and emotions.
Frankincense: This oil has been used for centuries in physical and emotional healing. It contains sesquiterpenes, which oxygenate the pineal and pituitary gland, passing the blood brain barrier to promote brain health. It strengthens skin and nails and promotes cellular regeneration to prevent the appearance of aging. It also balances mood and strengthens a person’s spiritual connection and sense of understanding. See more on this incredible essential oil here.
Blue Tansy: This is a detoxifying oil, thought to help detoxify the liver and lymphatic system, which is closely related to the emotions of anger and depression. The mind-body connection allows this oil to aid in promoting self-control and well-being.
Blue Chamomile: A calming and sedative oil, Blue Chamomile has also shown properties of being pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory, which helps when dealing with stress, joint support and muscle health.
Why buy ready-made essential oil blends?
It’s fun to make your own blends too (I’ve collected lots of recipes on Pinterest) but when you buy a pre-made blend you know that it has the correct and unique proportions which make the plant constituents interact and compliment each other effectively. With so many incredible properties in one bottle, the Balance blend from doTERRA can take a lot of the guess work out of worrying about which oil to use.
The therapeutic-grade quality of each individual oil and the particular proportion of each is what makes Balance such a valuable and effective tool for grounding techniques.
When and how to use the Balance blend
These are suggestions gathered from various essential oil resources and success stories. Use them as inspiration to see what works for you and your family. If in doubt or if you’re using oils on babies / children / during pregnancy or breast-feeding, please dilute your oils with a carrier oil such as coconut oil, and research first.
Topical uses for Balance
Use topically for the following conditions. Apply 2-3 drops to the bottom of the feet in the morning, at bedtime, or when experiencing symptoms. You can also apply oils specifically to reflex points on the feet that are associated with particular organs or systems in the body.
The reason that oils are recommended to apply to the feet is that the feet have the largest pores, so applying oils here lets them enter the blood stream quickly (20-30 seconds). The feet also have hardy skin which won’t be irritated by any hot or tingly oils (although Balance is not a hot oil – this is more for oils like cinnamon, clove, oregano)
The throat, back of the neck, wrists, around the ears on the lymph nodes, and on the solar plexus are also good places to apply oils topically.
Note about topical use: If you ever feel that an oil is too intense on your skin, do not apply water – water and oil don’t mix so it won’t help. Just apply more clean carrier oil (ie coconut oil) to the area. This will dilute the oil and relieve the sensation quickly.
ADHD or lack of focus
Anxiety, stress and mental or emotional balance
Back pain and muscle pain (you can also use a blend such as Deep Blue)
Bursitis
Brain healing and regeneration
Convulsions and seizures (after seeking medical attention)
Hot flashes
Jet lag
Lupus
Metabolism balance
Parkinson’s disease
Patience
Vertigo
Spirituality
Aromatic Uses
Using a diffuser is the best way to breathe the benefits of essential oils. The Home Essentials Kit comes with one plus lots of oils to get started with, at a hefty discount.
You can also inhale straight from the bottle, put a few drops in your hands and inhale, use a diffuser necklace.
ADD / ADHD and Focus
Anxiety
Depression – you can also use an elevating blend like Citrus Bliss
Dizziness
Energy
Grief or a feeling of loss
Grounding
Hot flashes
Hyperactivity
Jet lag
Mood, balance and stress-relief
Vertigo
Spirituality
Internal Use
The Balance blend is not recommended for internal use; most blends are not (other than OnGuard and Slim & Sassy which have been tested as safe for consumption). It’s easy to check by just glancing at the back of the bottle – if it doesn’t have a “Supplement Facts” table on the back, that means you should not consume that oil internally.
Want a free bottle of Balance?
During the month of February 2015 my doTERRA team is running a promotion. If you grab a kit with us this month, you’ll be entered for a chance to win!
Balance doesn’t come in some of the smaller kits so it would be great to grab a free bonus one. Or even if you do choose a kit that contains Balance, an extra bottle is great to have on hand to send to school or work with your loved ones, lend to a friend in need, or to replenish your supply quickly since it’s such a versatile, use-many-times-a-day sort of blend.
Go HERE for more info on essential oils, and why I choose to use the doTERRA brand
Go HERE to get started and buy your oils. doTERRA’s Balance is also available for $22 on Amazon.com
Go HERE to learn about partnering with Dani and I in our heartfelt holistic business
This is a follow-up to my previous post on anxiety. In addition to breathing techniques, music and other strategies I’ve talked about before, I’ve recently discovered the wonderful potential of essential oils.
Not just a pretty scent…
We all understand that smelling something pretty, like inhaling the perfume of a rose for example, makes you feel happy. But it’s worth understanding a little deeper, because the therapeutic power of essential oils goes a lot further than that.
Without going too deep into the sciencey part, when your nose detects a scent, it means that tiny molecules have evaporated from an object, and entered your nose. The molecules interlock with specialized receptors and communicate with the brain through the olfactory bulb. This captures information from the scent molecules, and actually helps to form and record memories.
Ever had a sudden flashback from smelling an aroma wafting from a restaurant, or the perfume of someone walking by? I can totally recall the moldy, nasty but comfort-inducing scent of my parents’ old minivan, for example (lol). When you think about it, scent has a profound effect on our memories, feelings and emotions.
What you inhale affects your health
We all understand that inhaling bad molecules from the air can negatively affect our health. Car exhaust, glue fumes, poison gases, cigarette smoke, mold spores and airborne viruses for example. We easily acknowledge that these things, which we can’t see with our naked eye, wreak havoc on our health when we smell and inhale them into the body.
So what if good, happy, healthy airborne molecules could do the opposite? Re-program our system for better balance and energy, and help prevent and reverse illness? Well surprise, they can! Essential oils are the lifeblood of plants; they are the substances that help protect and support the successful growth of the plant. When they are harvested through gentle methods from excellent quality plants, they form wonderfully rich natural medicines for the human body.
And it doesn’t stop there…
Out of all five senses, smell is the only one directly linked to the limbic system in the brain, which is our emotional control center. The limbic system is directly connected to the parts of the brain that control heart rate, digestion, blood pressure, breathing, stress levels, arousal, and hormone balance. What this means is that essential oil molecules can impact not just emotion, but the body’s physical function.
All of these physical functions compile to form the body’s sympathetic and asympathetic nervous systems. The asympathetic system is the one you want to activate to calm down and turn off the stress response. Influencing the limbic system with essential oils is one way you can directly activate the asympathetic nervous system, like pressing a “chill out” button.
In summary, the use of therapeutic grade essential oils can have profound effects on our physical and emotional well-being. Recent research is showing that essential oils may help relieve symptoms just as effectively as medication, but without the side effects of anxiety drugs.
The best essential oils for anxiety and stress relief
Frankincense
Frankincense is a beautiful, warm woody oil distilled from the sap of the boswellia tree. The sap is sustainably harvested in crystal form, as shown here. Then it’s steamed and the distilled oil is collected.
The sesquiterpene molecules in frankincense help calm anxiety and create feelings of joy and happiness, by stimulating healthy neurotransmitter and hormone production from the hypothalamus, pituitary and pineal glands.
I like to rub frankincense on my face as it helps smooth and heal the skin, and that way I can inhale its calming scent and get a prettier complexion while I’m at it.
Lavender
Lavender oil is distilled from the flowering tips of the lavender plant. Hundreds of pounds are collected and steamed to make the precious essential oil.
Lavender oil has been commonly used for centuries as an antiseptic, a natural antibiotic, an insect repellent and a calming sedative.
Lavender is well-known as a natural sleep aid to bring relief from insomnia. I like to put a few drops on my pillow before I go to bed, or add some to my epsom salt bath water.
During the day I also mix a few drops with a little bit of frankincense and rub on the back of my neck. This is a nice stress-relieving ritual; take a few deep breaths as you massage your neck and clear your mind a bit. The warmth of the skin helps waft the calming aroma into the air.
Citrus Oils
Citrus oils are made by distilling the oil-rich peels of fruits such as Sweet Orange, Bergamot, and Lemon.
They are excellent for the purpose of uplifting the mood, creating a sense of well-being and chasing away those dark shadows in the corners of an anxious mind. They are said to aid in the body’s ability to respond to stress and also help with circulation and detox.
I like to diffuse these oils at home for a freshening and uplifting vibe. You can also add a drop of therapeutic-grade citrus essential oils to your drinking water or to recipes.
Quality is important
Please take into account the quality of the essential oils you purchase. By using natural medicine you are already saving a huge amount of expense on conventional medical care, plus the lost time you would have wasted with being sick, plus the side effects and toxicity that medications place on the body.
So it’s worth investing in the best quality essential oils to apply and inhale into your one precious body.
Drug-store or health food store grade oils are often laced with synthetics and they have very few quality standards applied. I choose to respect my body and my health, and in turn get the best results (!) by only using the best essential oils. Here is where I buy mine.
Please share your tips…
What oils do you like to use to relieve stress and anxiety? What strategies do you combine with essential oils? Please share so we can all help each other! :)
It’s easy to get wrapped up in chronic stress and anxiety
Anxiety is an ongoing problem for me. I think with adult-hood came increased expectations for my life, with accompanying worries of how to fulfill those expectations. I actually went to the doctor a few years ago with chest pain, worried that I had some sort of premature heart issues (which was possibly reasonable to be concerned about considering the history of heart and cholesterol problems on both parents’ sides). I had an ECG done and the doctor said my heart was fine; it was probably digestive upset that was causing the pain.
I didn’t have enough self-awareness then, but I know now I had caused the pain by breathing too shallow and too infrequently for too long. I think it was from stress from having my first serious full time job at the time, and the work environment there. Granted there was likely some digestive upset too, because I was still eating gluten and processed foods then.
I don’t remember how at the time but I guess I managed to sort of overcome my stress response for the next two years or so, but then it returned about 6 months ago, along with more job and career-related stresses. It was way worse this time, culminating in a couple of near-panic-attacks on public transit on the way home from work. I would also get headaches and jaw tension. I think I also caused myself constipation which results from elevated cortisol. It makes sense evolutionarily that if we are being chased by a predator our body wouldn’t be spending energy on digestion and elimination, and wouldn’t be cueing us to stop for a bathroom break.
Recently with studying candida overgrowth and other side effects of poor digestion/elimination, I realized how absolutely critical it is to work on my mental game and stress response.
What is stress exactly?
Stress can be anything “real”, as in a tiger chasing you or sitting through a tough exam, or “imagined/perceived”, as in a worry that your partner will leave you, or feeling like you’re not good enough at your job.
Dealing with real immediate stress should go such that our sympathetic nervous system jumps into action, with responses such as a spike in cortisol, adrenaline, increased heart rate, vasodilation, dilation of the pupils etc so that we can escape the immediate threat. However chronic stress is what most of us deal with these days, and although it may be all too real with our “busy modern” lifestyles, we can choose to remediate the effects with how we mentally respond to the stress. This will control our physiological responses in turn.
Why it’s so important to control your stress response
The reason why stress can mess you up so badly is that it involves an all-encompassing mental and physical system of responses. When stress hormones are released, your body’s energy is devoted to immediate action, and taken away from vital “maintenance” activities like digestion, immunity, detoxifying, repair etc. These functions are needed every day to keep your body running cleanly and efficiently, kind of like your car getting an oil change. Normally these are completed during a restful downtime, however with the chronic stress response being a constant force, you may not ever give them the chance to work.
Stress wreaks havoc on all of your body’s tissues
In a normal immune response the immune cells incite a battle on the offending agent, and when the work is done cortisol comes and tells them when to slow down or stop to prevent damage to the body’s own tissues.
However during a chronic stress response, all body tissues are targets for damage because the immune system becomes down-regulated to sensing cortisol. It re-programs itself to the “new normal” of a higher level of cortisol. It no longer reads the cortisol and keeps waging a battle on “the enemy”, which could now be any of the body’s own tissues. This causes damage and inflammation which could manifest as any number of health problems.
Cellular-level low grade inflammation is now cited as the root cause for most serious conditions and diseases including obesity, cancer, diabetes, auto-immune diseases and heart disease. This is why chronic stress can cause so much trouble for the body. A similar inflammatory cascade resulting in cell death and loss of nerve transmission also happens in the brain itself.
How to deal with chronic stress and anxiety with short every day routines
1. Breathing
This was a major working point for me, and still is, after working on it every day for about a month now. It’s definitely getting better but it’s really taken time! However take inspiration from this image (which I have as the lock screen on my phone):
And begin gradually I did, with lots of research.
When I was really panicked and almost hyperventilating, the first thing that helped me was to focus on breathing OUT. I read an article that explained that when you are anxious, you keep trying to breathe IN more because you feel like you can’t get a deep enough breath, when in reality you’re not making enough SPACE for your in-breath, because you’re not cleansing your body of carbon dioxide by not breathing OUT completely.
So, breathing STEP ONE:
Focus on breathing out, caving your abdomen in completely, pushing the air out noisily through your nose until your body is empty. Then relax and let your pelvis and belly and lower ribs fill naturally with fresh, oxygen-filled air. Keep your shoulders down and neck and jaw loose.
Do this as many times as you need to. It took probably a week of doing this, for several minutes, a few times a day for me to start calming my breath.
Breathing, STEP TWO:
Once you feel like you can get a deep breath again, expand your capacity and relaxation with this technique from Dr. Andrew Weil, one of the most respected experts in holistic health.
Do this technique at least twice per day. You can’t do it too often. Dr. Weil says it’s the single most effective preventive technique he’s ever discovered in all his years and travels.
Here is a link if you have trouble using with the iFrame viewer above.
Envision a small golden flame the size of a match on your pelvic floor in the middle of the core of your body, between your hip bones. As you breathe in, the flame grows bigger and wider to widen out your pelvis and fill your core with heat and energy. As you breathe out, picture your pelvic floor and hip bones pinching and folding up to squeeze the flame up and out of your body, so that it shrinks to a little match again. Engage your pelvic floor as you do this (sort of like kegels, but that is out of the scope of this article. You can google pelvic floor engagement exercises!)
Sadie explains that this gets your core working to bring fresh air to all your tissues and fire up your energy, digestion, detox and shedding extra weight. I found the golden flame image really useful.
2. Baroque music
Baroque music has been said to calm the mind and as a result all those other responses like heart rate and hormonal signals. The tempo is often similar to that of your heart beat which naturally calms your breath and slows your stress response.
I went online and downloaded albums called “100 Best Baroque” and “The #1 Baroque Album”. Some of the artists include Bach, Vivaldi, Handel and Purcell. Here is a sample of a beautiful song I find very calming:
I put on baroque music whenever I am walking somewhere, commuting or working. I try to make it an automatic because I do find that when it’s playing I remember to take more deep breaths and the beauty calms my mind.
3. Yoga in the bathroom
I’m talking about the bathroom at work, or wherever you might be spending your daytime hours and sitting still for long periods. Even 1 minute of a few quick poses with deep breathing can do wonders to re-centre your mind and get you breathing again. These would be standing poses of course. Please don’t get down on the floor in your office bathroom…
One of my favourites is the twisted chair pose, seen below. Since the pose is fairly uncomfortable it’s natural to hold your breath, but that is clearly not the point! I like to remember to force myself to breathe deep into the back of the body, keep the feet engaged, keep the spine long with the shoulders away from the ears, and try to lift the belly off the thigh.
Here are a few other poses you can do in just a few minutes at your desk. They’re not even that awkward-looking so you shouldn’t get too many strange looks. I would seriously recommend printing this off because “out of sight out of mind” is all too true. Even if you might think “Oh, I should do some stretches”, if you have a little routine right in front of you, you are sooo much more likely to actually do it.
4. Herbs and Supplements
Ashwagandha is a known “adaptogen” herb that has been used for thousands of years. It has been shown to provide the relaxing and mood-lifting benefits of anti-depressant meds without any of the risks or side effects. Of course you should do your own thorough research first to check if this is right for you, especially if you take other medications.
The effects of ashwagandha take some time to build up so you could try one whole bottle and then evaluate. I got a bottle from my local natural foods store for about $18.00. I’ve been taking it for about a month and haven’t noticed any significant effects, but I honestly think I’ve just wound myself too tight to be able to appreciate this herb. I will continue taking it and hopefully as I work on my anxiety it will have more effect. I’ve read some great reviews/results online.
Magnesium is known to be one of the main factors lacking in our modern diet. It has a gentle calming effect. I take 300-600mg daily with dinner, or with a snack before bedtime. (Do your own research or check with a practitioner first).
B Complex Vitamins are known to help with brain and liver health, which can help with anxiety and detox. I take a low-dose B complex which has 25-50 mg of each type of B vitamin. Take these with food for best absorption.
5. Sleep and Eating
When you’re working on stress and anxiety, it’s important to show your animal, instinct-driven body that you are in a “time of plenty” not a famine or drought or under attack or anything.
Therefore getting quality sleep in a restful environment is important. I wear yellow-tinted glasses for an hour or 2 before bed to kickstart my melatonin production, and use f.lux on my computer screen to make it mellow-coloured. I also wear a soft comfortable black eye mask to bed for complete darkness. I usually do a quick session of yoga and breathing before bed – even 5 minutes can make a huge difference to ease tightness, get the breath slowed down and calm the mind.
I was beginning to experiment with intermittent fasting a couple of weeks ago, until I found research that said if you’re already dealing with stress or anxiety, fasting may trigger a greater stress response in the body. It’s important to show the body there is food available and prevent a stress response. So for now I am working on getting fat-adapted (fuelling the body with fat instead of carbs) and I may approach intermittent fasting again at a later time.
6. Holding Tension
This is an exercise of constant vigilance. Whenever you remember, check in with yourself and feel where you’re holding tension. For me this is my jaw and my neck/shoulders. Sometimes even when I’m “relaxed” on the couch or whatever, I’ll notice I’m clenching one hand, or some of my toes. I make a conscious effort to release this tension and take a few deep breaths. I also massage my face, jaw and neck sometimes while breathing deeply. Even if you’re not stressed or tense this feels amazing.
One final thing on this is I’ve noticed in many of the yoga sessions I’ve done, the instructor will mention “softening the eyes” or “keeping the gaze soft”. I think this is important especially with the amount of time looking at screens, and with our active, worried minds. Gazing softly helps calm your thoughts and soothe those creases from your forehead. I think it subconsciously makes you view the world in a more understanding, friendly frame as well.
In Closing
I know a lot of this stuff seems inconvenient or time-consuming, but even if you remember twice per day to do a little bit of stretching and breathing, and put those supplements right on your countertop so you can’t forget. I put them in a little container every evening and put them with my lunch for work. Make it a reflex to play that baroque music during your commute, and make a point to truly appreciate the beautiful sound.
Simple things like taking a moment for yourself, breathing and listening to music can be the beginning of a meditation practice, which is still out of my reach at this point but after having tried the above techniques for about a month I can see that I will eventually be able to get there.
What do you do for stress relief or to stop the anxious mental chatter? Share below!
