If you have a panic attack or suffer from anxiety, you need proven remedies to alleviate your stress. Did you know you can calm anxiety fast with essential oils? Try these soothing essential oil roll-ons for calming your nerves no matter where you are.
When it comes to treating anxiety, it’s smart to have a few tricks up your sleeve in case you find yourself in need of quick action.
Thinking holistically is the basis for good health, but even if you watch your diet, exercise and get enough rest, it’s realistic to acknowledge that we are living in pretty stressful times. Things are going to happen that just might bring on a bit of anxiety, even on our best days.
So, if challenges come on your less than best days, you need help at that moment. If you are looking for something natural, there are several options to calm anxiety fast.
If you’re having a panic or anxiety attack, the first line of defense is to adjust the brain chemistry that has put you into “fight or flight” mode, and bring you back into balance.
This can be done most quickly by using adaptogenic essential oils. That is, oils that can respond to your body’s need by either producing a calming or energizing effect, depending on what is needed. Anxiety can take many forms, so you will need to determine which oils would provide the best results for your specific symptoms.
I could give you a list of essential oil names right now, but that won’t help you if you don’t know how essential oils work and which oil would be best for you. So, bear with me for a few more minutes, ok?
No time to read? Just scroll down to my super-dooper list of essential oils for anxiety below 😊
How Essential Oils Work to Stop a Panic Attack
Essential oils are natural aromatic oils that have been distilled from the roots, leaves, stems, flowers or bark of a plant. Known as “volatile” oils, they can be vaporized into the air easily and can be absorbed into our bodies by:
- Applying topically
- Through the olfactory nerve (sense of smell)
- By inhaling their vapors or
- By ingesting
Ingesting is the least preferable to treat a panic attack or anxiousness, as the natural plant constituents would have to go through the digestive system first… and that takes more time.
It is important to note that some essential oils require caution when taken internally. For the purpose of this article, we will not suggest taking these particular essential oils internally, except for bergamot as noted below.
It is said that essential oils reach the brain in less than half a minute and can be identified in the bloodstream in about two minutes… that’s fast!!
Within 20 minutes or so, the oils have reached every cell in your body.
How to Use Essential Oils
There are literally hundreds of beautiful essential oils. Each has its own therapeutic value due to its own specific elemental constructs. In this article, I will give a list of a few essential oils that are proven to calm anxiety… fast!
The best way to use essential oils, wherever you may be when you are feeling anxiety, is in the form of roll-ons. You can always be prepared by keeping one or two essential oil roll-on tubes with you in your purse, backpack, car… somewhere handy. That way, you can immediately roll the oil onto your skin in several acupressure points to relieve stress.
Essential oils are highly concentrated and should only be used after diluting, or you risk skin irritation and discomfort. For topical use, mix essential oils with a “carrier” oil such as jojoba oil, coconut oil, sweet almond oil, or sunflower oil. If making your own, please do this! I’ve even provided a recipe after the oils list. 😊
If purchasing a roll-on, check to see that your essential oil roll-on or salve contains other carrier oils. Remember that essential oils mixed with a carrier oil will not smell as strong as the essential oil alone, so don’t be concerned if the roll-on you buy does not smell as strongly as a bottle of straight essential oil… just a small amount of essential oil is very effective when rolled onto pulse points, even if your nose doesn’t recognize it as a strong scent… your brain will! 😊
Some acupressure points for anxiety
- Webbing on the back of hand between thumb and first finger
- “Third eye” point, directly between eyebrows
- At your wrist bones
- Crown of the head
- The low hollow right behind your ears
- On your temples
Massaging the essential oil mix directly into these spots for several seconds (or minutes) will be effective for immediate relief. It will also be helpful to take several deep breaths and breathe slowly while doing this. Before beginning the massage of the oil topically, you can always take a few deep sniffs of the oil.
If you are at home you can also use an aromatherapy diffuser and fill your environment with therapeutic scents. This is even more effective, as the oil will not dissipate as quickly and you can continue to breathe in the oil vapor.
Additionally, you can take a bath or shower, adding essential oils to your bathwater or mixing a few drops with your soap or shower gel. That will provide a very rapid dermal (skin) absorption of essentials all over your body. You will also get the added benefit of inhaling the oil vapor while you are soaking/washing.
List of Essential Oils that Calm Anxiety Fast
Below is a list of several essential oils that are beneficial for relieving anxiety. By reading the descriptions, you will recognize which would be best for your specific issues. You can buy single essential oil roll-ons, calming blends that are pre-mixed, or you can make your own roll-on. Adding a few drops of particular essential oils to a carrier oil will help to treat the type of anxiety that you are experiencing (recipe below). Even the process of working with essential oils is soothing, mood elevating and fun!
1. Pure Natural Camphor
Camphor, one of the most powerful natural substances, has been used since ancient Babylonian and Egyptian times for healing purposes. The crystalline form of pure natural camphor and its essential oil come from the wood, leaves and/or roots of the camphor tree. It is well known to calm anxiety fast and it even calms hysteria. Soothing when applied topically, camphor also relieves stress caused by muscular and tissue pain by improving blood flow to congested areas.
Pure natural camphor, in its crystalline form, has a long history of use in burning during spiritual practices. This is because it clears negative or stressful energy from an environment. The clearing is usually done by burning camphor crystals or camphor oil. Its clear vapor dissipates quickly and revitalizes an environment. Inhalation of camphor essential oil vapor clears the mind quickly and brings balance to moods and emotions.
If you are using camphor essential oil ✓ during an anxiety attack, you can apply it topically. Just be sure that you are using pure, natural camphor.
Warning: A synthetic version of camphor is often available, but that will not be useful for health purposes. In fact, it is toxic, because even its vapors are not for internal use, as noted on its packaging. Therefore, synthetic camphor should not be inhaled or rubbed onto the skin in any way.
2. Lavender
There’s a good reason why lavender is always mentioned whenever people talk about anxiety! Lavender essential oil ✓ has proven to be one of the best essential oils for relieving panic attacks.
This calming oil also soothes headaches and migraines and is a popular sleep aid. You can roll on a lavender oil mix ✓ (lavender plus other essential oils that are great for easing tension) any time anxiety hits, and just before bed – some people roll it right onto their pillow too! You can use lavender dried herb flowers in sleep pillows or sachets to encourage restful sleep and even to reduce blood pressure.
6. Blue Tansy
For times of extreme stress, blue tansy essential oil is a great choice. It is a strong anti-depressant and is very useful in calming panic or anxiety attacks. Blue tansy is also effective in counteracting erratic behavior, anger and hysteria.
Be aware that there two types of tansy. Blue tansy (Tanacetum annuum) is the one you want. So be sure to check that it is the gorgeous blue-colored blue tansy oil that you are buying. Although the flowers of the blue tansy plant are yellow, the oil becomes blue when distilled. This is due to a natural ingredient, chamazulene, that the flowers contain.
You do NOT want common tansy (Tanacetum vulgare), as it does not contain the elements that treat anxiety.
Blue tansy essential oil is a bit more expensive than other essential oils that relieve anxiety, so you could try this pre-mixed blend that is ready to use – 10% blue tansy essential oil in a jojoba base ✓. Blue tansy has a sweet herbaceous scent and a little goes a long way in treating more intense experiences of anxiety and emotional imbalance.
4. Ylang-Ylang
This lovely, sweet and flowery essential oil (pronounced “E-long – E-long) is a wonder for regulating of our body’s natural hormones responsible for the “fight or flight” response.
When these hormone levels are too high, we don’t react well to stressful situations. By aiding to regulate them, ylang-ylang helps control anxiety, relieve depression and also reduce blood pressure.
In addition to its calming influence, ylang-ylang essential oil ✓ is uplifting for moods and helps to promote confidence. So if you are feeling doubtful or down, this is one of the best oils to use.
5. Bergamot
Bergamot is a citrus essential oil that comes from an orange grown in the Mediterranean region. Although all citrus oils, such as orange, lemon and grapefruit are good choices for treating anxiety and stress, bergamot is unique because it is not only soothing, but is also energizing and uplifting.
Bergamot is perfect for use in tense environments, such as studying for exams, driving in busy traffic or when feeling depressed or sad. You can even make your own Earl Grey style tea (famous for being flavored with oil of bergamot) by adding a drop of bergamot essential oil ✓ to your black tea as it is brewing.
3. Vetiver
Vetiver is also a powerful anti-anxiety essential oil that works to balance the mind and emotions and calm anxiety quickly. Therefore, it is excellent to use for emotional distress, shock and hypertension. It is also a powerful sleep aid, much like lavender. Be aware that, regardless of the source, pure vetiver essential oil ✓can be very thick and viscous, so don’t be alarmed if yours doesn’t flow from the bottle like other essential oils – it is not a faulty product.
7. Frankincense
Frankincense is an essential oil taken from the dried resin of the Boswellia Carteri tree. It has been known throughout history as an anti-depressant and mood booster. Often used in meditation and religious ceremonies, frankincense is known to bring about feelings of delight and solace.
Useful in relaxing and focusing the mind, frankincense essential oil ✓ is excellent for calming anxiety. There are several varieties of the frankincense tree that all have slightly different effects. Be sure that you get the correct one for treating your anxiety, which would be Boswellia Carteri.
8. Clary Sage
With its earthy and clean scent, clary sage is another popular essential oil for calming anxiety. It successfully balances blood hormone levels (modern science classifies these as cortisol levels and dopamine levels). Therefore, it is well known for its anti-depressant and anti-stress qualities, as well as being relaxing and rejuvenating.
Clary sage essential oil ✓also balances estrogen levels, aiding women in treating monthly PMS and menstrual symptoms like period cramps.
With the added benefit of balancing blood pressure, this oil is an excellent choice if you suffer from hypertension, and is easy to carry with you in a roll-on.
9. Sandalwood
This uplifting essential oil is distilled from the wood of the Sandalwood tree and has been used since ancient times as a grounding oil and for mood elevating. Its spicy but mellow, woody but sweet fragrance is like no other, and is essential (ha!) for stabilizing emotions and calming anger and tension.
There are several varieties of sandalwood available, but you’ll want Santalum Album, the Indian variety of sandalwood, which is the most aromatic and healing of the sandalwood varieties. There are many companies that claim to sell sandalwood essential oil at very low prices but it is not really possible to obtain pure sandalwood oil on the cheap.
Sandalwood is rare and rather expensive, but it is so effective for calming tension! If a bottle of pure sandalwood essential oil is out of your budget, you can try a lovely pre-diluted blend, like this 14% pure sandalwood oil in a jojoba oil base ✓.
10. Helichrysum
Helichrysum is an amazing essential oil, also known as Imortelle, or Everlasting. It’s popular these days for its antioxidant properties, that counteract the aging process. Fortunately, it is also well known to combat anxiety and insomnia.
Its anti-inflammatory plant constituents are useful in relieving stress associated with pain and in lessening depression and mental fatigue.
Using helichrysum essential oil in times of anxiety can soothe body and mind and calms moods, especially anger and turmoil. Here’s a nice mix of 10% helichrysum essential oil in a jojoba oil base ✓.
Recipe for Making Essential Oil Roll-Ons
If you decide that you would like to make your own essential oil roll-ons, it couldn’t be easier! First you will need to determine which essential oils will address your specific issues. Then, you will need to choose a carrier oil to dilute the pure essential oil(s). You’ll also need empty roll-on bottles (you can find them online if you don’t find them locally).
The following recipe will be for the most popular 10 ml glass bottle. I suggest using tinted bottles, either amber or blue. The tinted glass will help to preserve the oil, but you should always keep the filled bottles out of direct sunlight. I would also suggest getting bottles that come with stainless steel or glass roller balls, as the plastic ones can leach plastic into the volatile oils, potentially causing more health issues. 😞
Take the roller ball out and fill the clean and dry bottle about three-quarters full of a carrier oil. The carrier oil will “carry” the essential oil into your skin, as you do not want to apply essential oils directly onto your skin.
Some good (organic or 100% natural is always best for any ingredients) carrier oils would be:
Note: When purchasing oils, I try to purchase in glass bottles, if it is available, but if you purchase online, you might want to go with a good quality BPA-free plastic bottle to avoid breakage during shipping. You can always transfer the oil to a very clean and dry glass bottle once you get it home.
Now select your essential oil(s) and drop in a maximum of 20-25 drops if using a single oil. If you are making a multi-oil blend, then 3-7 drops of each oil will be fine.
You can vary the number of drops depending on which oil(s) you want to be dominant in the mix. Replace the roller ball and bottle lid and shake the bottle thoroughly to disperse the essential oil evenly throughout the carrier oil.
Have fun! There is no exact perfect recipe for this and you can intuitively choose the mixture or single oil that will suit you best.
Conclusion
It’s easy to see that you can calm anxiety fast with essential oil roll-ons. A big plus when using essential oils is that they are easy to find and usually not too expensive! And… add to that… you will fill up your world with amazing healing aromas while helping your mental and emotional health. What a winning combination, don’t you think?
For more information, I wrote an entire article about about herbs that overcome brain fog and anxiety, where I give many examples of powerful herbs that you can also take for long term anxiety treatment:
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*This Article First Written: February 2, 2021