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How Essential Oils Affect The Mind

How Essential Oils Affect The Mind

Essential oils are a natural way to positively affect your mind and spirit. Using essential oils to consciously enhance well-being, focus, and energy dates back as far as 5000 years, at least. But who really knows how long we’ve been using essential oils. One thing is for sure. Anything that dates back that far and maintains a great reputation must be an amazing resource to help make our lives better.

What’s the science behind essential oils?

When we breathe in essential oil, our limbic system is quickly activated, which is one of the primary components of the human body that regulates our emotions.

The many different properties of essential oils stimulate our nervous system as well, which directly correlates to our emotional state and mental state.

Now, let's dive a little bit deeper into some specific ways essential oils affect the mind.

1. Enhance well-being and mood

 As mentioned before, essential oils have many components that affect the complex system of the human body. For example, lavender has a few compounds, linalool and clary sage, that have been shown to reduce anxiety and help with depression - according to studies. Antidepressents in essential oils is actually fairly common. Another common example is chamomile, which is often consumed as a tea. Chamomile contains alpha and beta-pinene, compounds that work as antidepressants. No wonder chamomile tea can be quite addicting.

2. Promotes relaxation

True relaxation and essential oils goes hand in hand. For most people, when you bring up essential oils, the first idea that pops into mind is a relaxing one. But there’s more to it. It’s been well documented that essential oils help us relax. It’s a fairly complex process, actually, because it involved many different areas of the brain. But one popular theory is that linalool, found in lavender, helps to regulate the neurohormone GABA. GABA directly helps to regulate levels of adrenaline, noradrenaline, and dopamine. Long story short, if you want to relax, implementing a routine use of essential oils would help. And maybe reducing your caffeine intake too...

3. Enhances focus and concentration

You’ve probably heard of eucalyptus before, one of the most popular essential oils. Why? Because it helps focus and memory. Something us humans are always trying to improve. It works in the same way that dementia substances work, actually. It increases a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine that helps regulate brain activity. Pretty powerful, right?

 

4. Balances energy

One of the most beneficial ways to use essential oils, in my opinion, is by consciously using them to balance your energy. Maintaining your energy is key in today’s world. With work, stress, and the unknown state of what’s happening in the world. And the beautiful thing about using essential oils to help with energy is that it’s all natural and it can easily be adjusted to fit exactly what you need.

Adaptogens are what the oils are called that can relax or stimulate. And the way it works is really interesting. Adaptogens help the body process stress by recharging the adrenal glands, which can be easily overstimulated or exhausted from consistent stress. The most common adaptogens are lavender, rose, and geranium. So, if you’re currently under a lot of stress and need to wind down, or maybe you need a pick me up, I highly recommend trying these out.

So, with all of that information now in mind, how do YOU think using essentials oils in a more routine way could affect your life specifically? Let us know with a comment!

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