You’ve probably already heard that aromatherapy, the therapeutic use of essential oils, can have a positive impact on your emotional health. You may have already experienced this. Perhaps you like to inhale the scent of lavender to help relieve stress, or wild orange to uplift you and give you a burst of energy. But how do essential oils actually affect our emotions?
Aromatherapy has a direct impact on the olfactory and limbic systems of our brains. When we inhale a scent, it travels through our nasal passage and into our olfactory bulb. From the olfactory bulb, it is sent into the brain where the limbic system processes it. This causes the limbic system to release neurochemicals which can be relaxing, sedative, energizing, etc., depending on the essential oil that is being used. Scent has further influence on the brain as different scents can make us think of different things and stimulate memories. For example, the smell of chocolate chip cookies baking may make us think of making cookies with our grandma, and this memory makes us happy. Alternatively, (if you’re me), the scent of ylang ylang essential oil reminds me of rotten Easter lilies! (Ylang ylang is a wonderful essential oil, but I use it in very small quantities because I find the smell so overpowering. Different people will have different reactions to the same scent. Most people think lavender smells lovely, but I know a couple people who can’t stand the smell of it.) It’s interesting to see various people’s different reactions to a scent.
So what about when essential oils are applied topically? Applying oils topically can also affect our emotions. Naturally we’re going to still smell them when they are on our bodies, and so we are still getting their influence through the olfactory bulb. However, applying them to our skin allows them to soak into the layers of our tissue and into our blood, and from there to our cells and the brain. Applying oils topically is certainly helpful for physical issues (example: oils that support digestive issues being rubbed onto the area of the stomach), but, and here’s the big deal: our physical and emotional well being is DIRECTLY CONNECTED. And aromatherapy helps to support BOTH emotional and physical wellness.
There are five stages of healing that aromatherapy can assist with:
1. Healing of the physical body
2. Healing of the heart/emotions.
3. Releasing limiting beliefs.
4. Increase of spiritual awareness and connection.
5. Inspiring the fulfillment of one’s life purpose.
Emotions usually take up residence in our bodies, especially if they’ve been hanging around for awhile. Ever notice how a couple days of constant stress starts to make your shoulders tight and achy? When negative emotions like sadness, anger, or depression are in the body for prolonged periods of time, they can start to cause us more serious physical issues and even disease. Turn things from the other direction, if you’ve been suffering from a physical ailment for a long time, this can have negative impacts on your emotions. Being sick can be frustrating and stressful! Luckily essential oils have an impact on us both physically and mentally/emotionally. Using oils that address both the physical and emotional issues can have a more powerful effect. This is especially true when we combine them with other therapeutic modalities like massage, acupuncture, warm baths, etc. Essential oils can raise the vibration of the physical body and at the same time raise the emotional well being of the mind.
Release and Receive -
Negative emotions that are stuck in the body must be released before there is space to receive positive feelings. Emotional healing occurs as old negative feelings come up and we are able to “see” them. Sometimes we know we feel crappy, but aren’t sure what is the cause. Aromatherapy won’t do our emotional work for us. Instead, essential oils shed light on what we are holding onto that is not serving us well, so that we can recognize and then take steps to throw away what is the source of our emotional disease. This can be an uncomfortable process that we have all probably experienced at least once in our lives. While aromatherapy helps to bring up the negative that needs to be purged, it also gently supports us so that we can work through the process with grace.
Resources:
AROMATOOLS, 2015, Modern Essentials: A Contemporary Guide to the Therapeutic Use of Essential Oils, Sixth Edition, Orem, UT, AromaTools
ENLIGHTEN ALTERNATIVE HEALING, LLC, 2017, Emotions & Essential Oils A Reference Guide for Emotional Healing Sixth Edition, Salt Lake City, UT, Enlighten Alternative Healing, LLC
