Blog

Situational Anxiety and Essential Oils

I have had a few different conversations recently in reference to anxiety, and I wanted to share a question that was proposed to me:

 “Gav, is there something I can do with essential oils to help alleviate anxiety when I feel it start to build?”

The short answer is yes, there are preventive actions we can implement with specific essential oils. There are many essential oils that are considered anxiolytics (something implemented to reduce feelings of anxiety) or that have anxiolytic capacity.

 The fastest way to affect feelings of anxiety is through proper breathing because we control the oxygen flow into our bodies. When I enhance my breathing with essential oils, I see profound results.

 We have to remember though that the body thinks it is helping us when we begin to feel anxiety. When we condemn ourselves or our body during anxious times, we decrease our capacity to feel what the body is trying to tell us through these signals.

Anxiety is based in fear, and we often associate feelings of fear with our fight or flight mechanism. The area of the brain that is associated with fight or flight is called the amygdala. It is part of the limbic system and is actually a pair (amygdalae) meaning we have one in each hemisphere of the brain.

 The amygdala helps to regulate emotion and encode memory or store memories in a way the body can later utilize for its benefit. When you or I experience emotions and especially strong emotions and traumatic experiences, the amygdala stores it. 

 This is why you may get tense when hearing someone yell because as a child you were yelled at by someone. The amygdala remembers it.

When we come upon another traumatic situation, we go from frontal lobe activity (executive functioning) to the amygdala. It sends out the signals to run or fight because it remembers how traumatic the last experience was for us and our system as a whole. 

Chronic stress, caffeine, and diet as a whole with many other things can stimulate amygdala function. What many people don’t understand is that when we live in a chronic stress environment, we tend to live and make a lot of decisions from the amygdala. PTSD would be an example of living in the amygdala. 

I believe stress is the body’s main killer. The top deadly diseases aren’t called stress, but almost all roads lead back to it. Therein lies one of the many powers of essential oils. Essential oils have direct access to the limbic system through our olfactory system (smell). Where is the amygdala housed? Boom! In the limbic system, correct!

We can immediately support the brain, central nervous system and body as a whole through smelling and even the topical application of essential oils. 

There are a number of excellent essential oils that assist with our mood. Please reach out and see our selection of essential oils that assist with changes in mood by clicking <here>

###

As a courtesy to you, we just want to add cautions and a disclaimer after every post to remind everyone that the science and application of essential oils is unsettled, so while information on this subject may benefit some, it may not for others.  With that said, if the information in this post wasn’t clear enough, our disclaimer and cautions are available for your consideration.

We aim to present complete, relevant, and accurate content within context. The information and resources from this content are for informational and educational purposes only. This is NOT a replacement for medical, psychological or other treatment, We make NO guarantees or claims; expressed or implied. We accept NO liability related to your comprehension, or application

Listed below are cautions if you plan on using any of the essential oils mentioned in this post. Please do not use essential oils if you suffer from seizures. Consult your healthcare practitioner before beginning any essential oil regimen. Verify any essential oil is safe for use with young children. Keep away from eyes and sensitive skin areas. Some essential oils may be photosensitive, be aware of how this may affect your skin.

…

Thanks for reading …