From Holiday Grumbles to Gratitude
The upcoming American Thanksgiving offers us a welcome break from our daily routines. It is a time to pause and reflect on what we are grateful for with those we care about. Families and friends gather to share their blessings, express hopes for the future, and enjoy a moment of togetherness. To represent the abundance that life can provide, many of us will also be breaking bread with our loved ones and sharing a yummy, large, multi-course feast. Yet as the holidays approach, not everyone feels cozy and comfy. Tensions within us and in our world are still present. In fact, sometimes the holidays can amplify them. This makes finding the spirit of the season a tough ask for some people. Previously, we discussed how a change in perspective can help to remedy our emotions of discontent, lack, and disconnection. We can also access a positive mindset to transform our grumbles into gratitude. In this post, I want to highlight a blend of essential oils that supports this beneficial change in our thinking and can assist us to shift into a state of appreciation. I will also explore the scientific underpinnings of how our aromatic allies impact our neurophysiology and calm down our nervous system when it is over-reactive or imbalanced. Topics include:
- The four ways essential oils shift our mindset
- How essential oils impact mind-body-brain health
- How essential oils influence our neurophysiology
- A blend of essential oils that ignite gratitude
Exploring these basic mechanisms of essential oils can help to enlighten us about why they are so powerful for the mind and body. These processes explain why they can shift our mood so quickly and make our nervous system feel safe enough to re-connect to ourselves, the world, and others with more openness. As always, all the resources, links, and references will be available in the accompanying article. So, let’s get started.
The Four Ways Essential Oils Uplift Our Mindset
Research and spiritual practices both report that beliefs affect overall well-being and can impact our physiology for better or worse. For the more evidence-based individuals, this is known as the placebo effect, which affects the results of clinical trials. In experiments, it is well known that positive expectations have been shown to favorably influence the response to treatment. Therefore, researchers must account for the placebo effect to accurately interpret the efficacy of their intervention. Knowing that what we believe can affect our health can be empowering, if we have the tools to shift our thoughts in a positive direction. Essential oils are one modality that can aid us in obtaining a more hopeful perspective to enhance our wellness. This is based on four specific effects of our aromatic allies. These include how they:
- impact emotional healing
- balance our stress and hormonal response patterns
- positively alter brain functioning
- enhance mind-heart coherence and support integrative, calming practices through memory-based aromatic associations
Essential Oils for Brain Health and Mood
Due to their versatile properties, essential oils impact our physical and brain health, which further aids more nourishing neural pathways. This is through how they influence our physiology in multiple ways, leading to changes in our cognition, mood, and brain processing. Due to their synergy of compounds that support mind-body balance, essential oils not only shift our perspective, but also our biochemistry in a way that helps us to sustain this emotional upliftment. Essential oils have an ability to beneficially affect:
- immune response and inflammation (assisting with neuroinflammation)
- digestion, the microbiome, and microbial balance (supporting the gut-brain axis)
- cellular and neuron protection (acting as neuroprotective agents)
- hormones and neurotransmitters (regulating emotions and brain health)
- blood sugar (impacting mood, brain function, and energy)
- the stress response and vagal tone (aiding restoration and resiliency)
- neurocognition (improving memory and productivity)
How Essential Oils Affect Our Neurophysiology
Due to their hundreds of constituents, and the fact that each compound exerts various effects, each essential oil can have numerous effects on our physiology. For example, pinene, which is found in many essential oils, has anxiolytic (anti-anxiety), anticonvulsant (anti-seizure), neuroprotective (nervous system protective), gastroprotective (supports gut health), and cytoprotective (cellular protection) actions. Imagine, that’s just one compound found in some of your favorite aromatics, such as frankincense and pine oils! Now you can understand why essential oils have so many actions, right? (If you want to explore more of the properties of the chemical constituents found in common oils, view this table.) Essential oils (EOs) also have a distinct influence on our nervous system and brain. A 2023 systematic literature review sought to investigate this link between EOs and our central nervous system (CNS). The article stated (parenthesis mine):
EOs exert their neuropharmacological effects through blood circulation or the olfactory system. This paper summarizes clinical studies showing that aromatherapy could improve sleep, relieve preoperative anxiety and postoperative PONV, (postoperative nausea and vomiting), relieve gynecological disease pain, and play a role in hospice care.
….
The present findings suggest that EOs have neuropharmacological effects such as nootropic (enhancing cognition), sleep improvement, anti-dementia, anti-anxiety and depression, analgesic effect (pain-relieving), and antiepileptic (relieving seizures), emphasizing the importance of EOs in CNS disorders and indicating the potential clinical application.
As stated above, these neuropharmacological effects are accomplished by the ability of essential oils to directly enter the bloodstream and brain. Due to their polarity, they can easily permeate membrane barriers in the mucosa, skin, brain, etc., and enter our systemic circulation influencing our bodily functions. Via our nervous system, essential oils are inhaled and pass through our olfactory epithelium, binding to the olfactory sensory neurons (OSN). From there, they potentiate signals into the olfactory bulb reaching the olfactory cortex and limbic system (our “emotional center”). This makes our sense of smell a direct “route” to our brain and mental state. The authors go into more detail in the above-mentioned review paper. They state:
Generally, EOs exert their potential neuropharmacological effects mainly through the blood circulation (blood route) or the direct olfactory nerve conduction (nerve route) [125].
For the blood route, EO molecules easily pass through the physiological barriers (mucosa, skin, blood-brain barrier, etc.) because of the less polarity, and enter brain tissue with blood circulation, then exert neuropharmacological effects (Fig. 1).
For the nerve route, EOs are inhaled in the nasal cavity, and pass through the olfactory epithelium where they bind to dendritic receptors of olfactory sensory neurons (OSN). The generated action potential signals are transmitted to the cervical glomerulus via olfactory nerves.
The same type of OSN project their axons into the corresponding glomerular layer of the olfactory bulb where they synapse with dendrites of mitral and tufted cells.
Finally, the specific signals are transmitted to pyramidal neurons in the olfactory cortex, where the signals further stimulate the corresponding regions of the brain, namely the olfactory area in the anterior lobe of the brain, and finally to the “limbic system”.
The limbic system, as the “emotional control center”, consists of cortical and subcortical structures including the amygdala, hypothalamus, and hippocampus (Fig. 1).
It can trigger emotional responses through the amygdala, stimulate the autonomic nerve of the hypothalamus to affects the function of various organs, and so on [126].
An Aromatic Blend to Boost Gratitude
Previously, I highlighted how the properties of specific essential oils and their constituents can be blended to achieve a specific emotional state. For example, a combination of citrus, spice, fir, and resin essential oils can support our physical health as they help us feel more uplifted, alert, and abundant. Now that we know how essential oils influence our brain and neurophysiology in more detail, I will review another combination of them which can enhance gratitude. The synergy of aromatic effects in this mixture soothes the mind, relieves tension in the body, and promotes a refreshing and alert state. This Gratitude Blend is a lovely mix of the essential oils of:
- Frankincense and Myrrh- These sacred oils of the Bible have been used in religious and spiritual traditions for centuries. These precious oils are also proving to be a powerful duo physically and emotionally in modern science. Both essential oils contain sesquiterpenes, a class of terpenes that consist of three isoprene units. (An isoprene unit is a five-carbon building block with the chemical formula C5H8.) These molecules have calming properties, act as antioxidants, offer immune support, and assist in cellular repair. Furthermore, the constituent, elemene, found in myrrh and other oils, has been found to cross the blood-brain barrier to benefit a specific aspect of neurological health.
- Fir and Spruce -These oils are known as “grounding oils,” assisting us in being present in the moment. They contain phytoncides, which are compounds that can enhance well-being, decrease stress, and support immune function.
- Bergamot – This oil has many clinical studies supporting its effect on mood, easing anxiety, and calming our physiology.
- Coriander – A 2015 literature review of coriander published in Filoterapia, reported on the many properties this oil possesses that could support our mind and body easing into state of gratitude. The authors stated (parenthesis mine), “…. coriander seed and herb essential oils have been actively investigated for their chemical composition and biological activities including antimicrobial, antioxidant, hypoglycemic (blood sugar lowering), hypolipidemic (lipid lowering), anxiolytic (reducing anxiety), analgesic (pain-relieving), anti-inflammatory, anti-convulsant (anti-seizure), and anti-cancer activities, among others.”
- Ylang ylang – This is one of my go-to oils for relaxing the nervous system and keeping blood pressure in a healthy range. It also positively influences brain activity and vagal tone to aid restoration and resiliency.
- Vetiver– This earthy oil has been studied in vivo for its calming effects while creating a “refreshing, alert” state in humans.
- Geranium– As a beautiful, harmonizing floral scent, geranium has been associated with the ability to decrease tension, balance hormones, and enhance a state of peacefulness.
Summing Up on Using Essential Oils for Elevating Gratitude
Essential oils can shift our perspective based on how they impact emotional healing, stress, brain functioning, and enhancing mind-heart coherence. They also can aid brain and physiological health and support our neurophysiology in ways that beneficially alter our mood, biochemistry, and nervous system. Specific essential oils can be combined to calm our mind and body, enhance our health, and awaken our sense of well-being. This is accomplished with a mixture of conifer tree blends, ylang ylang, coriander, bergamot, and geranium oils. By adding the holy oils of frankincense and myrrh, both high in sesquiterpenes, our brain and neurological system are further supported. This synergy of scents permeates our spirit and uplifts our moods so we can experience more gratitude. Do you have a favorite blend of essential oils to uplift your mood and mind? Be sure to provide your feedback and comment below. Many blessings for a beautiful Thanksgiving and holiday season ahead.
FAQs on Essential Oils for Mindset, Brain Health, and Boosting Gratitude
Q: How do essential oils shift our mindset?
A: Essential oils shift our mindset in four ways, they:
- impact emotional healing
- balance our stress and hormonal response patterns
- positively alter brain functioning
- enhance mind-heart coherence and support integrative, calming practices through memory-based aromatic associations
Q: How do essential oils support our brain health and mood?
A: Due to their multiple biochemical and aromatic properties, essential oils can influence our physiology, having an impact on our cognition, mood, and brain processing.
Q: How do essential oils affect our neurophysiology?
A: Essential oils exert their neuropharmacological effects through blood circulation and/or the olfactory system.
Q: What is a good essential oil combination for igniting a feeling of gratitude?
A: Specific essential oils including conifer tree blends, ylang ylang, coriander, bergamot, geranium, and the holy oils of frankincense and myrrh can synergize to spark a sense of gratitude.
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Resources
- Boosting the Mind-Body Benefits of Gratitude with Essential Oils (My video blog with references)
- Four Ways Essential Oils Can Shift Our Mindset To Feel More Abundant and An Oil Blend for Prosperity (My video blog with references)
- A Naturopathic and Functional Medicine Approach to Supporting the Brain Using Essential Oils: Essential Oils for the Brain Part 2 (My video blog with references)
- Therapeutic Effect and Mechanisms of Essential Oils in Mood Disorders: Interaction between the Nervous and Respiratory Systems (International Journal of Molecular Science, 2021)
- Essential oils: Chemical constituents, potential neuropharmacological effects and aromatherapy – A review (Pharmacological Research – Modern Chinese Medicine, March 2023)
- Coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) and its bioactive constituents. (Fitoterapia, 2015)
- Modification of sleep-waking and electroencephalogram induced by vetiver essential oil inhalation (Journal of Intercultural Ethnopharmacology, 2016)
- Essential oils and anxiolytic aromatherapy (Natural Product Communications, 2009)
- An investigation of the ability of elemene to pass through the blood-brain barrier and its effect on brain carcinomas (Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, 2009)
