Today I want to cover another tool that can help you to reduce your stress levels and subsequently induce relaxation: The use of aromatherapy.

Aromatherapy incorporates the use of aromatic essential oils in order to promote psychological and/or physical well-being. Essential oils are extracted directly from the roots, bark, leaves, stems and/or flowers of various plants using a distillation process. They are the purest essences of the plant that they are extracted from and are therefore extremely concentrated, so it is best to use them sparingly. You can use essential oils in a variety of ways, including using a commercially purchased aromatherapy diffuser, putting a few drops in the water of your vaporizer or mixing it into a massage oil for use with massage therapy, to name a few. There are many essential oils that promote relaxation and reduce stress, the most popular being lavender oil. Others include chamomile, geranium, hops, marjoram, nutmeg, sandalwood and ylang-ylang. All of these essential oils have other healing properties as well, so you may want to do some research and some experimentation.  Aromatherapy is very safe when the essential oils are used properly, but it is important to read the guidelines I’ve linked to here if you are new to the practice.

Essential oils can be purchased from a variety of mail order or web-based companies as well as at some health food or herbal stores.  Happy smelling!