Essential oils have a long list of healing properties, medicinal uses, they are fairly easy to use, and they’ve been around for 1,000’s of years so there’s plenty of research on the benefits of essential oils.
In this particular post I’m going to be talking about the benefits of clove and lime essentials oils specifically for anxiety, panic attacks and everyday stress.
Understanding the Nervous System
In order to understand how these oils can help, it’s important to understand how the nervous system works.
Quick rundown: The body’s central nervous system is composed of the brain and spinal cord. The autonomic nervous system is what connects our brain and spinal cord or CNS to our internal organs so they can send messages back and forth.
The autonomic nervous system has 2 main branches: The sympathetic nervous system which is fight or flight and freeze and the parasympathetic nervous system which is rest and digest.
There are varying degrees of activation within the sympathetic nervous system, fight or flight (stress, panic anxiety) and freeze (DPDR, disassociation)
How Can Essential Oils Help?
This is where the essentials oils come in.
lime and clove essential oils when mixed together work to stimulate the Vagus nerve. Stimulation of the Vagus nerve helps regulate the nervous system by turning on the parasympathetic branch of the nervous system and bring on a sense of calm and wellbeing.
The parasympathetic branch of the nervous system is where our body restores, rests, repairs and heals. Coming into this state or branch of the nervous system is the goal when healing anxiety, panic and episodes of DPDR.
How to use Essential Oils
There are several different ways to utilize essential oils:
Aromatherapy: Simply smelling essential oils is an easy and effective way to get the benefits of the oils.
You can place some cotton balls in a ziploc bag and place a few drops of each oil onto the cotton balls and breath in through the bag as needed.
You can also diffuse 2-3 drops of each clove and lime in an essential oil diffuser in your space.
Topically: using oils topically is another great way to get the benefits from these oils.
You can dilute the oil with a carrier oil of choice. I use fractionated coconut oil by filling a roller bottle 3/4 of the way full of coconut oil and placing 3-5 drops of each clove and lime oil into the bottle.
You can rub this mixture on your wrists or behind your ears as needed to bring on a sense of calm and wellbeing during times of stress.
Essentials oils are a great tool to add in with other therapies to bring the nervous system back into regulation, which is the ultimate goal when healing from anxiety, panic and DPDR.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this post is not meant to diagnose or treat any medical condition. If you have any medical or psychiatric concerns, please seek the advice of a licensed healthcare provider.
Let me know in the comments if you try this and how it works for you. Also, if you have a favorite oil or blend for anxiety, please share it!
Related Content:
- Can Fluoroquinolones (cipro) increase anxiety? Here’s what you need to know.
- Grounding/Earthing: How it’s helpful for anxiety and nervous system regulation
- Existential OCD Intrusive Thoughts can be Scary Symptoms of DPDR
- Use This Mantra to Ground You During a Panic Attack
- 2 Essential oils for Anxiety, Panic and DPDR.
