Reduce anxiety and improve your mood at the office. On average we spend 7.6 hours at work so it’s perfectly normal to be anxious at some point during those hours, studies show that seven out of 10 adults experience stress or anxiety daily and when you’re constantly in a state of tension and anxiety, it can have an effect on your body’s physical and emotional state. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that 90 percent of all illness and disease is stress-related.
A few signs your stressed:
- Every week you’ve got a cough, sore throat or a fever
- You’re having trouble concentrating
- You have a constant headache that just won’t go away
- Your back or neck is always aching
- You’re having trouble sleeping well
Warning!!! A tired body is not well prepared to cope with stressful situations and ward off illness.
Send the signals to your body to relax, relax and relax! Relaxation engages the circuitry of the parasympathetic nervous system and thus strengthens it. Relaxing also quiets the fight-or-flight sympathetic nervous system, since relaxed muscles send feedback to the alarm centers in the brain that all is well. When you’re very relaxed, it’s hard to feel stressed or upset.
You can do this many ways including diaphragmatic breathing, progressive relaxation, a simple big exhalation (taking a deep breath), touching your lips, mindfulness of the body, imagery, and balancing your heart rate. And of course. Meditation. One very simple way is using your sense of smell to signal your body to relax, relax and relax.
Smell is the strongest of the senses and is best able to influence brain activity.
The case for diffusing essential oils at the office
A study was done using orange and lavender oils. They tested the effects of inhaling essential oils while waiting for a dental procedure (very stressful). The goal of the study was to examine the impact of the essential oils of orange and lavender on anxiety, mood, alertness and calmness in dental patients. Both orange and lavender reduced anxiety and improved mood in patients waiting for dental treatment.
You can use it in any office setting.
- Get the benefits of aromatherapy in a shared work space without offending others. Just place a drop or two of an essential oil on a cotton ball and take a whiff when you need an energy boost.
- If you have a private office, add 1-6 drops to an electric diffuser or create a mister by adding a few drops of essential oils to a spray bottle filled with distilled water.
- Next brainstorming session put a bowl hot water with a few drops of essential oil in the middle of the table.
Finally don’t forget the power of a monthly bodywork or structural therapy session to combat symptoms and uncover underlying causes of chronic pain. Mara
References:
Ambient odors of orange and lavender reduce anxiety and improve mood in a dental office.