Top 7 Essential Oils for Anxiety

I personally don't deal with anxiety on a daily or even weekly basis. My anxiety tends to kick in when I'm stressed or I don't get enough sleep. I do however know many people that deal with anxiety on a regular and even daily basis. I'm going to give you guys the 7 best essential oils for helping alleviate anxiety & how to use them. 

7 Essential Oils-

1. Lavender- Considered the most common essential oil, lavender oil benefits include having a calming, relaxing effect. It’s considered a nervous system restorative and helps with inner peace, sleep, restlessness, irritability, panic attacks, nervous stomach and general nervous tension.

2. Rose- One of the benefits of rose essential oil is it’s very settling to the emotional heart and perhaps the second most popular after lavender for relieving anxiety and depression, helping with panic attacks, grieving and shock.

3. Vetiver- has a tranquil, grounding and reassuring energy, often used in trauma helping with self-awareness, calmness and stabilization. A nervous system tonic, it decreases jitteriness and hypersensitivity and is also useful in panic attacks and shock.

4. Ylang Ylang- helps with cheerfulness, courage, optimism and soothes fearfulness. It may calm heart agitation and nervous palpitations and is a moderately strong sedative, which can help with insomnia.

5. Bergamot- is commonly found in Earl Grey tea and has a distinctive floral taste and aroma. Bergamot oil is calming and often used to treat depression by providing energy; however, it can also help with insomnia induce relaxation and reduce agitation.

6. Chamomile- A peaceful, calming scent, chamomile benefits inner harmony and decreases irritability, 

7. Frankincense- Frankincense is great for treating depression and anxiety because it provides a calming and tranquil energy as well as spiritual grounding. In aromatherapy, it helps deepen meditation and quiet the mind.overthinking, anxiety and worry. 

Methods for use-

I'm going to show you guys a few different ways to use these oils properly! This is important if you want this to work successfully. I didn't know the proper way to use essential oils for a very long time. Most oils can get a little on the pricey side but there are many places that carry them for excellent deals, just bargain shop! There are 3 main ways these can be used: aromatherapy, ingestion or topically.

Aromatherapy-

Aromatherapy for anxiety is very popular because our sense of smell triggers powerful emotional responses. We process so much information through our sense of smell — in particular, in an area of the brain adjacent to the limbic region. This is your emotional processing & memory recall section. 

Various methods:

• Adding oil to a bath

• As direct inhalations

• Hot water vapor

• Vaporizer or Humidifier

• Fan

• Vent

• Perfume or Cologne

• or an

• Aromatherapy diffuser.

My personal favorites are adding oils to a bath or using a diffuser. When I have a cold I tend to add my peppermint oil or other various oils to my humidifier but that's just me. :)

Oral Application-  

I cannot stress enough how careful you need to be when purchasing oils for the purpose of being ingested orally! It is 100% critical that you make sure these are safe and pure. Many oils you get on the public market are diluted or blended with synthetics that are unsafe for ingestion. 

The Food and Drug Administration has approved some essential oils generically for internal use and given them the generally recognized as safe (GRAS) designation for human consumption. 

The most effective way to consume them, according to “The Healing Intelligence of Essential Oils: The Science of Advanced Aromatherapy,” is to add a drop of oil in a glass of water or in a teaspoon with honey. (16) You can simply add a drop or two underneath the tongue. This is beneficial because the blood capillaries are so close to the surface of the tissue under the tongue, allowing them to pass more quickly into the bloodstream and travel to the different areas of the body where they’re needed. (17)

Other oral application options include capsules, adding a drop or two to your favorite beverage, making a tea, and cooking.

Undiluted, pure essential oils are highly concentrated substances. For example, 250 pounds of steam distilled Lavender may yield 1 pound of Lavender essential oil. If you convert this number down to a drop, you will find that there is about ⅓ oz of Lavender per drop of Lavender EO. Thus, adding 3 drops of Lavender EO to a cup of water equates to adding one ounce of Lavender plant.

When added to a drink or swallowed directly, essential oils come into straight contact with vital organs such as the tongue, mouth, esophagus, stomach, etc. Because essential oils are miscible with fats, they attach to the mucous membrane which lines these organs leading to irritation and possible damage.

Please know that I don't personally recommend you using these orally. Please Please consult a specialist before you do this. It can be dangerous as they are highly concentrated. 

Topical Application-

Topical application is a process of placing an essential oil on the skin, hair, mouth, teeth, nails or mucous membranes of the body. When the oils touch the skin, they penetrate rapidly. Again, if it's not safe for you to ingest do not put these on your skin!

Since they are so potent, it is important to dilute and blend with a carrier oil, such as sweet almond, jojoba, olive, avocado or coconut oil. You can apply the blend directly to an affected area, on the bottoms of the feet, rims of the ears, using compresses, in baths or through massage. 

Risks of Essential Oils for Anxiety

Never ingest any essential oils or apply undiluted to the skin without proper training or medical supervision. It is critical to understand how best to use them. Always consult a specialist and test the area, proceeding with caution as they may react differently to different individuals, especially children and pregnant women. Guys, these work great for many things but please make sure you are using caution and not just doing it because you read it works online. Yes, these can help you with a number of things but just be cautious. Read labels and if the company doesn't have it listed its probably best to assume it's not safe for oral ingestion. 

Suggested Buying for Topical & Oral Ingestion Oils: 

At Edens Garden’s, we’re passionate about high-quality essential oils, which is why we go to great lengths to ensure all of our oils are 100% pure therapeutic grade. By GC/MS testing each batch of oil we offer and having each report approved by essential oil chemists and aromatherapists, we’re able to guarantee top grade EOs.   

Buy Oils: Orally & Topically Safe Oils

Text referenced- The Healing Intelligence of Essential Oils: The Science of Advanced Aromatherapy By: Kurt Schnaubelt, Ph. D.

Buy this book here: Healing Intelligence of Essential Oils