This Valentine’s Day, I want to help you keep both your physical and emotional heart healthy with the following Essential oil blends:
Parasympathetic® to calm your physical heart
Your heart rate is controlled by the two branches of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). The “fight or flight” sympathetic nervous system raises our heart rate so we can pump more blood to our muscles and flee from danger, while the “rest and digest” parasympathetic nervous system slows down our heart rate so we can rest, repair, and recover.
The delicate balance between the two states of the ANS is known as homeostasis. It is balanced by the vagus nerve, which originates in the brain and wraps around our heart and digestive organs, serving as a temperature gauge to control our relaxation response, including our heart rate. The vagus nerve acts as the “reset” button, communicating bidirectional signals to the body and brain that the danger has passed and that it is safe for your heart rate to slow and return to the relaxed Parasympathetic state.
In the parasympathetic state, the vagus nerve releases the neurotransmitter acetylcholine to the sinoatrial node of the heart, signaling it to prolong the time to the next heartbeat, thus slowing the pulse. Several clients have experienced slowed successive heartbeats, known as heart rate variability (HRV), and have reported a dramatic improvement after using the Parasympathetic® blend.
The vagus nerve can be stimulated to drop us into the parasympathetic “rest and digest” state by topically applying the Parasympathetic oil on the vagus nerve (behind the earlobe on the mastoid bone).
Heart™ to support emotional health
The heart integrates and balances the physical, emotional, and mental body, providing blood to every cell and every organ. It also serves as a complex information-processing center, influencing brain function, the nervous system, the hormonal system, and most of the body’s major organs.
When any part of the body isn’t functioning at an optimal level, the heart has to work harder. For example, when the body is under stress, it needs more oxygen, which increases the heart rate. The heart is our body’s reset button, but a state of constant stress can fatigue the heart and compromise our ability to reset, leading to inflammation, infections, toxicity, and heart disease. By returning the heart to balance, we support the cardiovascular and circulatory systems, regenerate the heart’s structure, and help reset the homeostatic mechanisms of the entire body. Apply 2-3 drops of Heart™ over the heart (left side of chest) 2-3 times daily.
Circulation™ to support healthy blood flow
Essential oils, such as Cypress, are known to help support the circulation of blood throughout your body. Circulation™ blend contains circulation-supporting oils like Cypress to help support energy, brain endurance, and warmth in the distal extremities, such as the fingers and toes. When blood circulation to the brain becomes sluggish, it can impact your physical and mental abilities, including your ability to focus and concentrate. Poor circulation in the brain can also contribute to fatigue, vertigo, dizziness, memory loss, and frequent and unexplained headaches. Apply 1-2 drops of Circulation™ on the sides or back of the neck, over the left clavicle, on the wrists, or ankles.
Fascia Release™ to relax tissues around heart
Fascia Release™ helps you release tension in the tissues and open the space around your physical heart, helping unpack and release blocked or stuck heart energy.
When you experience stress or heartbreak, part of you goes into resistance, which triggers you to physically contract, constrict, or pull away from a perceived physical danger, a negative thought, or an emotional aversion. In the process, you constrict and physically guard your heart in preparation for attack. When you do this, you internalize the fear without release or recovery. In short, energy doesn’t flow, and your body constricts, which locks the stress in your body.
Topically applying Fascia Release™ over the physical heart—with focused application and both above on the clavicle bones in sweeping outward motions and in a gentle vertical caress from your throat and the sides of your neck down over and below the heart—opens the space to allow energy and emotions to flow down and out of your system. You can also apply it over the back of your heart.
Featured Oils:
- Circulation™ available here
- Fascia Release™ available here
- Heart™ available here
- Parasympathetic® available here
