April is Stress Awareness Month and, according to stress statistics, this past year 74% of adults have felt so stressed that they’ve felt overwhelmed or unable to cope. That’s a lot of people – and this month, the Stress Management Society have a campaign around #littlebylittle to highlight the transformative impact of consistent, small positive actions, to show how smaller steps each day can really help. Essential oils can provide a deep support for stress, so we wanted to super-boost these smaller actions with some soothing, calming aromatherapy blends to help you heal and relax.
In my worldview, stress is a big sign that we are disconnected from our bodies, which is important to recognise as the deeper cause; the more we can connect to ourselves, the better we will feel. So, perhaps for this month, you can work with essential oils and integrating these smaller actions into your life – and see what difference it makes. The idea is that we are beginning to lay the foundations for cultivating wellbeing, via embodiment.
Small actions for big changes
There are 6 ‘small changes’ that the Stress Management Society is focusing on, which include:
- Connect with someone
- Prioritise sleep
- Move in your own way
- Spend time in nature
- Breathe deeply
- Practice mindfulness
Each of these things can be super-charged with essential oils, quite simply, to really bring calm into your cells. Essential oils are natural, and they literally change the chemistry of our bodies, so we will be focusing on blends using oils that have calming or relaxant properties, to help you really embody a more peaceful life this month.
Essential oils that embody relaxation
I often describe essential oils as having ‘personalities’, and the kinds of oils that would emanate peace and calm are as follows:
- Lavender – the calming oil
- Chamomile – the peaceful oil
- Bergamot – the relaxing oil
- Clary Sage – the euphoric, yet sedating oil
- Sandalwood – the quietening oil
- Sweet Orange – the cheery, happy oil
- Lemon – the uplifting oil, that lifts the spirits
- Rose – the soft, soothing, nurturing oil
- Geranium – the balancing oil
- Ylang Ylang – the soothing oil that connects us to our desires
These essential oils are going to be the focus for the blends we’ve created to support the ‘small actions’ for this month (and beyond). My recommendation is, choose to implement some of these in your day, as much as feels manageable – don’t just add these to your ‘to do’ list, choose the ones that feel good to your system.
Aromatherapy blends to support your small actions
Here are our blend recommendations to support the little ways you will be cultivating more inner calm this month.
Connect with someone (and yourself)
The idea behind ‘connect with someone’ is to create a sense of belonging and community. I would suggest that even if you don’t connect with someone else, you could cultivate a practice of connecting with yourself more deeply, because when we are feeling lonely and disconnected, the deeper challenge is usually that we have abandoned ourselves and our needs.
I’d recommend practicing a ‘connection’ ritual to connect to your body and cultivate a sense of calm. Here’s a blend for you:
Connection Self-Massage: Mix 3 drops Sweet Orange, 2 drops Rose and 1 drop Ylang Ylang in 15ml of Grapeseed oil, and massage it into your skin all over your body, in the direction towards your heart. As you do this, be in the contemplation below:
Check in and ask yourself –
- “How am I feeling?”
- “What do I need?”
You might also then choose to check in with others after you’ve done this deeper self-connection massage.
Prioritise sleep
Ahh, sleep – the lack of which can create deep stress in the body, and the mind. I’d recommend creating some kind of nightly wind-down ritual for this one. You might cut down technology, create a clean environment, avoid caffeine – and then have a nice relaxing bath, which I’m providing a blend for here:
Bathing Sleep Ritual: About an hour before bedtime, blend 3 drops Lavender, 2 drops Clary Sage and 1 drop Chamomile into 15ml Bath Oil or Shower Gel and mix it into the warm running water of your bath. Turn off the lights, and any technology and close the windows and inhale the aroma of your bath, allowing yourself to sink into the darkness and relax with the oils.
Notice the impact of this small action (it doesn’t need to be a long bath) on your capacity to get more sleep.
Move in your own way
This one isn’t a prescriptive ‘movement’, it’s just about moving your body in a way that feels aligned for you – it could be free-dancing, yoga, walking or something else completely different. Whatever it is, allow your body to move.
I’d recommend super-charging your movement by diffusing this calming blend as you move:
Calming Movement Diffusion: mix 3 drops Lemon, 2 drops Bergamot and 1 drop Sandalwood in water in an electric aromatherapy diffuser or candle burner and allow yourself to inhale the aroma as you engage in a movement practice of some kind (that could be as simple as putting a song on and allowing yourself to dance to it however you like).
Spend time in nature
I’ve always been an advocate of getting out into the wild. Fresh air and the natural world reminds us of what it is to be alive. I’d recommend taking along a ‘sniffy stick’ (aromatherapy inhaler) with essential oils, as follows:
Nature Sniffy Stick: add 3 drops of your favourite oils (from the list above) to an aromatherapy inhalator. As you are walking outside, sniff the stick to inhale peace and calm. I’d recommend Bergamot or Geranium, if you’d like a prescription.
Breathe deeply
Harnessing our breath is a hugely important way to create a sense of calm – I’d recommend cultivating a practice of inhaling for a count of 4, and then exhaling for a count of 8, to bring some conscious relaxation into your body.
You could practice this for 5 minutes, whilst diffusing some essential oils, as follows:
Breathing Blend: mix 2 drops Chamomile, 2 drops Clary Sage and 2 drops Sandalwood in water in an electric diffuser or candle burner and allow yourself to inhale the aroma as you practice 5 minutes of deeper, conscious breathing.
Notice how your body feels after this powerful practice.
Practice mindfulness
This particular practice can be engaged in, no matter where you are or what you are doing, but its aim is to bring you into the present moment.
I’d recommend you can actively just become more aware of sensations in your body, or sounds around you, and just begin to notice the present moment, in life.
You could also use the following blend and consciously create 5 minute intentional mini-mindfulness rituals throughout your day, whilst on the move:
Mini-Mindfulness Ritual: Mix 2 drops Lemon and 2 drops Geranium into 10ml of Grapeseed oil and add to a Rollette bottle. Roll this blend onto your pulse points whenever you notice yourself feeling stressed, and use it as an anchor back to the present moment.
The idea of how you can use this is by noticing when you are stressed and popping the oil on your pulse points, then spending 5 minutes tuning into your surroundings – noticing the sights, smells, sounds, and body sensations that are around you, bringing yourself back to the present moment.
The invitation this month is to begin to weave some of these different practices and rituals into your daily routine. I encourage you to do so to celebrate and honour Stress Awareness Week, but also to really embody a deeper sense of calm and peace for yourself.
Remember, there’s no ‘right’ and ‘wrong – it’s all about what you feel called to, so choose what you’re drawn to. What can happen, when we begin to integrate smaller changes, is we can also come up against fears, perfectionism and begin to beat ourselves up if we don’t achieve our ‘goal’ for the day, so as you work with these practices, remember to go gently on yourself.
Enjoy.
Nicole Barton
Consultant Aromatherapist
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