“RELIEF OF ANXIETY WITH AROMATHERAPY”
Danielle Sade
B. Sc. Nutrition/Certified Aromatherapist

Many People are discovering the value of aromatherapy and its anxiety relieving benefits.
“Have you ever experienced and unpleasant emotional state ranging from unease to intense fear?” if you did, it is most likely that you might have had experienced a form of anxiety.

Symptoms of Anxiety.
The most common symptoms are heart palpitations throbbing or stabbing pains in the chest, a feeling of tightness and inability to take enough air, and a tendency to sigh or hyperventilate. Tension in the muscles of the back and neck often leading to headaches, back pains and muscle spasms. Anxiety will cause disruptive sleep patterns that will affect one’s health and sense of well being.

Sedative properties of Essential oils
Essential oils can help relieve symptoms of anxiety. Creating healthy changes in your life, with the help of a professional Aromatherapist to guide you with an Aromatherapy program, adapting to a healthy diet, eliminating caffeine and sugar, becoming physically active. You will be able to create a healthier state of mind and the feelings of anxiety will subside into a feeling of peace.

An aroma can create a positive thought!
“Imagine smelling the aroma of lavender. The aroma of lavender can embrace your thoughts with comfort and softness and at the same time embrace you with protective feeling. These words may sound poetic to the ear, but they are actually the science of your sense of smell translating smell of the aroma to a positive thought of what the oil of lavender reminds us of. Your sense of smell has capability of traveling into the oldest part of the brain; the limbic brain that is the home of our emotions and memories.

“ Interface between the brain and the outside world. “
Through our sense of smell, volatile aromatic molecules set off a cascade of reactions involving protein enzymes, cell depolarization and second messengers all leading an electrical impulse being sent to the brain.

“Inhalation is the best way to use essential oils when anxious.”
This promotes effects on different levels of the human psyche, including the memory and mental aspects. With the inhalation method, essential oils can trigger pleasant or unpleasant memories uplift or play down on our emotions. Oils also find they’re way more quickly into the bloodstream and organs through the inhalation process.

*AROMATIC BATHS:
A simple technique of taking an aromatic bath can be quite relaxing and have sedative affect. The method of preparing an aromatic bath is very simple: fill the bath first with comfortably hot water, and just before getting into the bath, put about 6 drops of essential oils onto the water and two tablespoons of a carrier oil. Do not prepare the bath in advance, as you would then lose much of the value of the volatile oils.

*Handkerchief technique .
Europeans have been using this method for centuries by putting a small amount of essences on to the handkerchief or glove and inhaling the aroma.
This method is great for when you are in crowed, public places etc.

*Pillow technique:
It is always nice sprinkle a couple of drops of essential oil on a pillow to allow you to have direct inhalation while you sleep.

The following blends relate to four types of anxiety.