Essential Oil Lifestyle to Reduce Anxiety and Fight or Flight
Fight or flight equals inflammation, skin damage and pain. The “fight or flight” response is a stress and anxiety related condition many face due to work and lifestyle, and includes traffic stress, deadlines and relationships, that cause many imbalances, inflammation and sensitivity in the body and skin. Fight or flight, which includes panic attacks, is an autonomic nervous system response that increases heart rate, accelerates breathing and stimulates adrenaline release sending the sympathetic nervous system into overdrive. Fight or flight also negatively affects digestion and sexual function. Skin is especially reactive to the nervous tension and inflammation caused by this condition, causing premature aging, sensitivity and congestion.
What is “fight or flight?”
The fight or flight response is a biological defense function activated at times of threat and danger. For most people the threats, such as being chased by a predator (including human predator) or being in a car accident, are rare or nonexistent. It should be acknowledged there are conditions such as living with an abusive partner that are truly threatening with legitimate ongoing fight or flight response. The more common response at issue in our modern culture to perceived threats is exaggerated, or unnecessary, due to conditions being much less life threatening. The human mind is more responsible for the fight or flight response than are endangering circumstance. It’s a perception of threat that activates the sympathetic nervous system, triggering an acute stress response preparing the body to fight or flee. The mind may exaggerate situations such as a meeting with the boss, being late for an appointment, or anger at the slow person at the front of the line, triggering a fight or flight response. In the current cultural environment, fight or flight response has become more of a health hazard than a protective function.
Tools to alleviate fight or flight
Working essential oils into your daily lifestyle, through inhalation, skin treatments and massage, have the ability to reduce the fight or flight response. The traditional use of anise seed and fennel following a meal is directly related to this, raising parasympathetic activity, or “rest and digest,” to assist in proper digestion. Raising parasympathetic activity is the solution to alleviating the overly active sympathetic nervous system response. Use of essential oils known to bring balance to nervous conditions will help provide health and healing to the skin, the digestive system, and cardiovascular and respiratory functions, by reducing the trauma caused by high stress fight or flight.
Cedrol, a major component in Virginia cedarwood, has been found to increase parasympathetic activity (Dayawansa, S, et al. 2003), mellowing the active sympathetic fight or flight response. Smelling this, and other, essential oils to calm the nerves and ease anxiety will stimulate restful parasympathetic activity. Several essential oils, that includes Cape chamomile, clary sage and geranium, have beneficial balancing properties to both the central and the autonomic nervous systems allowing the body to relax, reduce muscle tension and promote decompression, while also easing sensitivity and irritation that often accompanies the fight or flight response.
EFT is a tapping technique, stimulating acupressure points to deal with stress, fear, and phobias.
Lifestyle techniques using essential oils to reduce tension
Essential oils can be a creative, fragrant and energetic way to relieve stress and bring balance to the body and mind engulfed by the issues that develop due to fight or flight. Creating a system of use, with opportunities to sniff an essential oil or blend known to calm stress and reduce fight or flight, will help to ease through the situations that trigger tension and nervous conditions. It’s as simple as pulling a bottle from your pocket, removing the cap and inhaling directly from the bottle.
There are many accompanying techniques and methods that can be used with the oils, such as EFT tapping, self massage or breath work. EFT stands for Emotional Freedom Techniques, and users say that this simple technique helps them feel better quickly. EFT is a tapping technique, stimulating acupressure points to deal with stress, fear, and phobias. As an alternate to smelling the oil while tapping, the essential oils can be placed on the points or on the fingers used for tapping.
Nutritional Therapist John Tjenos has mastered the art of working with brain function and the vagal nerves (also called vagus nerve, the main nerves of the parasympathetic nervous system), and has developed easy and profoundly effective techniques for applying essential oils for reducing fight or flight. He also developed a specific blend for this, Vagal 2.0, sold through his company Neo Myalo. Here are his recommended steps for application and use to raise parasympathetic activity.
Open the bottle, place one finger on top and thumb on bottom and gently shake 2-3 times until a small layer of oil is visible on your finger
Use this finger to apply the oil to the top of the neck where it meets the skull
While keeping your application finger against your neck, take three slow inhalations followed by longer exhalations on each breath
Repeat as needed throughout the day
Some essential oils showing results raising parasympathetic activity, thus reducing fight or flight, are:
Cape chamomile
Virginia cedarwood
lavender
marjoram
sweet orange
tarragon
ylang ylang
yuzu
The emotion scent connection
It should be noted that how the oil is applied and the conditions when used may significantly effect the results. There are olfactory functions, specifically the memory and emotion associations between the individual and the scent, that require attention when choosing oils. The emotion-memory with a specific essential oil or blend will effect the outcome or feelings associated with that connection. This emotion-memory connection to the oil’s fragrance already established by the user, if positive, can be used to reduce fight or flight, no matter what the properties of the oil are. A relaxing or uplifting emotional connection can be detected by the user as simply enjoying the fragrance of the essential oil or blend. Using emotion-memory allows for more variety in essential oil choices and, along with relaxing application methods, can produce positive results beyond the known therapeutic properties of the oil.
Smell or use this oil only when in this peaceful relaxed state up to 10 times before carrying the blend or smelling it away from the relaxing environment.
Behavior modification
A technique I promote for several behavioral modifications, such as anxiety, addictions and anger issues, is to use your selected essential oil or blend at first when sitting in meditation, having a massage, or in other similar relaxing situations. Smell or use this oil only when in this peaceful relaxed state up to 10 times before carrying the blend or smelling it away from the relaxing environment. This will create an emotional memory of calm associated with the fragrance. Once you’ve established the emotion-memory with the essential oil or blend, begin carrying the bottle with you. When finding yourself entering, during, or following a stressful state or episode, open the bottle and smell using the inhalation/exhalation rhythm mentioned above. This will trigger the relaxed emotional memory associated with the oil and release a soothing calming sensation in the body, reducing the fight or flight response. The steps are:
Choose any essential oil or blend you associate with calm and relaxation
Diffuse, place on a tissue nearby, in a massage base, or smell the oil or blend from the bottle while in a relaxed state (meditation, massage or similar environment)
Use the oil only when in this environment for up to ten sessions
Begin carrying the oil bottle with you once the memory emotion and fragrance link has been established (up to ten sessions in a relaxed state)
When entering, during or following a stressful state or episode, open the bottle and smell, using the slow inhalation followed by longer exhalation method
Relax chronic fatigue
Fight or flight response may deplete the adrenals and cause fatigue. Establishing healthy sleep habits is most important to combat fatigue. When fight or flight is a responsible factor in fatigue, the correct approach is to relax and calm the body. This may seem a strange suggestion when having to work through the days activities and a cup of coffee or a supposedly stimulating essential oil seems more appropriate. Anxiety and stress can be exhausting. By reducing the adrenal drain of stressful fight or flight conditions through relaxation of this state, the body is able to regenerate and rejuvenate more effectively. The result, more energy to get through the day.
Reduce fight or flight with holistic essential oil lifestyle methods
Essential oils, emotion-memory, breath work and application techniques are combined to help you relieve conditions of stress and fight or flight. You can establish your own techniques and make individual essential oil choices based on your preferences. A most important factor is to have a clear intention of relaxation and release of stressful thoughts.
These Jimm Harrison signature blends are designed for positive attitudes and to regulate healthy autonomic function and reduce fight or flight.