What Are Essential Oils, and Where Do They Come From?
Essential oils are the powerful aromatic compounds found in the seeds, bark, stems, roots, flowers, and other parts of plants. In a single plant, you can find over 100 chemical compounds. These compounds hold the natural smell and flavor, or “essence” of their source.
The term “essential” refers to the oils’ essence or distinctive fragrance or odor. The plant is then distilled or cold-pressed to extract the essence.
For thousands of years, essential oils have been used medicinally. Famous for uplifting your mood, essential oils can also help relieve symptoms of common illnesses. Yet many people still don’t know how to use them safely.
Essential Oils May Help With Physical Ailments
Essential oils make your home smell like a spa and promote relaxation. But you may find relief from various physical ailments using those same oils!
Remedies containing essential oils can help with headaches, muscle pain, and skin irritation. Even diffusing certain oils can induce relaxation before bedtime.
Here are a few homeopathic remedies to try for yourself. Simply dilute a few drops of essential oil in a carrier oil like jojoba, sweet almond, or coconut oil.
💧 For a headache, try rubbing peppermint essential oil on your temples or the nape of your neck.
💧 For sore muscles, try chamomile essential oil to offer relief.
💧 For an itchy bug bite or sunburn, try lavender to help soothe your irritated skin.
💧 For anxiety or insomnia, try a drop of lavender oil on the bottom of your feet for sweet dreams.
The list of benefits you can experience from essential oils is virtually endless. As the popularity of these potent oils grows, people are beginning to reach for homeopathic remedies as their first-line defense to treat various ailments.
The Healing Benefits of Essential Oils for Your Emotional and Mental Health
Essential oils can be a powerful tool for influencing your moods and behaviors. Your sense of smell is a direct pathway to your limbic system — also known as your emotional brain.
The next time you experience physical or emotional distress, reach for your essential oils first. These oils trigger hormones in your brain that affect how you feel and react to that emotion, stimulating your limbic system. To demonstrate this, here’s a story about how a mother, Jane, used essential oils to help relieve her son’s anxiety.
Essential Oils to the Rescue
When Sam started preschool, Jane learned about the calming effects of essential oils. Sam experienced separation anxiety and would become visibly distressed on school mornings. They were beginning to dread mornings due to his anxiety. Every day was a struggle at drop-off time.
One morning, with Sam in tears, Jane wondered what would calm her son and help him throughout the day. Then she remembered the roll-on bottle of lavender essential oil that she kept in her purse.
As she applied it to her son’s arm, Jane reminded Sam that lavender is a gift from Mother Nature to help with worries. He lifted his arm and inhaled deeply. As his tears dried, his anxiety lessened. Soon, Sam said his goodbyes to his mom and joined his classmates calm and tear-free.
His teacher was amazed that something as simple as the sense of smell could trigger a limbic system response in the brain. She even saw him smelling his arm during rest time before falling fast asleep on his nap mat.
Sam’s teacher reported that Sam’s day had improved, much to Jane’s relief and she was interested in how to incorporate essential oils into her classroom.
The following week, Jane gifted Sam’s teacher with a bottle of lavender and a diffuser for the classroom.
This showcases the powerful effects of just one essential oil. However, studies show that essential oil therapy can be an effective technique for relieving anxiety, reducing stress, and improving sleep — as well as helping physical ailments when used correctly.
The possibilities are endless when you tap into the healing effects of these natural yet mighty oils. Now let’s explore how to do just that, in a safe way.
Essential Safety for Essential Oils
There are many ways to use essential oils for your health and wellbeing. You can diffuse them, apply them topically (diluted), or even carry a personal inhaler.
It’s important to remember that essential oils are very concentrated. A little goes a long way!
Before applying to the skin, dilute most essential oils in a carrier oil such as coconut, sweet almond, or jojoba oil. Diluting prevents irritation and stinging.
Only a few essential oils can be safely applied straight on your skin without diluting. (We call this manner of applying the essential oil “neat” or undiluted.)
Most adults will find that 2-3 drops of essential oils mixed with approximately 6 teaspoons of carrier oil are plenty to get the job done. Guidance from essential oil experts says to keep the ratio of carrier oil to essential oil above 30:1 to be safe.
Keep Essential Oils Out of Reach of Small Children & Pets
Treat essential oils like any chemical in your home and store them properly. Essential oils should be stored safely and kept out of reach of children and pets since they can be toxic if ingested or used in high concentrations.
Always dilute any essential oil you plan to use on your children with a carrier oil like coconut, sweet almond, or jojoba oil. Young skin is more sensitive to essential oils than adult skin.
Parent tip: If any essential oil feels too warm on your child’s skin, add more carrier oil to the area to dilute directly on the trouble spot!
Read Labels and Watch for Potential Red Flags
The popularity of essential oils climbs each year as people seek more natural holistic choices. Essential oils could be the solution to maintaining your health without taking a handful of pharmaceuticals each morning.
However, rising interest in homeopathic wellness means more companies want to “cash in” on the essential oil market. Beware of the individual risks when using essential oils and choose a reputable company.
So how do you know what’s safe and what isn’t? The simplest way to find this information is on the label. Clear instructions, ingredient sourcing, and specific details on using the oil should be on the label.
A reputable homeopathic oil seller will be knowledgeable about the oils they sell and have easy-to-access information on each oil in their inventory. And if your questions aren’t answered, it’s best to find another company that can address your concerns.
Hint: keep reading for our top essential oil company recommendations.
Essential Oils and CBD
You can make more educated decisions about what you put on or into your body with a basic understanding of essential oils. With so many products available, it’s crucial to avoid poor-quality products and synthetic oils. While they’re less expensive, they’re also less effective.
The power of the entourage effect isn’t only found in hemp products. We add high-quality essential oils to our topical balm and Maximum Mint tincture to bring the power of CBD and essential oils together. They amplify one another to offer you the most relief possible.
At Serenity CBD, we strive to educate our customers by providing excellent resources. Quality products come from companies willing to be transparent about production — only the best ingredients for our collection! You deserve nothing less.
Quality Essential Oils for Personal Use Without Breaking the Bank
Are you looking for a trusted source for essential oils? Our Serenity team chooses oils from Eden Botanicals and Plant Therapy for personal and production use. These companies consistently provide high-quality oils that maintain the high safety standards our clients expect with reasonable price points.
Ready to put those new essential oils into action and see how well they work?
Not only are essential oils a powerful tool for your health, but they can also promote the health of your home. We fill you in on everything you need to know for using essential oils for this year’s spring cleaning in our free ebook. Make sure you’ve snagged a copy of Naturally Clean!”
Inside you’ll find recipes for inexpensive cleaning solutions that use the natural power of essential oils to refresh and disinfect your home. It’s our “Happy Spring” gift to you. Click here to grab your free copy.
Remember, Serenity loves you. All of you. Regardless.
