How can essential oils help relieve stress?

Using aromatherapy to help relax and balance the mind has been a practice put in place for thousands of years.

Many essential oils and essential oil blends can help relieve anxious thoughts and intense feelings by stimulating the olfactory system. This is the region in the brain that regulates emotions, heart rate, and blood pressure.

The use of aromatherapy has been known to positively affect this region with little to no side effects. Lavender is one of the more popular essential oils for stress and anxiety due to its high levels of linalool, a naturally occurring chemical constituent that is responsible for stimulating the olfactory system.

What essential oils help with stress?

Some of the best and most popular essential oils for stress include:

•         Lavender
•         Clary sage
•         Lemon
•         Bergamot
•         Ylang ylang

Perhaps the most widely used essential oil on this list, lavender’s high levels of linalool make it extremely competent for reducing stress, improving sleep quality, and lifting low moods. In fact, an evidence-based study conducted in 2013 even found that lavender could be more effective than some common over-the-counter stress medications.

Clary sage is another oil that contains naturally high levels of linalool and has been shown to be extremely competent in reducing levels of stress as well as regulating emotions and keeping blood pressure down.

Citrus oils, including lemon and bergamot, are commonly known for their ability to uplift the mind and promote feelings of balance, positivity, and renewal. A study conducted in 2006 even concluded that lemon could be more beneficial at reducing stress than popular lavender oil.

Famous for its soft and beautiful scent, ylang ylang is also able to positively influence the processes in the hippocampus region of the brain, naturally encouraging producing of serotonin and producing a strong anti-anxiety effect.