In my DoTERRA VIP group this past week, I did a small class about using essential oils to manage moods. I got a ton of feedback and wanted to offer a simplified version here on the blog for all those who are interested.
USING ESSENTIAL OILS FOR EMOTIONAL BENEFIT
Whether you are new to essential oils or have been using them for years, the topic of EMOTIONAL AROMATHERAPY is both fascinating + applicable in everyday life. Yes, essential oils can be useful for cleaning, cooking, maintaining good health + promoting well-being, BUT if you haven’t tried using essential oils to MANAGE your EMOTIONS, you are missing out on a huge BENEFIT that essential oils have to offer.
In this post I’m going to share how essential oils are POWERFUL when it comes to managing mood, why you would want to use them for emotional benefit, + the specific dōTERRA products that can help you manage your emotions.
When you are overwhelmed with grief or sadness, need to be energized + motivated, or need calming + peaceful feelings throughout your day, essential oils can be helpful in managing your MOOD.
THE SCIENCE BEHIND EMOTIONAL AROMATHERAPY
As you may know, each essential oil has its own unique chemical makeup. The chemical design of an essential oil determines what it is useful for—some chemical elements make an essential oil useful for cleaning, while others make an oil beneficial for the skin, and the list goes on. When it comes to aromatherapy, essential oils can be used to create specific EMOTIONAL RESPONSES depending on their chemical makeup.
TRIGGERS IN THE BRAIN: When an essential oil is inhaled, it travels through the nose + processed by the portion of the brain that is responsible for controlling our sense of smell. From there, aromatic pathways connect the scent to the part of our brain where memories + experiences are stored. As the aroma travels through aromatic pathways, memories are triggered, giving us an emotional response.
PERSONALIZED EXPERIENCE: Because everyone has different memories + life experiences, each of us will have a different response when using essential oils for managing our emotions. No two people will have the same exact response to an oil, BUT if you use the correct oils, it is easy to manage MOOD + EMOTIONS using the aroma of essential oils.
WHY USE ESSENTIAL OILS TO MANAGE MOOD?
In our stressful, ever-changing world, there are many sources that can be used to manage emotions. So you might be wondering, “Why should I use essential oils to manage my emotions?”
FIRST, one of the biggest reasons to use essential oils for mood management is that they are NATURAL, safe substances that won’t cause harmful problems, or endanger your health + body. Many of the substances + sources we use to manage stress or deal with our emotions can end up HURTING us in other ways. *Using essential oils for mood management provides a safe + simple way to deal with complex emotions that are constantly changing.*
SECOND, essential oils provide a great way to QUICKLY alter your mood. In many cases, you can start to feel the calming, soothing, or uplifting effects of an essential oil from the moment that you open the bottle. INHALING essential oils, applying them to the skin, or diffusing them in the air allows you to quickly alter your mood because the oil will generate an emotional response within the brain from the first sniff.
LASTLY, essential oils provide the user with a CONVENIENT way to manage mood nearly any time of day + in any location. While there are other healthy ways to manage our emotions—speaking with friends or a counselor, doing physical activities like yoga, or giving ourselves a break by taking a vacation—these options aren’t always practical right in the moment when we wish to alter our mood. However, essential oils provide a SIMPLE way to manage your emotions while at work, home, school, or in practically any circumstance.
HOW DO I USE ESSENTIAL OILS TO MANAGE MY EMOTIONS?
Now that you’ve had a little introduction to the science of emotional aromatherapy, you might be wondering HOW exactly to USE essential oils to manage your emotions. When it comes to aromatherapy, essential oils can basically be categorized into one of two categories—UPLIFTING + CALMING.
CALMING essential oils mostly consist of floral oils due to their chemical makeup. Some of my favorite calming essential oils are: Basil, Bergamot, Cilantro, Coriander, Clary Sage, Jasmine, Lavender, Neroli, Petitgrain, Roman Chamomile, Spikenard + Vetiver.
UPLIFTING essential oils are usually in the citrus, spice, or mint family because these plants produce oils with invigorating, uplifting, + energizing aromas. Some of my favorite uplifting oils are: Bergamot, Blue Tansy, Douglas Fir, Grapefruit, Fennel, Lemon, Lime, Peppermint, Tangerine + Wild Orange.
EMOTIONAL AROMATHERAPY WHEEL
This wheel breaks down the emotional effects of essential oils even further. The chemical makeup + unique plant part of each essential oil gives it grounding, soothing, calming, renewing, harmonizing, energizing, warming, or uplifting properties. When you want to produce a specific feeling or emotion, you can choose the essential oil that best fits your needs.
Within the wheel, there are so many essential oils you can use to benefit from the emotional effect. Even after years of using essential oils in our home, we still have our favorite oils to manage our moods. Even each person in our home has their favorites.
It’s a learning process, but as you continue to learn about essential oils + and the benefits they have + and how they react with you, you will too find your favorites.
DoTERRA has made this easy for you with our Aromatouch and Aromatherapy kits. If you would like to know more about these two products, you can read my post about them here.
Begin your joining to mood management today, join me in the journey to a clean, natural method of managing yours and everyone’s moods around you!
