The forehead contains several reflex points that can be stimulated with essential oils to help with emotional release. Several practitioners who use essential oils to heal emotional trauma in their practice have shared that these forehead points often test better than the organ points or the ears for oil application.

The forehead plays host to several Neurovascular Points, known as the “Bennett reflexes” after chiropractor Terrence Bennett who first discovered them in the 1930s.  We learned about Bennett’s Reflexes in my Nutritional Therapy Association training as channels to test the body, but I did not realize that they could also be used as therapeutic points.

Heal Emotional Trauma

I have found that the body always has back doors to access certain organs and systems.  The Bennett’s reflexes can be used as one of those back doors.  I was curious as to why and found a compelling answer on Your Energy Medicine Cabinet which notes “the neurologic influence on blood circulation affected by Bennett’s reflexes appears to develop early in the embryo and unfolds with the skin during growth, to finally be present in the fully developed human being.  For the first three or four weeks, the fetus has no heart, and the mother’s placental circulation is augmented by a network of fetal vascular circuits. As the tissues grow, the circuits exert slight traction on the blood vessels, causing the vessel’s muscles to pulsate in an augmented fashion that aids the mother’s placental circulation. At about the third month, the heart is formed, taking over part of the burden of supplying circulation to the growing fetus. The vestigial neurovascular circuits that develop in the fetus remain to be called upon for circulation control later in life.”

Stimulation of these points are believed to affect the circulation of the vascular system of various organs and glands to improve many physical and emotional conditions.  For example, it is thought to strengthen the connection between the meridians and the nervous system to support the reprogramming of our emotional and mental responses to stress and trauma.

Applying Essential Oils to the Forehead

Applying essential oils or touching to these reflex points in three specific areas of the forehead– (1) the inside of the eyebrows, (2) over the temples and (3) at the base of the hairline on both the right and left hemisphere of the forehead – can increase cerebral spinal, organ and muscle flow of blood to the body.  It’s hypothesized that when we are under stress, blood goes to the back of our brain, where the past is stored. Placing a hand, or appropriate essential oils, over these points on the forehead, helps shift the energy and blood flow from the more emotional mid‐brain areas to the area just below the forehead known as the prefrontal cortex which is associated with a calmer mind and rational, logical thinking.

Emotion balancing essential oils on the forehead have been shown to calm the vascular system which circulates the blood flow in the veins, arteries and heart and further helps alleviate the negative emotions around that issue.  Similarly, the application of essential oils on specific neurovascular points, while at the same time holding a specific trauma or crisis in your mind, can help the body to release the thought pattern and related stress response that may have become habitual.

The hands can also be used to stimulate the forehead points, but research indicates that the longer you hold the points the more the stress will fade.   Applying essential oils to the points allows you to hold the energy for significantly longer, resulting in greater health improvements..

This technique has been successfully integrated in combination with clinical techniques like Five Element Meridian Release and the Emotional Stress Release taught in “Touch for Health”.