Aromatherapy is a holistic practice that utilizes natural plant extracts to promote health and well-being. Blending essential oils for stress and anxiety can be an effective way to relax, unwind, and alleviate tension. When creating aromatherapy blends for stress and anxiety, it's crucial to consider the individual's preferences and sensitivities to scents. Essential oils are potent, so they should be used sparingly and with caution.
Here are some popular essential oils known for their calming and stress-relieving properties:
- Lavender: Lavender is one of the most well-known essential oils for relaxation. It's believed to promote calmness and reduce stress levels.
- Chamomile: Both Roman and German chamomile essential oils have soothing effects, aiding in relaxation and stress relief.
- Bergamot: Known for its citrusy and uplifting scent, bergamot can help alleviate stress and anxiety.
- Ylang Ylang: This essential oil has a sweet and floral scent that's thought to promote relaxation and reduce stress.
- Frankincense: With its woody, grounding aroma, frankincense is often used to calm the mind and deepen relaxation.
- Geranium: Geranium essential oil has a balancing effect and may help in reducing anxiety and stress.
Here are a few do it yourself recipes. Please note that these generic recipes do not take your health conditions and medications into consideration. Nor will they relieve your other complaints or give you all essential oil options for your scent preferences.
Relaxing Room Diffuser Blend
- 3 drops Lavender
- 2 drops Bergamot
- 2 drops Frankincense
Directions: Add the essential oil blend to a diffuser and let the aroma fill the room.
Calming Body Oil Blend
- 5 drops Chamomile
- 3 drops Ylang Ylang
- 2 drops Geranium
- 1 oz (30ml) Carrier oil (like sweet almond oil or coconut oil)
Directions: Mix the essential oils with the carrier oil in a bottle and use it for a relaxing massage or apply a small amount to pulse points.
FROM MY EXPERIENCE…
As a Certified Aromatherapist, the most common complaint reported by my clients is stress and/or anxiety. This is often accompanied by trouble sleeping and headaches.
Because I take a holistic approach, I usually customize a blend for up to three problems. This often makes the most sense when the conditions are related. For example, someone’s stress could be causing them to not sleep well, and not enough sleep can lead to headaches. However, someone else might have headaches that prevent them from sleeping and the lack of sleep can cause stress. So, treating all three complaints usually leads to success.
However, each client has a unique set of complaints and scent preferences, so I have made 26 unique stress and anxiety blends and in different formats. The most used oils were clary sage, lavender, and neroli. Some clients received essential oil blends for their diffuser, inhalers, lotion, massage oil, or a mist, depending on what was most convenient for them.
92% of my clients found relief with their stress and anxiety blends. The other 8% were inconclusive because they experienced changes in their lives that may have reduced their stress levels.
Examples of the cases and blends are below. Note that these were made for specific individuals and won’t consider your health conditions and medications or scent preferences. Special consideration needs to be made for allergies, pregnancies, children, etc. so it’s important to research the oils and use them cautiously.
I made a diffuser oil blend for a client who, in addition to anxiety, was also having trouble sleeping and suffering from allergies. Before using her blend, she rated her anxiety at a seven out of ten. After using her blend for three weeks her anxiety dropped to a four out of ten.
Diffuser Oil Blend (5ml)
14 drops basil
14 drops clary sage
47 drops lavender
19 drops neroli
Another client was suffering from stress, migraines and sleep problems so I made the following inhaler.
Inhaler
4 drops mandarin
2 drops lemon
10 drops lavender
4 drops sandalwood
For a client dealing with anxiety, memory issues and Parkinson’s Disease I made the following lotion blend.
Lotion (237ml)
227ml unscented lotion
1 ½ teaspoon lavender
¾ teaspoon clary sage
½ teaspoon marjoram
I made a massage oil blend for a client who complained of stress, nasal congestion and night sweats.
Massage Oil (225ml)
½ teaspoon clary sage
½ teaspoon lemon
1 teaspoon lavender
½ teaspoon frankincense
214ml fractionated coconut oil
For a client suffering from stress, weight gain and a low mood I made a mist for inhalation.
Misting Spray (60ml)
9 drops bergamot
10 drops lavender
5 drops black pepper
6 drops patchouli
3ml solubilizer
55ml water
12 drops preservative
Aromatherapy can be a wonderful complementary and natural approach to stress and anxiety relief.
For more ways to manage your stress see four-pillars-of-health-part-1-stress.
To learn more or to book your own Aromatherapy Consultation, please see aromatherapy-services.
