Essential Oils and Emotions
Feeling emotional? That’s not always a bad thing! There are plenty of good emotions we experience that together give us a happy and healthy life. And yet there are also those tough emotions we experience that make it difficult. We tend to find ways of coping that can sometimes be unhealthy. We might seek comfort in shopping too much, gambling, or abusing substances such as drugs and alcohol. But what if we had the power to positively affect our mood in a safe and healthy way? Essential oils can do just that! And here is how.
Through pathways, essential oils can penetrate into our brain and influence neurotransmitter activity. We have over 100 billion neurons circulating and through these we have dendrites and synapses. Research shows that Essential oils protect the dendrites and synapses in our brains so that communication can freely be received. For example, telephone lines and cables transmit communications. However, left exposed, they would be negatively affected by their environment. Therefore, they have wire coverings that protect them and allow communication to flow free from interruptions. Essential oils work in the same way! They help protect against stress chemicals that break down dendrites. Purity and potency are vital to how effective and beneficial these oils are to the brain. Lavender, for example, picked from your backyard will likely not be as effective because they are inherent to other parts of the world where climate and altitude changes. Lavender grown in France therefore would likely be more effective than the lavender grown in your garden. When using essential oils to support our emotions and mood, it is important that the oils are potent and pure of harmful additives and chemicals that alter their effectiveness.
Now, what if I told you that you could have an idea as to how different essential oils would affect your mood before using them? Essential oils are extracted from different parts of plants. Some come from the rind of fruits, some from the petals of flowers, some from the bark of trees, and others from the leaves of plants. And each way produces very different effects on the mood.
Think for a moment about spices. What do spices do to your body? They warm us up! They get us going! Right? Yes. They actually do warm us up through our bloodstream. Many of doTERRA’s mood oils such as Motivate and Cheer which are meant to get us up and going contain spices in them. Often you will see oils like Cinnamon, Clove, and Cardamom. Now what about citruses? In nature, citruses are bright and vibrant. Physically they appear round...like bubbles. Therefore, they are uplifting and are meant to make you feel brighter and more vibrant. And let’s not forget bubbly! What happens is the chemical compound Limonene, found in citrus oils, interacts with Monoamine neurotransmitters called Serotonin, Dopamine, Norepinephrine, also known as the happy chemicals. Mood oils that contain citrus oils are meant to uplift your mood and allow you to feel more confident and positive. Often times you can guess the effect an essential oil might have on you by simply knowing where it comes from! Let’s get grounded!
In their environment, trees are grounded and stable. They are firm in the ground and it takes a lot to push one over. Therefore, tree oils help to stabilize our mood. Scientifically speaking, they help your cells from being sluggish to being more vibrant by carrying nutrients to your body. Oils in this category include Spruce, Arborvitae, Frankincense, Cedarwood, and Cyprus. These oils have shown to be so grounding that they can be used for children who struggle with overstimulation. Forgive is a mood oil that contains tree oils and is known to assist in moments of anger or feelings of being unsettled. Using tree oils can help to ground and balance those emotions that can negatively impact your day. And lastly, let’s talk a little about flowers. Those beautiful plants we love to have in our homes within pain site because they make us feel happier. What are flowers in nature? What are their colors like? They tend to not be as bright and vibrant as citruses. Their colors are softer and they have a more serene look. So in the body, flower oils are going to be calming and comforting in the body and helps maintain an already healthy blood pressure. Ylang ylang is a flower and was found in research to have a harmonizing and calming effect in the body. Mood blends that contain flowers are Peace and Console. These are great oils to bring you back to a state of peace!
Essential oils are powerful tools when it comes to influencing our mood and emotions. The best part? They do so much more good in our bodies than just make us feel happier or more motivated. And it is wonderful to know that when we feel down, sluggish, sad, or mean-spirited, we can think about how we would rather feel and know right away which oils would assist with that!