Reclaiming Self-Care

Essential oils. ← Just saying those two words can get a mixed bag of responses. Everything from people rolling their eyes and proclaiming they’re not real to die-hard EO folks who call themselves “oily” with pride and march against vaccines.

So, let’s get super real about them. Should you seek out an essential oil salesperson over your doctor if you have cancer? NO. Of fucking course not.

But can they help you feel a little better and help you connect with nature and yourself a little more? Yep.

For context, in my previous life as a massage therapist, I received a double certification in essential oils and aromatherapy.

I always found the word “aromatherapy” misleading. Folks often interpret it as meaning that the oil’s fragrance alone has therapeutic properties.

But that’s not the thing. Smelling the oils can be lovely! I’m not discounting that! But for some of them, applying them to the skin offers more benefits. While ingesting some oils can be helpful. (NOTE: Not all oils are safe to apply to the skin; some require what’s known as a “carrier oil,” such as coconut oil or jojoba oil, in order to be skin-safe, and certainly not all essential oils are safe to ingest. Let’s not get carried away here.)

Today, I want to offer you two easy-to-find oils as options to integrate into your self-care practices: lavender and mint.

Lavender is known to have calming properties, while mint is more on the uplifting side.

If you tend to experience anxiety, frustration, nervous system hyperarousal, or other types of agitation, it may be worth an experiment to get yourself some lavender essential oil. You can diffuse it, put it in your bath water, or mix it in with your favorite unscented lotion or body wash.

And if you lean more in the direction of depression or nervous system hypoarousal, mint oil might be your new bestie! Same options as above for what to do with it.

Both are safe to apply to the skin, though I do recommend a carrier for doing so. (Hence the idea to mix it with your fave lotion or body wash.) And if you purchase them in a roller-ball type of packaging, they’re likely already in a carrier, because those bottles are intended to be applied directly to the skin.

Do you use EOs? If so, I’d love to know your go-to blends and what you use them for! Email me and tell me.