A missed flight and travel chaos became a real-life reminder of why nervous system regulation matters. Learn how breath, self-compassion, and guided rest can help when life feels stressful.
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We as humans tend to spend a lot of time in our sympathetic nervous system (your fight, flight or freeze state). We are stressed, anxious and overwhelmed with everyday tasks. A simple way to help activate its counterpart (the parasympathetic nervous system) is to breathe slowly. Breathing slowly is extremely beneficial on it’s own and I encourage you to do this several times a day, but when you couple this with essential oils, you have a master plan that may help you release happy hormones like serotonin and dopamine and calm your nervous system in a flash.
The seat of our emotions lies in the limbic system (our emotional brain). When you inhale essential oils, it takes only seconds to reach our limbic system and can have an instant calming effect.
So make besties with your parasympathetic nervous system and get those happy and calming vibes flowing! Ok, so exactly how do I do this Bonnie?? I thought you’d never ask...
Here are a couple of techniques for breathing with essential oils.....
ðļ Find a quiet spot.....and if the only quiet spot you have is your car, or the bathroom, I’m not judging you....
ðļ Grab your favourite calming essential oil(s). See examples below for tips on which calming oils to use.
ðļ Now you have a choice here.....pick which one you are most comfortable with:
- ðļ Place a drop of essential oil on the palm of your hand and rub your hands together for a few seconds to disperse the oil. Bring your palms in front of your nose. Close your eyes (if you’re comfortable) and inhale and exhale slowly.
- OR
- ðļ Open the bottle of essential oil and bring the open bottle in front of your nose. Close your eyes (if you’re comfortable) and inhale and exhale slowly.
ðļ Keep breathing for at least a minute or two.
ðļ Notice what happens. You may begin to feel more relaxed, have some inspiration or new mindsets rolling in and you may even notice tension or tightness in your body begin to subside.
ðļ You should hopefully start to feel better....you’re welcome ð
Another great tip for using essential oils aromatically, is by diffusing them. This is an easy way to infuse the room with calming oils. And since you’re already breathing (thanks to our autonomic nervous system that puts breathing on auto pilot), you can benefit from this for hours! Of course, you can mindfully take deep breaths in the room where you are diffusing your oils as well.
Below are just a few suggested calming essential oils to use for these breathing practices:
Frankincense, Lavender, Northern Lights Black Spruce, Stress Away, Peace and Calming, Cedarwood, Sandalwood.
One thing to keep in mind when using essential oils is to ensure you are using 100% pure essential oils from a trusted source. I cannot stress this enough. Our brains are super sensitive and since you are breathing in these oils and the scents go into the olfactory part of your brain, you do not want to be breathing in chemicals, synthetics or toxins that are often found in many essential oil brands.
If you are interested in learning more about 100% pure and quality essential oils, contact me for more information.
Now go grab your oil(s) and make friends with your parasympathetic nervous system already. Enjoy the calm and serenity from this breathing practice.
xo,
Bonnie
By the way...if you liked this post, click the link below to get access to my FREE Yoga Nidra Guided meditation for relaxation.
*Please note: relaxation and meditation practices may cause you to experience upsetting memories or difficult emotions. While these practices can be a beneficial way to release these emotions and memories, it is important that you check with your health care provider before starting a relaxation/meditation practice if you feel you may have difficulties processing memories and emotions should they come up during practice.
FEELING HARD ON YOURSELF?
Grab my free 6-Minute Compassion Break—a short guided pause for when you’re being hard on yourself, replaying everything, or trying to hold it all together. It’s like a quick emotional hug and a full-body exhale you didn’t even know you needed.
Hi, if you’re new here, I’m Bonnie. I help women step out of the loop of “not good enough → try harder → still not enough,” so they can find calm, clarity, and confidence—without forcing change—and show up exactly as they are.
My work is compassion-based and nervous-system-led, using Yoga Nidra (deep, healing guided rest), somatic breathwork, and intuitive insight.
First we rest. Then we rise.
First we rest. Then we rise.
Did you know that you take roughly 720 - 960 breaths every hour? And how many breaths do you actually notice? Probably not many, if any at all.
Our bodies know exactly what to do to keep us alive. Our hearts beat, we digest food and we breathe all day long, but don’t even do it consciously. Sometimes we get emotionally disconnected from our bodies and we just need to get grounded and be back in the present moment. Or we need to take a break from whatever it is that causing us emotional discomfort.
The easiest way to get present and in alignment with who we truly are is to take a break and breathe deeply.
When we do this, we activate our parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest state) which induces feelings of calm and relaxation. And who doesn’t need more of that???
Here’s how.......you can do this with your eyes open or closed.
ðļ Get still
ðļ Inhale through your nose for a count of five
ðļ Pause for a count of five
ðļ Exhale through your nose for a count of five
If five is too intense, try three counts or less. Whatever is comfortable.
The key here is to notice your breath, be in the present moment and connect back with your body. Also notice anything that is coming up for you while you do this practice. You may notice some new insights or mindsets bubbling up.
So if you followed with me, how do you feel now? Better right?
And when you add essential oils to your breath work, it takes it to a whole new level. More on this in my next blog ;)
xo,
Bonnie
By the way...if you liked this post, click the link below to get access to my FREE Yoga Nidra Guided meditation for relaxation.
*Please note: relaxation and meditation practices may cause you to experience upsetting memories or difficult emotions. While these practices can be a beneficial way to release these emotions and memories, it is important that you check with your health care provider before starting a relaxation/meditation practice if you feel you may have difficulties processing memories and emotions should they come up during practice.
FEELING HARD ON YOURSELF?
Grab my free 6-Minute Compassion Break—a short guided pause for when you’re being hard on yourself, replaying everything, or trying to hold it all together. It’s like a quick emotional hug and a full-body exhale you didn’t even know you needed.
Hi, if you’re new here, I’m Bonnie. I help women step out of the loop of “not good enough → try harder → still not enough,” so they can find calm, clarity, and confidence—without forcing change—and show up exactly as they are.
My work is compassion-based and nervous-system-led, using Yoga Nidra (deep, healing guided rest), somatic breathwork, and intuitive insight.
First we rest. Then we rise.
First we rest. Then we rise.
