Essential oils have long been known to be able to elicit emotional responses in many of us, helping to create moods, relax, and of course uplift our mental attitude, all of which can be a great aid in helping with the creative process.
By using our sense of smell as a tool for creativity, we are aiding our memory, stimulating our emotions, and activating our brain via the limbic system. The limbic system is responsible for pleasure, emotion, and of course memory. The more times we smell a particular scent, the more we can retain a clear picture of a past memory or experience. This helps to create patterns of new habits and entice our senses towards the different moods and energy needed for the creative process of writing. It can be used for journaling too. Anything creative you wish to put your hand to.
These are ways you can use essential oils. Again, as always, I am only recommending doTERRA essential oils. I know where they have come form and I am confident that they are 100% pure, potent, and unadulterated.
Aromatically – This means in the air, inhaling them in. You can diffuse them in a diffuser. Ultra-sonic ones are my recommendation as using candles and heat only changes the chemical constituents of the oils. It is not needed as we want to smell them how they are intended to smell and use them for their supportive properties. If you don’t have one yet, smell them directly from the bottles or pop a drop in your hand, run your hands together and cup over your nose and inhale. When you do this, the essential oil enters your olfactory bulb and goes into your limbic system. It will react almost immediately with your emotions.
Topically – This is putting them on our skin. Always dilute with a carrier oil, like fractionated coconut oil, grapeseed or alike. These are less heavy than say almond oil and are hyper allergenic too. If we dilute the essential oils, they go further and are less likely to evaporate. Remember when put onto our skin the magic happens! They are absorbed through our skin, then enter our blood stream in around 30 seconds. This means we can have an almost immediate reaction to the oils we use to support ourselves physically, mentally, emotionally or spiritually.
Internally – I would only consider this with doTERRA essential oils because I am confident in their purity. Ingesting essential oils is personal choice and is to be done mindfully with clear instruction. There are only some oils you can ingest, so always read the label.
To get your creative juices flowing you could use some of the following oils which are known for their ability to promote focus and creativity.
Bergamot: This wonderful essential oil is a great aid in keeping you alert and focused, helping to keep your flow of creativity constant, while keeping stress levels from rising.
Cinnamon: A great essential oil for helping to raise focus and feelings of happiness as it helps to lift and motivate our senses. It is known for its ability to promote love and harmony.
Clove: This essential oil is well known for its ability to help with creativity and helping to create a greater understanding of self all the while creating an environment of contentment.
Cypress: An essential oil which is great for its ability to help you focus while boosting your self-confidence and self-awareness in a calm relaxing manner.
Eucalyptus: A great fresh smelling oil that is very useful in boosting creativity, understanding, mental clarity and even enthusiasm. A great aid for many writers.
Lemon: As an essential oil lemon is great for helping with concentration, creativity, focus and even helps create a joyful positive attitude.
Frankincense: An uplifting essential oil that is great for creativity, performance, concentration and helps to provide a joyful peaceful environment to write and create.
Geranium: A great oil for helping with the self-esteem while creating a relaxing uplifting atmosphere (mixed into a carrier oil and applied is also great for relieving the symptoms of headache).
Grapefruit: A very useful essential oil, grapefruit helps with performance, alertness, confidence and of course inspiration.
Jasmine: One of my personal favourites this essential oil is fantastic with boosting your confidence, raising your happiness, and of course helping with creativity and performance. A must have in my opinion.
Neroli: A good essential oil that aids in many types of creativity fostering a good sense of peace and personal contentment helping to calm nerves and reduce stress.
Peppermint: A great essential oil for renewing the mind and lifting a flagging spirit helping to create an alert mind ready for new things.
Sandalwood: is a great essential oil for creatives who are struggling with self-doubt or writer’s block. This wonderful oil is very useful for lifting flagging spirits, instilling self-confidence and self-awareness while creating a peaceful work environment for which you can start afresh in.
Scent is a powerful tool in activating many different parts of our brains, so when choosing your oils start with the ones that appeal to you the most, and slowly experiment with others as you go. As time progresses you may even find yourself combining your favourites into scents that are all your own.
Diffuser blends for creativity
Creative Space Diffuser Blend
3 drops Cypress essential oil
2 drops Lime essential oil
2 drops Ylang ylang essential oil
Alone With My Thoughts Diffuser Blend
2 drops Marjoram essential oil
2 drops Lemon essential oil
1 drop Ylang ylang essential oil
1 drop Juniper Berry essential oil
