Essential Oils For Grieving

Essential Oils for grieving

Grief is the natural pain that we often feel when we have lost someone or something we deeply care about. Grief can also have several stages, such as anger, stress, shock and anxiety. These emotions can be overwhelming and come and go for some time after our loss, sometimes unexpectedly many years later too.

It is often said that to feel these emotions is part of the grieving process and you need to go through these to get to a place of closure. This doesn’t mean that this makes the way you’re feeling any easier, so here we talk about using the therapeutic properties of essential oils to support through the emotional suffering.

How can essential oils support emotions linked to loss?

There are several ways you can use essential oils to support you through emotional times. Inhaling and massage are two formats that may offer ways of comfort.

Diffusing essential oils has become a very popular method of aromatherapy. Inhaling essential oils means the scent molecules travel from the olfactory nerves directly to the brain, and these impact the amygdala, the emotional centre of the brain. Meaning that it can have a direct impact on feelings and emotions. So, for examples to reduce a feeling of anxiety or stress diffusing oils, such as Lavender, Bergamot and Neroli, would support this as they all have therapeutic properties for easing anxiety and stress.

Aromatherapy Massage is another way you can support emotional and physical stresses linked to loss and can work on several levels. Incorporating the power of essential oils with massage is a wonderful combination. Firstly, the link of mind and body integration if one is happy and working well then so should be the other. Hence, there can be mental symptoms caused by bodily illness, in which the conditions of the body affect the mind and emotions, and there can be psychosomatic effects, in which psychological or emotional conditions affect the body. This means that change to one can have a knock-on effect to the other.

Also, not only can particular essential oils used in massage reduce stress but the massage itself and the human touch can reduce stress and emotional tension, massage is a well-known effective way for reducing stress and promoting relaxation.

Massage, along with essential oils can support with energy levels. During grief, we can often feel low and fatigued. Massage often is based on the flow of energy through the body to promote healing while massage does not directly increase energy; it does reduce fatigue and often decreases the symptoms that drain our energy, resulting in feeling better.

What essential oils will help with the stages of grief?

Here are some essential oil suggestions that could help at various stages of the grieving process, supporting the nervous system:

Shock, stress and anger

At this point, essential oils that are calming on the nervous system should be considered such as; Bergamot, lavender, sandalwood and valerian

Anxiety and guilt

As we start to move towards overcoming the initial trauma anxiety, and guilt of moving on can start to set in. At this stage, essential oils that have therapeutic properties such as sedative and calming could help, such as; Jasmine, Lemon and Melissa

Fatigue and restless sleep

For some, a drain on energy can mean very little sleep or insomnia. If this is the case essential oils that are highly relaxing, sedative and calming should be considered such as; Chamomile, Lavender and Frankincense

Sadness

The feeling of longing sadness can be very emotionally painful, and hard to see any way out from. There are many combinations of essential oils to help you, but a few examples are;

• Melissa – Calming of the central nervous system and hypnotic, it supports grief and hysteria
• Jasmin – A sedative well known for restoring confidence and energy
• Frankincense – Calming and helpful for anxious obsession to the past

Hope and Acceptance

As your heart begins to heal and you feel more accepting, continue to use essential oils to support this phase, you may also think about essential oils that trigger fond memories. Oils that can help at this stage should be balancing, calming and a tonic, these could include; Ylang Ylang, Rose and Neroli.

If you’re looking for support through essential oils and the practice of aromatherapy, always speak to a trained Aromatherapist, who will be able to consult with you and provide the best recommendation for treatment or a treatment plan.

Essential oils should not be taken orally or ingested

This information given in this blog is for information only

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