One of my sons suffers from anxiety. And I do mean “suffers”. The child is 13 and often becomes so anxious that it is impossible for him to break away from the source of his anxiety to think about anything else. At these times, he often retreats into his own mind and flaps his hands. It becomes difficult for him to do anything else. His father and I are aware of the source of his anxiety and fear, and he is working with a professional to address the issues, however, that only goes so far. My son has mild autism along with a few other challenges, and teaching him to redirect his thoughts only goes so far. I am learning EFT so I can teach it to him, but the other day we needed something NOW. My son was severely anxious, none of our typical redirection techniques were helping and he was becoming more and more distracted and afraid. He was unable to focus on anything for more than a few seconds. Even speaking more than one word at a time was on the outer limit of his concentration level. In an effort to help him, I picked out two essential oils – lavender and peppermint – and rubbed one drop of each oil on his temples. Within a two or three minutes, he was able to put his thoughts into words, and talk about what was bothering him. Ten minutes later, he was ready to start on the day’s schoolwork. Since that day, my son has come to me almost every day and asked if he can use the lavender and peppermint oils. I have seen a visible improvement in his anxiety levels, and ability to concentrate since he started using the oils. Essential oil won’t eliminate his anxiety, but it does seem to help him cope.
Lavender is known to be calming and relaxing. It’s used to ease things like depression, headache, high blood pressure, hysteria, migraine, and any kind of nervous state or intense emotional state. Some people put a few drops of lavender oil on their pillow to help them sleep.
Peppermint is mentally stimulating. When my oldest daughter was in college, she used to put a dab of peppermint under her nose to help her concentrate. It’s often used to increase appetite, reduce intestinal gas, calm a cough, and reduce a fever. I use peppermint to help relieve headaches, and decrease mental fatigue. It’s also helpful in nervous and emotional conditions.