Aromatherapy For the Office

Aromatherapy has been used for centuries, but it’s only recently that scientists have started to realise the potential aromas have for soothing people and promoting a sense of wellbeing. An increasing number of studies show that aromatherapy plays a big role in relaxation and mood elevation, and scientists are now looking into how aromatherapy can help cancer patients and palliative carers.

What was once the realm of crystal shops is now recognised as a therapy that can greatly improve mood, help to relax muscles and even improve concentration – exactly the kind of thing we all need during the work day, right?

If you’re anything like me, you’ll often find yourself struggling through certain times of the day. I’m (begrudgingly) a night owl who seems to get a ridiculous amount of work done between 10pm and 2am. But when I need to concentrate during business hours, I often struggle – particularly if I’ve had a late one the night before. Instead of consistently falling back on sugar and caffeine to help me get through these slumps I’ve recently starting dabbling in aromatherapy to get me through the workday, and surprisingly, it’s really helped me a lot.

How does it work?

Aromatherapy works on the basis that stimulating certain smell receptors in the nose results in messages being sent to the limbic system – the region of the brain that controls emotion.

Our sense of smell is one of the most ancient systems. Long before we were crafting fragrant candles, our ancestors were relying on their noses to detect predators and signal whether something was safe to eat. As a result, it’s one of the only systems that bypasses conscious thought and feeds straight into the emotional control centre of the brain, causing a direct response. Back then that response was either fight or flight, but it also has the potential to cause more subtle changes, such as making you feel safe and relaxed or more alert.

Where do I start?

There are many ways you can work aromatherapy in your life – and no, you don’t have to carry around a humidifier or any other contraption you’ve seen in a massage parlour. My favourite way is to use a candle blended essential oils as I love the combination of the beautiful scents with the soft light and warmth it provides. Unfortunately, due to occupational health and safety rules, most office spaces won’t allow you to burn candles… so that rules that out, as well as traditional oil. But don’t worry, there are other ways to get a healing scent circulating – you can use diffuser sticks, room sprays or even heat essential oils gradually over your lamp light bulb.

Otherwise, you can always just sniff essential oils or blends directly, which provides just as good an effect, if not better. And I love to dab or roll on certain blends onto my temples, soles of feet and pulse points during the day to help me feel even more relaxed.

It can also be really fun to dabble with creating your own blends. It’s always advisable to see a certified aromatherapist before getting too serious, as some essential oils in their pure form can irritate or even burn the skin. But if you’re just looking to create mixes to sniff throughout the day, you can get started with a visit to your local health shop. As a general guide, if you are going to make up massage oil or blend to dab onto your skin, you’ll need to mix essential oils with a carrier oil such as a vegetable oil or sweet almond oil.

Which oils should I use?

To help fight stress:  Studies have shown that properties of lemon, orange, ylang ylang, frankincense, rose, chamomile, bergamot, lavender and rosemary essential oil all have sedative properties and some have even been shown to reduce cortisol and have muscle relaxing effects. They’ve also been shown to improve feelings of relaxation, decrease stress and improve quality of sleep. I’ve found mixing a blend of ylang ylang, lavender, orange, rose, rosemary, bergamot and lemon to work really well throughout the day.

To help wake you up: If you’re feeling the 3pm slump or have just had a late night, there are certain oils that can actually boost your memory and improve concentration. Research has shown that, in particular, peppermint oil and sage are really good at waking up the mind by actually increasing blood flow, and therefore oxygen, to the brain. And rosemary, cinnamon, lemon, basil and bergamot have also been reported to improve focus. A mix of peppermint, sage, cinnamon and rosemary seems to help me clear the cobwebs. But half the fun of aromatherapy is experimenting and taking your wellbeing into your own hands, so I highly recommend you try to mix up your own.

At the end of the day, anything that causes you to stop and take a few deep breaths is going to do you good, no matter what the scent is. And if all else fails, create something that you enjoy smelling – I promise you it will enrich your workday, and it may even make you work happier and smarter.

Have you ever tried aromatherapy? Are you willing to dabble? I’d love to hear which blends you guys love and if you try out any of the oils I’ve suggested.