The Top 5 Best Scents for Stress Relief

Aromatherapy has been found to have multiple advantages in terms of health and stress relief.

A lavender bag next to your bunk, or the fragrance of a scented candle, will do wonders to alleviate tension and help you get away from your day.

Studies have demonstrated that aromatherapy can also have an effect on brainwaves and can change behavior.2 Not all scents are identical, nor do they influence human physiology and behavior in the same manner.

Rosemary, lavender, and the other scents mentioned below are the most common aromatherapy scents used to alleviate tension. Inside each definition, take a look at their effects and advice for how to make the most of them. That way, you can combine the best fragrance with your aromatherapy needs.

Lavender

Lavender oil is appreciated for its soothing effects on the body and mind and its potential to relieve anxiety. In a study conducted in the Journal of Natural and Complementary Medicine, subjects were subjected to a stressor before performing a memory assignment.

Those who inhaled the fragrance of lavender before stress did better than those who inhaled the aroma of placebo.

In a study conducted in the International Journal of Nursing Practice, aromatherapy using 3% lavender oil spray on clothes effectively reduced work-related stress for three to four days.

You can use lavender oil in several aromatherapy products, including bath salts and massage oils. Another way to make the most of the calming fragrance of lavender is through sipping lavender-infused herbal tea. It is available in several natural food shops.

Overall, lavender oil has a soothing effect on the body and is particularly effective for reducing tension.

Bergamote

The oil that gives Earl Gray tea its distinctive scent, bergamot essential oil, is commonly used in aromatherapy. A source of citrus fruit peel known as Citrus bergamia, this essential oil can relieve stress.

While the research on the effects of bergamot essential oil is relatively small, some studies have shown that oil can help relieve tension and encourage relaxation.

For example, a study published in Phytotherapy Research in 2017 showed that exposure to the fragrance of bergamot essential oil for 15 minutes increased the participants’ optimistic emotions in the waiting room of the mental health treatment center.

Bergamote essential oil can also boost depressive feelings and exhaustion and reduce levels of saliva cortisol. A hormone also referred to as stress hormone in the body.

If you want to use bergamot essential oil for stress relief, you should mix it with carrier oils. Do this before being spreading it sparingly to the skin or added to the water.

Bergamote can be painful to the skin and can cause dermatitis in certain people. It can also make the skin more susceptible to sunlight exposure, leading to redness, burning, blisters, or darkening.

You may also inhale a calming smell by sprinkling a drop or two of the oil onto a rag or towel or by using an aromatherapy diffuser.

Lemongrass

Some individuals resort to aromatherapy requiring the use of lemongrass essential oil. The oil from the lemongrass flower helps ease natural anxiety relief (Cymbopogon citratus).

Inhaling the fragrance of oil encourages calming and reducing depressive symptoms. You can also choose to add it to the skin sparingly when mixed with a carrier oil.

While only a little research has been carried out on the effectiveness of essential oil lemongrass, a report published in the Journal of Natural and Complementary Medicine in 2015 found that participants exposed to essential oil lemongrass had an acute decrease in anxiety and stress and had rapidly recovered from an anxiety-inducing situation than those who inhaled a control scent (tea tree oil) or a control oil (tea tree oil).

Neroli

Aromatherapy treatment with a sweet and spicy fragrance, neroli essential oil, is often used to alleviate anxiety.

Proponents suggest that taking in the fragrance of this essential oil will encourage calm and avoid the abundance of concern.

The research on the effects of neroli (citrus Aurantium L.) essential oil is comparatively minimal. For example, in a study conducted in Hepato-gastroenterology, participants inhaled either neroli oil or control (sunflower oil) before colonoscopy. Those who inhaled neroli oil had reduced systolic blood pressure (the highest blood pressure reading). But there was no difference in anxiety or discomfort.

Neroli is used as a sedative in several health centers outside of the United States. A 2014 study found an increase in menopausal symptoms in menopausal women and reduced PMS symptoms in university subjects with neroli inhalation.

A 2005 study using lemon olfactory stimulation showed that fourth-grade pupils’ attention, mood, and memory increased.

Lemon

Lemon essential oil, obtained from the lemon plant’s leaves, has been shown to have sedative and anxiety-reducing effects in animal experiments.

As it is rich in linalool, aromatherapy practitioners also use lemon essential oil to alleviate stress. In addition, it also boosts mood, encourages relaxation, and relieves symptoms of depression.

In the United Kingdom, personal inhaler aromatherapy products have been used in a cancer center to encourage relief and alleviate nausea. It uses lemon essential oil as one of the more widely used scents.

Conclusion

If there’s a scent you want that isn’t on this page, it doesn’t actually mean that it can’t help with stress reduction. The mere truth that it is appealing to you will place you in a different mood, so why not do your own research? If it appears to work for you, use it by all means.

If you find that its results are not what you’d hoped for, many other scents are available. Many scents are beneficial for calming, mood improvement, alertness, deeper relaxation, and sleep. You have many choices to pick from!