Every Winter, I dream of chasing summer. Visions spring to life of a home on the other side of the world where I can run away from the cold and live in perennial warmth and comfort.
If you feel the same, this post is for you!
I sometimes wonder if I suffer from a touch of winter SAD, short for Seasonal Affective Disorder.
It’s believed this comes about due to a change in sunshine levels and exposure, which in turn influence our melatonin (the hormone that controls sleepiness), serotonin (the hormone that controls mood, appetite and sleep) and our circadian rhythm (our body clock).
When these are out of whack, we can feel depressed, eat too many carbs and have messed up sleep patterns. All in all, a great recipe for the winter Blahs. (Just by the way, apparently sometimes SAD can also affect people in summer. I have a feeling today’s post will work just fine for those folks, too.)
Maybe it’s SAD kicking in, or maybe we just tend to get the Blahs in winter because – well, it’s winter! It’s harder to keep warm and comfortable, it doesn’t lend itself as much to going out and socialising (hello, hibernation!). And sunshine in general makes life feel more positive, therefore shorter days and grey days = fewer spontaneous Feel Good hours in each day.
Whatever we want to call it, whether it’s SAD or Blah-ed, there’s a wonderful way to sparkle up in winter, whether the sun is shining or hiding its light under a bushel: remember to keep using your essential oils!
Here’s a quick checklist to remind you of the many ways you can increase your positivity with essential oils in winter:
- Diffuse them often during the day and night
- Inhale directly from the bottle whenever you feel your spirits plateau or plummet
- Apply them to your feet and wrists, then inhale them from your wrists and rub a touch behind your ears and on the top of your forehead (dilute if/as needed and keep well away from your eyes)
- Add them to a natural bath gel base (Young Living makes a beautiful one along with ready-made bath and shower gels like Morning Start and Evening Peace)
- Add them to a good quality carrier oil like Young Living V-6 Enhanced Vegetable Oil Complex and smooth them all over to nourish and pamper your skin (everyone’s skin can do with extra hydration and TLC during winter!)
- Add a few drops in total of lavender and lemon to a bowl of warm water, place a towel over your head to make a tent and inhale for 5-10 minutes for a warming and comforting fragrance cocoon
- Add a drop each of lavender and rosemary to a footbath of very warm water to relax and warm up your cold, tired feet (be sure to snuggle them into cosy slippers, thick socks or Ugh boots after you pat them dry)
So which are our favourite essential oils for countering the winter blahs? Here are just a few.
All citrus oils
These are like liquid sunshine and really, that’s what most of us with winter blahs are craving. And for a combination of all these happiness generators, Young Living Citrus Fresh™ is a happy and divinely citrus-sweet blend that also includes a touch of spearmint oil for its freshly sweet herbaceous vibe.
Young Living Frankincense essential oil
This ancient and sacred treasure is one of the most deeply comforting essential oils out of all of the oils. If you have to make some sacrifices to save up for it, you will find this magnificently uplifting and centering essential oil to be profound and worth every bit of it. Steam-distilled from frankincense resin and having a smoky, balsamic and highly elevating fragrance, please give yourself this gift of nature and you will be so very glad you did.
Young Living Joy™
This fun and vibrant oil brings what the name says. And along with helping you feel happy, this green floral makes a beautiful personal fragrance for both women and men that’s 100% natural and intoxicatingly lovely. You could add it to your shower gel and body lotion for a layering effect, along with putting a drop over your heart and behind your ears regularly throughout the day.
And here are some other suggestions for warding off the winter woes:
- Keep up your exercise routines in winter or use it as a time to try more vigorous ones. Getting your circulation moving and increasing oxygenation helps us feel great! Wear layers so you can stay comfortable as you warm up and cool back down.
- Keep volunteering and/or participating in group activities. If you volunteer or you’re a member of a club and you’re thinking of skipping it due to feeling blah, inhale uplifting essential oils and reconsider. Getting out among friends and people who are counting on you is the very thing that can make you feel brighter again. Having a sense of purpose is so very vital to our happiness and sense of well being and positivity.
- A very warm shower is also amazingly therapeutic. While it seems such a basic, simple thing, putting your favourite feel good music on and singing along while you’re enjoying a beautiful steaming shower will have you feeling warm and fuzzy and more cheery about the world.
- Remember: this too shall pass! Do your best to make the most of the differences among the seasons and love winter for what it’s great for. Do things summer is way too hot for, eat foods summer is way too hot for and wear clothes summer is way too hot for. And cosy up in bed a bit more, too. Surely that’s what nature would love for us to do.
Essential oils are potent, so as always, please follow directions on the bottle and the usual guidelines for safe use of authentic essential oils.
Please ensure you are choosing a brand with complete transparency from seed to seal, such as Young Living. You can learn in this short video why we only ever recommend and choose Young Living oils and love them so much!
This will also connect you up with The Good Oil Team for our personal support and coaching. We'd love to help you on your journey to vibrant well-being the natural way!
Any questions? Please get in touch via our Contact page.
