How to Balance Your Emotions using These Essential Oils

Have you ever imagined that essential oils could relax, energize, and calm your emotions, or make you concentrate on your goals? According to research, inhaling aromatherapy oils can influence your feelings, behaviors, moods, and even memories. Your nostrils are the gateway to your olfactory system (=sense of smell), through which you will access the therapeutic effects of essential oils on your emotions.

In The Smell Report(1), published by Kate Fox, Director of Social Issues Research Center, she writes:

“Our olfactory receptors are directly connected to the limbic system … which is thought to be the seat of emotion. Smell sensations are relayed to the cortex, where ‘cognitive’ recognition occurs, only after the deepest parts of our brains have been stimulated. Thus, by the time we correctly name a particular scent as, for example, ‘vanilla,’ the scent has already activated the limbic system, triggering more deep-seated emotional responses.”

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Therefore, our limbic system is the center of emotion and cognition, the pivot for behavior, memory, motivation, and moods. Using essential oils can alter negative emotions and spontaneously redirect your feelings to desirable influences. If you’re looking to take charge of your emotions with the help of essential oils, here is a list of human emotions and the various therapeutic oils that can influence, change, and improve your moods and behaviors ultimately.

Human Emotions and the Various Essential Oils that Can Influence Them

Human beings express various emotions such as anxiety, depression, non-motivation and low energy, pain, stress, confidence, poor memory and concentration, anger and irritability, fear, grief and sadness, loneliness, self-confidence, and self-esteem.  You can gain control over these emotions by applying essential oils on or around yourself. Let us assess some emotions and know the various oils that can help us to improve the conditions accordingly.

1. The Emotions of Anxiety

You can reduce anxiety and heartaches by inhaling diffused essential oils or applying them on yourself. It can trigger emotional distress and even high blood pressure. Experts have suggested that over forty million adults in the United States may be suffering from symptoms of anxiety and emotional traumas (3). Some of the essential oils that can quell and quash anxiety are:

• Lavender, Bergamot, Mandarin, Frankincense, Sweet Orange, Palo Santo, Rose, Vetiver, Neroli, Clary Sage, Cedarwood, Geranium, Patchouli, Sandalwood, and Lemon.

2. The Emotions of Depression

Depression occurs when you are experiencing the following symptoms: loss of appetite, sadness, low sex drive, fatigue, low self-esteem, and more (4). Nevertheless, here are some essential oils that can help in relieving depressive emotions:

• Lavender, Ylang Ylang, Roman Chamomile, Bergamot, Sandalwood, Neroli, Grapefruit, Clary Sage, Geranium, Jasmine, Lemon, Palo Santo, Rose, Orange, Mandarin, and Helichrysum.

3. The Emotions of Non-motivation, Fatigue, and Low Energy

You may experience demotivation, fatigue, and low energy towards actualizing your goals and objectives. Therefore, if you want relief, you should apply these essential oils:

• Cypress, Frankincense, Clary Sage, Ginger, Bergamot, Grapefruit, Basil, Helichrysum, Lemon, Sandalwood, Peppermint, Jasmine, Black Pepper, Rosemary, Patchouli, and Vetiver.

4. The Emotions of Pain

According to Kim Saeed, (6) emotional pains and trauma can lead to anxiety, depression, and panic attacks. However, essential oils are made to handle such conditions at cellular levels by deleting wrong information and re-ordering the right information thereby balancing and harmonizing cellular functions accordingly. Examples of essential oils that can handle emotions of pain are:

• Lavender, Hyssop, Melissa, Basil, Bergamot, Cedarwood, Inner Child, and Frankincense.

5. The Emotions of Anger and Irritability

Are you worried over your sudden bursts of anger and irritability? You can get over this evil attitude and begin to manage your temperaments by using these essential oils:

• Ylang-ylang, Orange, Lavender, Patchouli, Bergamot, Myrrh, Roman Chamomile, Peace and Calming, Neroli, Petitgrain, Orange, Rose, Vetiver, and Jasmine.

Research has proved that these essential oils can help in anger management, as they can reduce your blood pressure, ensure emotional balance, to release frustrating thoughts.  (2)

6. The Emotions of Loneliness

Do you know that you can fight loneliness with essential oils? (5) The feelings and emotions of loneliness may begin to affect your productivity and longevity because it usually leads to depression, anxiety, stress, and eventual death. Here are some essential oils that can aid in fighting the thoughts and feelings of loneliness:

• Rosemary, Marjoram sweet, Bergamot, Roman Chamomile, Palo Santo, Frankincense, Clary Sage, and Helichrysum.

7. The Emotions of Confidence and Self-Esteem

Regain your self-confidence and self-esteem by using essential oils. These oils can help you overcome inferiority complex, feeling of worthlessness, and hopelessness. Some oils in this category include:

• Cypress, Orange, Rosemary, Jasmine, Grapefruit, Bay Laurel, and Bergamot.

8. The Emotions of Stress

Reduce stress and other related ailments by using these plant oils such as:

• Lavender, Geranium, Clary Sage, Roman Chamomile, Palo Santo, Jasmine, Mandarin, Sandalwood, Bergamot, Frankincense, Grapefruit, Neroli, Vetiver, Rose, and Patchouli.

9. The Emotions of Poor Memory and Concentration

Do you know that you can improve your memory and concentration by merely inhaling and rubbing essential oils on your body? Experts have proved that you can enhance your cognitive skills and maintain positive emotions by using these organic plant oils. Go for oils such as:

• Peppermint, Hyssop, Basil, Lemon,  Rosemary, Black Pepper, and Cypress.

10. The Emotions of Fear

Fear provokes the feelings of anxiety, grief, and pain. It paralyzes your willpower and renders a man weak, impotent, and can lead to death ultimately. Moreover, fear is the primal cause of high blood pressure in most adults. You can overcome this negative emotion by applying these essential oils:

• Bergamot, Grapefruit, Lemon, Vetiver, Roman Chamomile, Orange, Palo Santo, Jasmine, Sandalwood, Cedarwood, Frankincense, Clary Sage, and Neroli.

11. The Emotions of Grief and Sadness

Several conditions can lead to grief and sadness such as the death of a loved one, loss of fortunes, treasures, properties, and many more. Many folks have developed hypertension during their moments of grief and sadness. Here are some essential oils, which you can apply for alleviating this painful condition:

• Rose, Helichrysum, Neroli, Vetiver, Cypress, Sandalwood, Palo Santo, and Frankincense.

12. The Emotions of Happiness and Calmness

Do you want to enjoy peace, happiness, and tranquility? Apply these essential oils on yourself and encounter the wonders of nature in calming and effusing peace of mind, happiness and joy into you. Some of the oils that can transform your mind into a blissful state include:

• Grapefruit, Lemon, Orange, Ylang Ylang, Rose, Neroli, Bergamot, Geranium, Palo Santo, Frankincense, and Sandalwood.

How to Apply Essential Oils and Influence Your Emotions

There are various ways of using essential oils for emotions, such as:

1. Inhaling the vapors of essential oil from a bowl of warm water. Add 3-5 drops of oil into a bowl filled with warm water and put your face over the streams of vapor. Inhale these vapors from the container for some minutes, and you will get relief from negative emotions and bad temper, and experience enhanced moods or emotional lifting. Moreover, draping or covering your head with a towel over the bowl of warm water will boost the effects of the oil on you.
2. Using essential oils in a roll-on on your body.
3. Perceiving the aroma of your favorite essential oils directly from the bottle after opening the cover and placing close to your nostrils.
4. You can diffuse essential oils using a room diffuser and breathing in the aroma of the oil that is being dispersed through the room or house you’re in. Inhaling the scent fully taking deep breaths.
5. Applying some drops to your diffuser jewelry and inhaling the fragrance from there. This method is especially useful for working towards balanced emotions when in stressful on-the-go situations such as traffic jams or other public places.
6. Adding some drops of oil to your bathing water can help to improve your emotions and moods as well. Plus, the added benefit of the hot bath will aid in overall relaxation of your muscle tension caused by stress.
7. Rubbing essential oils diluted in a carrier oil on the throat and the back of your neck to get relieved emotionally.

In Summary

Essential oils are powerful for balancing our emotions. Each person will have slightly varying responses to different oils, but once you’ve found the oils that make you happy or less stressed, it’s an immensely powerful tool. Carry your favorite blends or single oils with you in a roll-on bottle, ready to go whenever you need. If you like, purchase a car diffuser to be able to enjoy aromatherapy during longer commutes or if you tend to get anxiety while stuck in traffic. Incorporate essential oils for mood-lifting today and let us all know how you’re doing in the comments below.

To your well-being,

Resources

• https://www.recipeswithessentialoils.com/how-do-essential-oils-affect-emotions/
• https://www.aromaweb.com/articles/emotionalwellbeing.asp
• http://www.sirc.org/publik/smell.pdf (1)
• http://www.meetpenny.com/2014/03/essential-oils-anger-management/ (2)
• https://adaa.org/about-adaa/press-room/facts-statistics (3)
• https://draxe.com/essential-oils/essential-oils-for-depression/ (4)
• https://medium.com/@meetjennifer/fight-loneliness-with-essential-oils-97271414b6da (5)
• https://kimsaeed.com/2016/03/21/the-top-8-essential-oils-for-emotional-healing/ (6)