Uses of Essential Oils to Promote Relaxation

Everyone deals with stress at one point or another and someone may have told you to use essential oils to relieve those feelings of stress but do you really know what to do with the oil? There are many scents and many uses, some of which will be covered here. Five of the most popular essential oils used for relaxation purposes are: chamomile, lavender, cypress, rose, and neroli.

One technique that incorporates these essential oils to relieve stress is through massage. Essential oils are used for their scent and should be mixed in with an oil base such as almond oil if it is to be used as a massage oil. It is recommended that you add ten to twenty drops of essential oil to every ounce of the oil base you are using according to the National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy which can be found at

If you aren't lucky enough to have someone to give you a massage when you're dealing with stress, you can use a cold compress to relieve muscle tension. All you need to do is combine two cups of cold water with seven drops of essential oil and soak a wash cloth in the mixture. Ring out the excess water and then apply the cool cloth wherever you feel tension in your muscles, leave it in place until the cloth has warmed to your body temperature. This will help relieve stress and tension as well as any stiff muscle aches you may have.

Another technique used to rid your body of stress is a foot bath, use a small basin and fill it with warm water and add five or six drops of essential oil and stir around. When you soak for your feet for ten to fifteen minutes in this bath, the warmth of the water and the scent of the oil will help you relax. If you're looking for a more full body relaxation method you can use this technique for a full body bath. Fill the bathtub with warm, not hot, water and add about ten drops of your favorite essential oil right before you get in the water. Let your whole body relax and take in the warmth and breath in the relaxing scent.

Essential oils can do wonders for relaxation and eliminating stress from the body and these are just some of the uses you can take advantage of. Oils can be purchased from many places including health stores, aromatherapy stores, and numerous online retailers. http://www.naha.org. Massage therapy is a great source of relaxation during a stressful period and when combined with these relaxing essential oils, the results will be multiplied.