Essential Oils for Enhanced Mindfulness Practices
- Kendra Horne
- May 23
- 5 min read
Updated: Jun 21
As part of my mental health journey, I have been embracing and actively participating in all the things my health and wellness providers suggest I try, and one of those things is using essential oils. Okay, I know what you're thinking, "Are you for real?" Well, in this case, yes, I'm all in!
Both my holistic provider and my more traditionally trained clinical psychologist have recommended using essential oils and actively incorporate them into their practices. I began with a small essential oil kit gifted to my mother, which served as a starting point. However, I recently purchased a larger kit that gives me more options to create mixes and explore new scents as part of my mental health and mindfulness practices. Check out the specific set by Cliganic, which includes eight essential oils: Peppermint, Lavender, Eucalyptus, Tea Tree, Lemongrass, Rosemary, Frankincense, and Orange.
In a world that often feels overwhelming, essential oils provide a natural and straightforward way to cultivate balance and enhance your mindfulness journey.
What are Essential Oils?
In their purest form, essential oils are highly concentrated plant extracts that capture both the aroma and beneficial properties of herbs, flowers, fruits, and even some trees. When selecting and purchasing essential oils for your mindfulness journey, it is crucial to choose organic options to ensure the plant extracts are free from pesticides, herbicides, and other toxic chemicals. Although essential oils are often blended with other ingredients to create creams or beauty products, using the purest form is crucial for all health-related purposes. That said, you can buy single scents or premixed solutions that combine 2-3 essential oils for specific uses. My original set included three mixed scents: one for rest, one for reflection, and one for energy.
How do essential oils, and ultimately aromatherapy, work?
Essential oils engage our sense of smell. Scent connects us with our emotions and feelings, grounding our bodies and helping us remember important memories.
What are the Key benefits of Essential Oils?
According to the Cleveland Clinic, in a blog article titled 11 Essential Oils: Their Benefits and How To Use Them, essential oils may help:
Boost Mood
Reduce Stress & Increase Attentiveness
Improve Sleep
Reduce Anxiety & Pain
Relieve Headaches
This is just a small subset of the key benefits cited by scientists, doctors, and holistic healers regarding the potential of essential oils in your wellness routine.
How do you use Essential Oils?
There are three primary ways most people use essential oils, including:
Diffuse
Roll Directly on the Skin
Ingest, most commonly in Tea (Note: not recommended for all oils!)
In my practice, I have been rolling my essential oils directly on my skin, and with a quick Google search, you can easily find the best places to roll depending on the desired effect you want them to have.
Depending on how you choose to use essential oils, you can use them to scent a room, create a warm compress, add to a massage, or use in a shower or bath to support your health. I have also started using essential oils in my drain to mask the smells from our garbage disposal.
Common Essential Oils and Their Uses
Lavender – One of the most widely used essential oils, lavender is renowned for its calming properties, promoting relaxation, supporting sleep, and soothing skin irritation. Lavender can be diffused, used to create a compress, added to your bath, massaged, or applied directly to your skin. I am not a big fan of lavender on its own, so I have been mixing it with orange and lemongrass to create a calming scent that is more appealing to me while retaining some of the same relaxation properties.
Peppermint – Prepare to be energized by peppermint, which helps relieve headaches, aids digestion, and boosts focus. Peppermint can be diffused, added to a bath, or used in a massage. My therapist swears by this for sinus issues and other general cold symptoms, but be cautious with peppermint regarding direct skin contact, and avoid getting it in your eyes at all costs.
Lemon – Regarded as uplifting, lemon can purify the air, support immune health, and enhance mood. When used in the morning or early afternoon, lemon can boost mental alertness and increase focus. You can use lemon by adding it to a massage, bath, or by diffusing it in a room to create a refreshing scent. Similar to peppermint oil, be cautious with lemon as it relates to applying it directly onto the skin.
Tea Tree – Tea Tree is considered antibacterial and has historically been one of the most commonly used essential oils for medicinal purposes. Tea Tree is known for fighting acne, supporting scalp health, and disinfecting surfaces. Inhale, diffuse, or create a compress with Tea Tree, but be cautious when applying it directly to the skin. It is advised that before using Tea Tree directly on your skin, you complete a patch test to ensure there is no negative reaction.
Eucalyptus – Similar to peppermint, eucalyptus can be used to clear congestion, support respiratory health, and may repel insects. Used in many over-the-counter drugstore products, most people are familiar with the common and pungent scent of eucalyptus. Inhale, diffuse, add to a bath, compress, or massage; eucalyptus has many uses. Be careful when applying this directly to the skin; always dilute it or add another carrier oil for support.
Rosemary – Rosemary is known to stimulate memory, promote hair growth, and may relieve muscle tension. Inhaling, diffusing, massaging, compressing, bathing, or direct application to the skin, rosemary may be one of the most versatile essential oils.
My Own Experience with Essential Oils
I have been incorporating essential oils into my new sleep routine, and I also practice breathing techniques to enhance my mindfulness practice. My favorite oils include eucalyptus and various citrus scents, especially orange, which can be found in the Cliganic gift set mentioned above.
When practicing breathing techniques I've shared in previous posts, you can apply your favorite essential oil to the inside of your wrist and inhale it during your breath to help promote deep breathing, relaxation, and remain grounded in the practice.
Since I initially published this article, I have also begun introducing my eight-year-old daughter, Brooklyn, to the use of essential oils, and I’ve loved seeing her explore and experiment with me.
In Conclusion
Like any new practice, I am still in the trial-and-error phase of my journey. My early experience has shown that incorporating a pleasant-smelling essential oil into my sleep or breathing routine helps me stay grounded in the activity at hand.
Have you ever tried essential oils? Leave a comment below to keep the conversation going.
Additional Reading on Drifting Towards Simplicity
Additional Essential Oil Resources
The content on Drifting Towards Simplicity is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment—please seek support from a licensed professional if needed.
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