Imagine for a minute a warm spring day. You are standing in front of a lilac bush covered with blooms. The sweet scent fills the air as you breath deeply. Our sense of smell is one of the most overlooked ways to lower stress. We are just now beginning to research the effects of certain scents on our well being. Early research is showing that aromatherapy effects brain waves and behavior. It can also reduce the perception of stress and decrease levels of cortisol (stress hormone) in the body.The fact is though, that most of us know without the research, that breathing wonderful smells helps us to unwind. It’s that combination of remembering to breath deeply and the delicious scent that relaxes and restores us to balance. I adore this stress relief technique because it is so simple to use and takes hardly anytime at all. For Christmas I received a diffuser that I put on my office desk. Every morning I fill it with water, put a few drops of lavender oil in it and turn it on. For the rest of the day it gently puts out a fine mist of relaxing lavender scent. It is so subtle that when client’s come in they rarely notice enough to mention it. I like to imagine that I can see them beginning to relax the minute they walk in.
A few of the most popular essential oils with stress-relieving properties include geranium, peppermint, lavender, jasmine, chamomile, and lemongrass. Some you will find help you feel less fatigue, others work best for relaxation. While a diffuser is one way to access the stress-relieving properties of essential oils you can also put a couple drops of skin-safe oil under your nose or on your neck. Essential oil candles burning in a room is another way to enjoy the healing benefits of scent.
So that is my simple, quick tip for stress relief for this week. I hope you give it a try and enjoy the results. Let me know what you think!
Have an Amazing Monday! (and everyday.)
Leanna Fredrich, Career, Leadership and Stress Management Consultant
Adv. EFT, Adv. Psych-K
Leanna@amazingmondays.com
Hello Leana:
I really enjoyed reading your article on stress. It is prevalent is all aspects of our life and in many cases impacting our health. Oxidative stress is what happens when stress is internalized — you breath poor quality air, eat poor quality food and work long stressful hours. All this stress really becomes free radicals that our bodies immune systems tries to fight. We get overloaded and this stress turns harmful and into inflammations throughout our bodies, neuro, vascular, muscular, nerves, etc. When our bodies own antioxidants just can’t keep up then here comes the trouble. Today’s OTC anti-oxidants have been scientifically proven to not be very helpful – unfortunately. A better solution is to help your body “make more antioxidants”. Yes, this is possible. Please check out this video and let me know what you think. We have over 100K customers who have turned to this all-natural supplement that helps your immune system fight stress and oxidative stress with great results. Check this out then call me or email if you have an interest in trying our Protandim:
http://www.abcliveit.com/peer-reviewed-research.html
Viki Mann
BlueJHealth.com
So glad you enjoyed it Viki!