The Best Essential Oils for Emotional Wellness
You know what’s tough? Trying to support little people through big emotions, and eventually teach them how to regulate them. That’s a big task! Not easy. Especially when you have your own emotions to deal with too, plus all of the things you have to do in a day!
I honestly think it’s one of our most important tasks, though, and absolutely what our children deserve. What’s crucial for me is getting myself regulated, looking after my needs, working on my triggers, and reducing stress. If I can stay on top of that I am 100 times more capable of meeting others’ needs.
Essential oils are one of the things in my toolkit that I use to help with all of that, and that’s what I wanted to talk about today.
How do they work?
The scent of an essential oil can have an effect on many things, one being your emotional state. Yep! Just by smelling something nice. Sounds too simple, right? Here’s what happens…
When the scent of an essential oil is inhaled, the molecules travel up the nostrils to the olfactory bulb, which then transmits that info to our limbic system, also referred to as the ‘emotional brain’ — where emotions and memories are stored.
Our limbic system is also directly connected to parts of the brain that control heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, memory, stress levels, and hormone balance. It’s often why we can smell something and experience an immediate physical response in the body. Kind of like when you smell lavender and let out a big relaxing sigh. Or have you ever had a smell trigger a memory from childhood? So strange! Scent can have a pretty powerful effect, in fact it’s the only one of the 5 senses with a direct link to our lymbic system. Essential oils are able to support our bodies both physiologically and psychologically! How great is that?
How do you use them?
There are two ways you can use essential oils for emotional support: aromatically or topically.
Aromatically
Don’t use an oil burner! Heating essential oils damages the therapeutic qualities. So while it still smells alright, you’re not getting the full benefits. A better choice is a diffuser. They’re also safer as they don’t heat up and have a timer so they turn off themselves when finished. All you need to do is fill with water and add 6 drops of oils. A diffuser will pump out a fine mist, dispersing the oils through the air for you to breathe in. Diffusing is a great way to use oils for emotional benefits.
Topical use
You can also dilute your oils in a carrier oil and apply them topically. There are different safe levels for diluting for children and adults, and different oils, so bear that in mind! But, the good news is that it’s not as complicated as it might first seem and you can totally do this. Plus, if you choose to grab your oils through me you get free access to tons of resources that will cover everything and make sure you know exactly how to use your oils safely. There are some helpful charts here and here too. When using oils for emotions I like to apply to pulse points, chest, and/or wrists. Then I make sure I take a deep breath of the leftover oil on my hands too, or from the roller bottle I’m using.
You can also use them in the bath! But you still need to dilute first, oil and water don’t mix. I often have a relaxing bath on weekends for some time to myself.
My favourites for emotional support
So which oils do you use? There are endless options and different things work for different people, as we are all unique. You just need to try and see what feels good to you. I’ve put together a list of my personal favourites and what I find them helpful for!
Calming Oils
When I’m feeling stressed or anxious, these are my favs…
Balance
A blend of mainly tree and root oils makes this incredibly grounding. I use this blend when I’m starting to feel impatient, scattered, and disconnected. Sooo…. sometimes that’s me in the late afternoon when I’ve been busy responding to everyone’s needs all day and I’m feeling a bit done. I take a few moments to myself, and use some Balance. I find it really calming. Balance encourages you to feel stable, connected, committed, persevering, and helps you find that inner strength.
Lavender
The oil of communication and calm. Wonderful for calming everyone down in the evenings ready for rest, but also helpful for any time that you need some calm and some help in the communication department thanks to that high concentration of linalool. It’s relaxing and great for releasing tension while also promoting open communication, expression, honesty, self-awareness, and peace of mind.
Peace
Peace is our reassuring blend, and I use this one when I’m feeling anxious. It promotes feelings of reassurance and contentment while counteracting anxious and fearful emotions. When I feel anxious it’s really hard to be peaceful! Often when you feel out of control, you want to control, so I use some Peace blend before I get to that stage. I have a roller bottle of this one always in my bag.
Frankincense
My all time favourite oil had to make the list. Another grounding oil that is also super calming. Emotionally it is the oil of truth. One of the most prized and precious essential oils, you’ve all heard of it! It was highly valued in ancient times, and by me now, ha! Great for a racing mind. Calms and uplifts. I love love love it and often use it in my own PUREfume blend.
Uplifting Oils
These are my favourites when I feel like a little mood boost…
Peppermint
It’s hard not to be impatient when you’re feeling low on energy or tired. Peppermint is great for that. Emotionally it is the oil of a buoyant heart. Great for alertness and focus and getting stuff done! Super refreshing and uplifting. I love a drop in the bottom of the shower in the morning. The steam does it’s magic and you feel refreshed and ready for the day.
Wild Orange
The happiest oil on the block. If you’ve tried it you’ll know what I mean. Citrus oils are super uplifting. Wild Orange smells AMAZING and also really beautiful paired with your peppermint. Promotes feelings of abundance, a sense of humour, playfulness, generosity, spontaneity, creativity, and joy. All things I want in my life. So uplifting and beautiful. We diffuse this often in the mornings while the children are working on creative projects.
Ylang Ylang
The oil of the inner child. Ylang Ylang is a powerful remedy for the heart. This oil helps reconnect you with your inner child, encourages play, and assists in accessing intuition. When you spend your day with children, this is what you want. I do anyway. I want to remember what it was like to be a child, to take their perspective, to join them in their world, and to feel carefree and spontaneous. Ylang Ylang supports you to feel playful, free, intuitive, emotionally connected, and joyful. Blend that with Wild Orange and BAM what a joyful combo. A beautiful oil that is both calming and uplifting. This is also a great oil if you’re doing some inner work and releasing emotional trauma from the past.
Healing
Respectful parenting requires a lot of inner work! I love that there are oils that can support us through that.
Douglass Fir
The oil of generational wisdom. If you’re working on breaking free of patterns and parenting consciously, this is a fabulous support. Douglass Fir addresses generational issues and encourages us to break free of destructive patterns. It encourages healthy family dynamics where people and meaningful relationships are valued over blind loyalty to traditions. It also encourages us to learn from and value others’ experiences, especially our ancestors.
Tea Tree
Emotionally Tea Tree is the oil of energetic boundaries. Think of how often you need that support! Whether it’s holding your personal boundaries with children, or with other people who insist on the advice giving. Keep a little roller in your bag. Tea Tree clears negative energetic baggage. It helps break negative ties in toxic relationships, so that new healthy connections may be formed that honour one’s personal space and boundaries. Tea Tree encourages us to relinquish all forms of self-betrayal, including allowing others to take advantage of one’s time, energy, or talents; letting others feed on one’s energy; not standing up for oneself; or feeling responsible for the problems of others. Combine that with Lavender (the oil of communication and calm) and you’ve got a winning combo for any social gathering where you need to be firm and confident in your boundaries and communicate them peacefully.
Petitgrain
Petitgrain invokes appreciation of positive family history and connection. It invites individuals to choose to honor the good that was inherited from their family and also make the path lighter for those who follow. It helps us learn from family mistakes, heal, and forgive, encouraging ‘thoughtful awareness of how to heal wounds in the family lines’. ‘It encourages those who view any departure from tradition as a betrayal of the family to release the fear of disapproval and forge the path that is right for them’. The positive properties promoted by this oil include: ‘pioneering, chain-breaking, cultivating healthy traditions, and embracing positive family connections’. That is totally us, right?
Things to remember
Be consistent
To get the most benefit it’s great to use the oils consistently for a while, rather than trying sporadically.
Oils can’t do the work for you
Don’t expect to use an oil once and all your problems to be solved, ha! Yes there have been studies done on the amazing emotional benefits of the oils and their power, but to get the best results you’re going to have to partner with them too for that deeper stuff. Oils can be incredibly supportive in helping your get in touch with your emotions, work through them, and heal, however you must do your own emotional work alongside that.
Quality matters
Buying oils from the supermarket is not going to give you the same results. Unfortunately the majority of oils on the market today are adulterated and may contain any number of synthetic fillers to make them stretch further and cost less to produce. Not cool. I personally did a lot of research and chose doTERRA oils because of their outstanding quality as well as ethical sourcing practices. Please have a read more about that HERE if it’s important to you (it should be!). If you’re trying to support your health and invest in natural solutions, you firstly want them to actually work, and secondly don’t want your efforts undermined by putting harmful chemicals on your body. You want 100% pure mother nature, nothing added.
How do you get started?
If you’re looking to get started with essential oils and support your family’s emotional wellbeing, not to mention your physical health (and let’s be honest soon you’ll be hooked and you’ll totally transform your environment by making your own toxin free cleaning products too), then my suggestion would be to grab yourself one of our starter kits.
My top recommendation is always to start with a Home Essentials kit (or even a Nature’s Solutions Kit if you’re a go getter who is ready to overhaul everything). There’s a reason it’s called the ‘Home Essentials’. You get the top 10 oils that every home should have, regardless or wants or needs. Oils for emotional support, physical support, environmental support, and spiritual support. All of the oils also have multiple uses, and the kit comes with a free diffuser. It’s the perfect and most cost-effective way to start.
Peppermint: Cools body temperature, energising, uplifting, settles upset tummies, clear breathing.
Lemon: Detoxifying, toxin free cleaning, purifies air, improves focus.
Lavender: Calming, soothes irritated skin, restful sleep.
Oregano: Immune support, removes warts, antioxidant.
Tea Tree: Cuts and bites, blemishes, seasonal threats, boundaries.
Frankincense: Fights inflammation, anti-ageing, promotes cellular health and regeneration, anxious feelings.
Easy Air: Respiratory blend, clears airways, energising.
Ice Blue: Muscle and joint pain, use before and after exercise.
OnGuard: Protective blend – wards off bacteria, protects the immune system and loads the body with antioxidants.
DigestZen: Digestive blend – promotes healthy digestzen, settles heartburn, bloatedness, cramping and nausea.
PLUS:
-Online account to order what you want, when you want, with no further committments.
-Wholesale prices (25% off everything)
-Loads of information at your fingertips
-Option of an Individual Personal Consult
-Members only website
-Private FB support group
-Online courses
-Beginner email series so you get to learn exactly what to do when your oils arrive
-Ongoing support from me!
You can check out the prices for your country below.
Australia and NZ / Canada / Europe / US
If you’d like to become a customer and get access to all that today, just follow the instructions HERE! I’m so excited to have you join what I’m calling Team Happiness! Here’s to proactive health, ditching toxins, smelling yummy, and feeling good. I’m so glad you’re going to be a part of that with me.
Want more info?
Want to learn more about what else we use oils for (spoiler: everything)? You can check out the rest of my posts here. Honestly, there’s an oil for everything and they have never ending uses. Whatever you need, we’ve got you.
Comments
Again, wonderful information. I too love using these essential oils in my home and with my family. Even the humble Wild Orange oil can really cheer us up so I add a few drops into my surface cleaning spray 🙂
And all of my children, from my 19yr old daughter to my 6yr old daughter, ask for oils when ever they are feeling sore, sick or tired. As a Mum, it is so empowering and reassuring to be able to reach for something that is so good for them… as opposed to dishing out pharmaceuticals that you know have negative side effects.
My all time favourite is Frankincense too! Strangely I used to really dislike it… but now keep it with me at all times- very balancing.
Thanks again!
Does this oil cause side effects in children?