Use Important Oils For Your Personal Steadiness, Resilience & Nicely-Being

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Massage therapists can combat burnout by using aromatherapy for self-care

The physical demands of our work together with the energetic exhaustion that can occur through giving, giving, giving throughout the day – without refilling our own cup – can lead to burnout.

The irony is that while we create calm experiences and deep relaxation for our customers, we often focus so much on accommodating our customers that we need our own respite.

Outside of the treatment room, there’s the push-pull of email, social media, and the personal demands of family life, including children, significant other, elderly parents, and extended families and friends who keep expanding us. We cannot maintain our strength and our balance when we strain our bodies, superimpose stressors and psychologically fend off challenges from all sides.

Self-care is an essential element for our personal and professional sustainability. A shift is taking place – from perceiving that taking care of the self is narcissistic and selfish to understanding that taking care of our personal wellbeing is necessary to be a healthy and vital practitioner in the wellness field.

We advocate wellness for our customers, but we have to have the conversation, otherwise there will be an interruption in our role as wellness professionals: We advocate wellness, but don’t live it. It is important to understand that if we do not take care of ourselves, our reserves will be low and then we will not have the energy, patience and empathy for our customers.

Natural self-care

Aromatherapy and the use of essential oils are one of the powerful ways to promote our own balance and wellbeing. As we gain more personal experience with essential oils, we can better share our professional recommendations for their use with our customers for their own self-care practice.

There are many simple yet effective ways to use essential oils. Let’s start with the basics first.

Essential oils are highly concentrated extracts from plant substances and parts of plants such as flowers, leaves, twigs, roots, bark and fruit peels. Some oils contain phytohormones with a chemistry – and that chemotype or chemical distinctness determines the physiological effects the oils have on the body.

Essential oils are absorbed by inhalation or by applying to the skin during a massage, facial, or bath. It has been found that the use of pure essential oils, when used correctly and safely, has both psychological and physical benefits.

Each essential oil has its own botanical chemistry with specific healing properties. The use of oils has been documented from ancient healing traditions to modern science and integrative medicine. Their therapeutic properties support the body’s natural ability to balance, regulate and support optimal wellbeing.

Essential oils can be used in a variety of ways, including personalized blends for massages, baths, and skin care, as well as in fragrance diffusers for the environment.

7 application methods

Essential oils are highly concentrated extracts from plant substances. Therefore, a small amount is enough. Here are a few ways you can incorporate them into your daily self-care practice:

1. Purify the mind, open the lungs to fuller breath. Breathing supplies the cells with oxygen and brings vitality to the whole body. When we breathe consciously, we can clear and calm the mind. Using inhalation techniques, we can cleanse the sinuses and lungs for fuller breaths.

2. Inhale. Eucalyptus and tea tree are two very popular oils for inhalation therapy. Just boil water and put it in a bowl. Add two drops at a time, close your eyes and inhale the vapors with a towel over your head.

3. Muscle and joint pain. Essential oils, which promote blood circulation, relieve joint stiffness, warm muscle tissue, and have anti-inflammatory properties, can be used after the work day or in the evening. Apply 10 to 15 drops per ounce. of unscented oil using any combination of these essential oils: eucalyptus, lemongrass, rosemary, ginger, or juniper. Apply a drop of lemongrass and peppermint to the temples, back of the head, and forehead to relieve headaches.

4. Soak for a better sleep. A warm bath has been used for centuries to relax the body and prepare for a good night’s sleep. Warm water vasodilates and relieves muscle tension. This deep calm formula is relaxing and calming. Mix four drops of lavender, two drops of chamomile, three drops of cedarwood, and two drops of orange to one ounce of unscented massage oil. Mix half in bath water combined with mineral salts. Apply the remaining mixture to your body after the bath, before going to bed.

5. Stress relief. Soothing the nervous system to restore and restore with lavender, clary sage, ylang ylang, orange and cedarwood, combined or used individually in a diffuser, body oil or bath.

6. Power of positivity. Prepare for the start of your day or shift your energies after a long day by distributing citrus oils called Joy oils, which are positive and uplifting. Orange, grapefruit, lemon, and lime are positive, refreshing, and uplifting. They are great for environmental scents (in your diffuser) to change the energy of a room and improve your mood.

7. Immune resilience. During this year of the pandemic, we learned more than ever the importance of our immune resilience. Essential oils traditionally used to support the immune system are eucalyptus, tea tree, and lemongrass. Mix three drops each of eucalyptus and tea tree with six drops of lemongrass into one ounce of fragrance-free massage oil for your own morning self-massage.

Vital self-care

Essential oils can be an integral part of self-care through inhalation, transdermal administration, or fragrances in the environment. As you explore the many additional ways to use these botanicals for your own wellbeing, you’ll love the relationship you have with essential oils and the vegetable kingdom they come from.

We all strive for balance in our life. Essential oils are a natural resource that helps us thrive.

About the author:

Tara Donna Grodjesk is VP of Earthlite Spa and Wellness Products and founder of Tara Spa Therapy. She is a certified holistic health educator, massage therapist, Ayurveda practitioner and aromatherapist. She is also a co-founder of the Green Spa Network and the Northern California Spa Alliance. Grodjesk has been training massage therapists internationally for 30 years. Her articles for MASSAGE Magazine include, “How CBD Treatments Can Help You and Your Customers.”