Everyday Aromatherapy for Enhancing Calm and Well-Being

Lavender for Relaxation

Source: Jill Wellington via Pixabay. Free for commercial use.

It is many months into the pandemic, and most are feeling stressed, socially isolated, and having trouble sleeping despite our best efforts.

Although aromatherapy is no panacea, it is one of the simplest, easiest, and most enjoyable self-care tools in the integrative therapies arsenal.

Aromatherapy is also one of the oldest and most popular complementary therapies, and for good reasons. Aromas are intrinsic to everything from the pleasure of reclining on clean sheets to the relaxation inherent in a hot bath at the end of the day.

Smell is considered the oldest and least understood of our senses; yet, it is generally accepted that scents rapidly and powerfully transport us back in time to beloved people and cherished events.

Aromas Can Bring the Past into the Present

As an example, one of my dearest relatives always smelled strongly of either rose oil or strawberries. The memories of her kindness and warm smile, her fiery red hair, and the way she made me feel loved remain vivid in my mind many decades later. These memories and emotions are instantaneously reactivated whenever I smell rose oil.

Aromas as "Therapy"

Technically, aromatherapy is the purposeful application of essential oils to achieve a desired emotional or physical benefit. Essential oils are extracted from plants and most often applied topically after they’ve been diluted in a carrier oil or diffused in the air.

Yet, even if you have not consciously thought to use essential oils for any specific purpose, many of our mundane experiences are enhanced by aromatherapy. For example, if you’ve ever savored a cup of bergamot-scented Earl Grey tea on a chilly afternoon, or burned candles or incense to create a specific mood, you’ve used aromatherapy.

Aromatherapy is such a part of daily life that we find ourselves easing a cough or congestion with a eucalyptus lozenge, warding off warm-weather insects with citronella, or polishing furniture with lemon oil. A lavender eye pillow can help lull us to sleep. We chew peppermint gum to wake ourselves up after lunch.

For countless people, the scent of pine evokes not only thoughts of wooded forests, but of winter gatherings and holidays and all of the emotions associated with these.

Aromas can indeed feel "therapeutic."

A brief inhalation can immediately shift our inner landscape; it can reconnect us with loved ones who are far away or have long since passed. Scents can powerfully reactivate feelings of being comforted or loved, memories of childhood vacations, and can remind us of what it feels like to be at peace, even if just for a few moments.

When I was a graduate student, I’d regularly rub diluted peppermint oil on my temples to help me feel focused and to reduce the nausea I so often feel due to lifelong irritable bowel syndrome. And I’d carry lavender seeds in my pocket to remember to remain calm. In addition, I carried fresh rosemary sprigs in my pockets both because I love the scent and because this herb is supposed to enhance courage. Initially, my classmates found this quirk to be both amusing and endearing; before long, they were asking me which oils to use when and how best to discretely carry them.

Specific Benefits of Aromatherapy

These are just a few of the benefits of aromatherapy. What may surprise people is that there is some research supporting what many of us have known for while. For example:

• Peppermint reduces nausea, vomiting and pain postoperatively, during pregnancy, and when undergoing chemotherapy.
• Lavender enhances feelings of calm and can help people drift off to sleep. (That said, lavender’s relaxing properties mean that it’s probably too sedating to be the first choice before any sort of demanding mental task.)
• Rosemary oil has been linked to greater speed and accuracy, as well as improvement in some aspects of memory when inhaled before performing cognitive tasks.
• Although most people prefer to select aromas they find pleasing, it is not necessary to “like” an aroma for it to affect us; nor must we like a scent for it to evoke a pleasant memory, if the scent was originally paired with a meaningful or enjoyable experience.

Some other benefits of aromatherapy include:

• Most aromatherapy products and oils are relatively inexpensive
• Aromatherapy is generally safe for people as long as you don’t ingest oils or use them undiluted – consult with a skilled aromatherapist if you are unsure of what is and isn’t safe for you to use. (*Consult your vet before using essential oils on animals or in diffusers where animals are present.)
• Aromas don't require "effort" - you don’t have to focus on them to experience them

Pairing Aromatherapy with Other Complementary Therapies

With regard to other uses, you probably already know that aromatherapy pairs well with a number of complementary therapies, including massage, meditation, and guided imagery, to name a few.

I have taught clients and students to practice mindfulness meditation by noticing how a scent changes over time.

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And psychologically, pairing a scent with another response – such as the deep calm invoked by meditation – results in what is called “higher order conditioning.” This term refers to the fact that eventually, the scent alone will quickly evoke the feeling of calm even before meditating.

Of course, you don’t need to remember any fancy terms to reap the benefits of feeling more relaxed and peaceful – it is enough to reach for your favorite scented oil, or lotion, or pocket full of herbs, and breathe.

This post is adapted from a blog post that appears on HealthJourneys.com.