Aromatherapy to Support You in the Winter Months | Adventure Yogi

Aromatherapy can help us through the transformative time of summer to autumn in a nurturing and gentle way.

Autumn is the time of the lung (yin) and large intestine (yang) energy in Chinese medicine, with the element Metal and the emotion grief or sadness. The change of the season from the summer to autumn is almost like a harvesting in itself. As we leave the freedom  of long summer nights and holidays, we go to routine and closing down. Ultimately, this is a time for storing the energy and memories gained from the summer and conserving this energy for the long nights and colder days ahead. At this time of year we feel we need to slow down as the energy of the summer. The yang energy starts to wane and yin energy steps into its place for grounding, nurturing, contemplation and release. Aromatherapy can help with this transition.

Emotional support with the use of essential oils

The emotions also need support as we move into this time of letting go of summer and slowing down, and a sadness can fill the new space created as we retreat into ourselves. The lung energy allows us to recognise the sadness but also supports us in acknowledging there was once an abundance that has now been deeply stored, so that we use what we need and release the rest. Essential oils that help us move through this time of change and heaviness and loss are frankincense, neroli, rose otto, rose maroc and geranium. Dabbing these essential oils onto a tissue and inhaling help to uplift, energise and calm. They can also be added to the bath, a face or body cream or massage oil blend.

My favourites here are frankincense and rose otto. I will describe a little of their properties and then you can decide which ones suit you best.

Frankincense: An all round aromatherapy essential oil, it has 4 main benefits:

– Calms and soothes the mind, allowing the breath to deepen and is a good aid to meditation. It helps to calm anxiety and obsessive states linked to the past and creates inner peace.
– A great tonic for strong period pains and is supportive for the uterus and during labour. It relives muscular tensions and rheumatoid pains and supports the urinary tract
– Supports the respiratory system and helps clear chest infections and colds.
– Known to have anti-ageing properties for the skin and heals, rebalances and rejuvenates.

Rose otto: A nurturing and therapeutic essential oil.  Its 4 main benefits are:

– Also known as damask rose, rose otto soothes and calms the mind and relieves tension, anxiety and depression. It also addresses sexuality, self-nurturing, self-esteem and dealing with emotional problems.
– Assists the respiratory system with coughs, asthma and hay-fever.
– Has a regulating and cleansing effect on the female sex organs and helps regulate hormones and menstruation. It also has a toning effect on the uterus.
– Another amazing oil for the skin and face, it re-hydrates and moisturises the skin whilst having an antiseptic property. It is great on mature skin, repairs broken capillaries (I can vouch for that!) skin redness, inflammation, herpes and eczema.

Read and decide which one suits you best. It is also fine to combine these amazing essential oils. Even try a drop of each in your moisturiser and see how the smell makes you feel and your skin improve!