Essential Oils and Aromatherapy: Enhancing Home Wellness
What have you done to make your house a home? Maybe you’ve livened it up with plants, soothing music, or earthtone colors. Another smart addition to improve your home wellness is essential oils and aromatherapy. In this blog, let’s talk more about how aromatherapy can benefit your home (and you!), some of the science behind essential oils, and how you can incorporate them into your own dwellings.
What is Aromatherapy?
Put simply, aromatherapy is the use of essential oils to improve your wellness. Yes, essential oils serve a purpose greater than smelling nice — they can benefit your physical and mental health. We’ll talk more about that in a moment.
There are many ways to use essential oils. Many people use a diffuser. You fill it with water, add a few drops of your favorite oil, and the aroma fills the room. You can add certain oils to a carrier oil — like jojoba or almond oil — to dilute them and then apply them to your hair or skin. (Do your research first! Not all oils are appropriate for this.) You can even find jewelry that will hold a few drops of oil so that you’re always “wearing” it.
And these are only a few examples of how to use essential oils!
What are the Benefits of Essential Oils?
Some people still believe that aromatherapy doesn’t mean anything more than a nice scent in your home, but science says otherwise.
It can be beneficial for stress, sleep disorders, pain management, anxiety, and respiratory health. For instance, one systematic review and meta-analysis found that when combined with conventional treatments, aromatherapy can effectively address both postoperative pain and obstetrical/gynecological pain. In one study, lavender essential oil improved the quality of sleep and reduced the level of anxiety in patients who had coronary artery disease.
This is only the tip of the iceberg, and research is ongoing. However, science has told us, many times, that there are several potential applications and use cases for aromatherapy.
We want to note that aromatherapy is a form of alternative medicine and shouldn’t be used as a replacement for conventional Western medicine. If you have any doubts about using essential oils, speak with your healthcare provider first.
How to Use Aromatherapy to Improve Home Wellness
You now know what aromatherapy is and how it can be great for your health. How can you incorporate it at home? Aside from what we shared earlier, here are a few more suggestions!
Cook it on the Stovetop (Sort of)
This is especially helpful if you’ve cooked something that gives off a strong odor, like meat or garlic.
Simmer a little bit of water on the stove in a pan or pot, and then add a few drops of essential oil. The scent you choose is totally up to you. Just ensure you pick something that you don’t mind your home smelling like! Cinnamon, lavender, lemon, and rosemary are all common picks.
Remember never to leave your stove unattended. Additionally, be sure to check the water level every so often. If it’s mostly boiled off, add more until you’re ready to turn the burner off.
Up Your Sleep Game
Want to get more beauty sleep? Put a few drops of essential oil on your pillow. Lavender, chamomile, and ylang-ylang are all good choices.
Breathe Life Into Your Laundry
The laundry products you’ll find at your local store — like detergents and softeners — are loaded with chemicals. In fact, the fragrances alone in fabric softeners can trigger allergies, skin irritation, reproductive problems, and breathing problems. Laundry products are common allergens people have at home and don’t even realize it.
If you’re simply looking to make your clean laundry smell nicer, ditch the toxins in favor of essential oils.
When you put a load in the dryer, put a few drops of oil on a rag or any old piece of material and toss it in. You’ll enjoy freshly — and naturally — scented clothes.
Combat Stinky Shoes
Do you have a closet or mudroom where you keep all of your shoes? If you’ve noticed that the smell is getting out of hand, essential oils can help. In fact, these are a better option than store-bought deodorizers because they don’t contain any dangerous chemicals.
Simply wet a cotton ball with a few drops of essential oil and drop it into your shoes.
Manage Bathroom Odors
Does your bathroom smell? You’re not alone. Try adding a few drops of essential oil onto the inside cardboard roll of your toilet paper. You can also take the same approach with the roll of paper towels in your kitchen.
Keep Your Carpet Smelling Fresh
Rugs and carpeting take a real beating, especially in high-traffic areas and, in particular, if you have pets. Whether you’re walking on them wearing shoes or barefoot, over time, they’re going to start to smell. As a matter of fact, they smell even when they’re brand new! (That smell, by the way, is volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which, as you might’ve guessed by the name, are bad for your health. That’s one reason why you need an air purifier.)
Have you heard of using baking soda to freshen up carpets? It can both help clean and remove unwanted smells. Kick it up a notch by adding a few drops of essential oil to your baking soda, and let it sit in an airtight container for at least a few hours. Then, sprinkle it wherever your carpet/rug is smelling a little funky, and let it sit overnight. Vacuum it in the morning.
The final result should be a subtle but refreshing scent.
Amplifying Your Home Wellness With Aromatherapy
Essential oils can be a simple and safe way to make your home more soothing while also reducing toxins from the products you’d normally use. Start by researching brands to see who’s most transparent with their sourcing and production processes, so that you can ensure you’re truly getting a pure product. Then, start playing around with different scents to see what you like best, and you’re already one step closer to introducing better wellness into your home!
Did you like this blog? Next, read about how to set up a DIY home spa.