Increase Enjoyment, Creativity and Productivity with a Daily Aromatherapy Routine
Did you know, happy, productive and creative people all have one thing in common? A dedicated daily routine where the first things they do are meaningful and significant, rather than reaching for their smartphone.
A daily routine dedicated to connecting to heart space, creating a clear and calm head space, boosting your spirits, nourishing and nurturing your body and connecting to your inspired intentions will help you increase productivity, creativity and enjoyment in your day.
Focus on 8 key areas.
- Get 7 plus hours of sleep
- Prayer and meditation for clarity and abundance
- Physical activity
- Add some protein
- Finish your shower with a cold burst of water
- Consume uplifting content
- Review your mission and vision
- Do 1 thing towards your bigger dream.
Here is my Aromatherapy self-care routine to promote these 8 key areas.
Aroma-Therapeutic Morning Routine
When you improve your morning routine you improve your whole day.
Craft your morning ritual with short practices to elevate your mood to energise your day and increase your focus, clarity and productivity.
Allow ½ hr of dedicated self-care in the morning before doing anything else
- Set your alarm in a spot where you need to get out of bed to turn it off.
- Drink a glass of water or two with the juice of ½ a lemon or lime squeezed in.
- Apply a personalised essential oil blend to pulse points and take five cleansing breaths where you breathe in for the count of five and breathe out for the count of five; holding one hand on your belly and the other on your heart. Feel into your heart space; check in with yourself, what do you need to nurture or nourish yourself more this day?
- Identify and say an affirmation for the day or week.
- Do the love, grace and gratitude movement to balance energy. This is a lovely practice to connect you to the essence of who you are daily, follow the link http://www.robbizeck.com/love-grace-gratitude
- Do some gentle exercise or movement, yoga – sun salutes, stretching for your back, neck and shoulders
- Use a natural skincare range containing essential oils to cleanse, tone and moisturize your face and body or add three drops of an uplifting essential oil blend to a washer and place on the floor of the shower. Take slow deep breaths and notice where you are holding any stress and tension in your body. Draw your attention to these areas and try to soften into them on the out breath. Finish off your shower with a burst of cold water especially to the face. This helps to evoke the relaxation response.
- Take adaptogen herbs, natures answer to help manage stress
- Eat a healthy breakfast including some protein
Focused and Rejuvenated with Aromatherapy
Be conscious of managing your energy instead of your time. This requires a mindset shift for most of us.
Use the HIIT concept. Set yourself a time frame for intensive work. During this time, you go hard or go home so to speak; no distractions. Set an alarm; when the timer goes off you stop and commence a short period of rest and recovery.
For rest and recovery, try this 5-minute, energy booster technique with an uplifting blend.
Place the personalised perfume on the pulse points as mentioned above.
Just Breathe; the style of breath that relaxes the nervous system is a slow, deep inhale through the nose for 5 counts, hold for a second and a long, slow exhale through the mouth for 5 counts. Enjoy the aroma of the blend.
Focus on where you feel stress in your body; draw your attention to any painful or tight areas of your body and on your exhales, try to soften these areas. If you can reach gently massage the area.
Acknowledge any challenges and Be understanding; This softens your response to stress; for example, “I’m feeling (insert relevant feeling) ie. anxious, stressed, imposed upon, stagnant, challenged, restless, overwhelmed” etc. “it’s OK, this is a valid response to the situation.” Than go beneath the feelings and think of what you may need to soothe yourself. Statements that are useful in shifting you away from highly charged feelings to a more calm and centred space are “may I be peaceful”, “may I have clarity around the best next steps.” Continue breathing.
Hold stress release acupressure points; gently place your palm flat across your forehead. Use light pressure so that you can feel the pulse underneath the skin and continue breathing for a few minutes. To signify the end of the process you should feel your pulse synchronising under your fingers. Perhaps there’s a lighter feeling in your heart, more space for focus, clarity and a broader perspective. Be still, reflect on the situation, listen to your intuition and plan to take inspired action.
Realign to your bigger goals; Take a step back, reflect on the bigger picture. Are the activities you are relentlessly completing aligned with your bigger goals for your week? If not, re-prioritise.
From Chaotic to Calm with Essential Oils
Not all Chaos is bad. Flowing through can lead to major breakthroughs.
Take a pause and breathe as you welcome all emotions. Pay attention to their messages, switch on your heart light with essential oils and self soothe. Get still, ask and listen for guidance and take inspired action to break through. This can lead to a more composed way of being and more constructive way of living.
1.Pause, Breathe and Hold
Acknowledge your stressful situation. Evoke the relaxation response to balance the nervous system. Place one hand on the emotional stress relief points, just place the flat of your palm across your forehead. Start some heart centred breathing. Inhale through your nose for the count of 5 and breathe softly and deeply into your belly. Exhale slowly for the count of 5 and direct your attention to your heart space. Allow your body to relax and release tension. Repeat for 5 – 10 breaths.
2. Welcome all Emotions
Rumi compares being human to a guest house, “Every morning a new arrival, a joy, a depression, a meanness comes as an unexpected visitor.” he suggests to “welcome and entertain them all, even if they are a crowd of sorrows” and to “be grateful for whatever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.” Name the emotion ie. this is fear, anxiety, anger, sadness etc without judgement.
3. Be curious, What Message does the Emotion have for you?
What comes to mind when think of the emotion what are the relevant thoughts and feelings? Ask yourself does it relate to present time or is it a reaction to something from the past? The emotion is real, but the thoughts and feelings associated may not necessarily be true. Question these and see if you can re-frame them with awareness and compassion. What does the opposite of the emotion mean to you?
4. Switch on your heart light
Place your hands on your heart and show yourself compassion for your situation. Tell yourself it’s OK. Breathe in the essence of a stress relieving essential oil and direct love, grace and gratitude to your beautiful heart.
5. In the stillness, keep breathing, and ask yourself what inspired action you could take to move you beyond the situation and towards your positive expression of the challenging emotion? ie. if you are anxious, what would it take for you to feel calm?
Sit with yourself in the silence and draw your attention to your assets and inner resources until the answer comes.
From a place of stillness and composure can you come up with a plan of action to move you beyond your concerns? Write down your plan and take the inspired action.
Aromatherapy Wind Down Routine
Put Your Feet Up
At the end of your work day, embrace some luxury and enjoy a foot bath to relieve tired, swollen, aching feet and legs and give you a lift.
To relieve tired aching feet; add ½ cup of magnesium bath flakes to tepid foot bath. Rub the peace blend into your feet and ankles and place them into the water. Soak feet for ten minutes, as you take slow deep breaths and massage feet and legs in an upward motion to bring calm, balance and restoration.
Support Restorative Sleep
20 minutes before bed apply a restful sleep blend to pulse points.
Close your eyes, take deliberate slow breaths and gradually deepen your breathing. Consciously focus on your breath, your heart space and add the affirmation “I surrender to the fragrant nectar of my heart”.
Notice the thoughts that run across your mind and process them with awareness. Nurture yourself to heal from things that happened during the day and soften into any areas of accumulated stress and tension.
Are there any answers or moments of clarity from which you can glean some inspired intentions? This will help you have a peaceful sleep and wake up ready to take inspired action.
You could also combine the aroma of the essential oils with mindfulness and relaxation practices such as journaling, meditation, gentle yoga or stretching, and/or play soothing music.
Living Well with Aromatherapy Self Massage
There is so much potential in any given moment to provide yourself the gift of your own loving attention to improve your wellbeing.
Here’s what an aromatherapy self-care massage could do for you
- Clear your head
- Soothe aches and pains
- Increase your energy
- Help you Sleep better
- Improve your mood.
Here is a link to a short video on a simple self-care massage you can use to relieve stress and tension in your face neck and shoulders.
Yours in Living Well,
Kim
