Quick Strategy for Stress Relief
Every day educators encounter situations that increase stress levels. Our fight or flight response is activated, which triggers the increase of cortisol. This stress can get stored not only in our minds, but also in our bodies. This can become a problem if our body holds onto these experiences and emotions. We might think we are ridding ourselves of the stress when we just move on or do something like watch tv at night, but it really benefits our long term health when we help ourselves reset in a more mindful way.
We can turn to Somatic Therapy for some quick and easy strategies to help us in the moment. Somatic Therapy incorporates a body-centered approach to connect the mind and body, and can help improve mood, mindset, and stress levels. In somatic therapy, the body is the starting point to achieve relaxation and healing.
Aromatherapy is one Somatic Therapy technique you can incorporate during your day to help reset. Our sense of smell is closely tied to our emotions because when we smell something, it passes through the olfactory bulb, which runs from our nose along the bottom of our brain, connecting it to our hippocampus and amygdala. These areas of our brain are responsible for our feelings, which is why scent can be so powerful.
To get the benefits of aromatherapy at school, you don’t need to have a diffuser. You can either keep a vial of essential oil handy to take a few inhales, or put a few drops of essential oil on a cotton ball and place the cotton ball in a plastic bag. Here are 4 popular scents to try:
Lemon - improve brain function & mood; it can be both calming and uplifting
Lavender - reduce stress, help promote better sleep
Peppermint - boost alertness, fight fatigue, reduce headaches
Rosemary - improve brain function, reduce stress, improve mood
You can find high quality essential oils at Wegmans. If you are shopping elsewhere, make sure to look for 100% essential oil. Check the ingredient list of the oil you're considering. If you see ingredients such as “fragrance” or “parfum”, those are synthetic ingredients that can be made from a concoction of many chemicals.
It only takes a few seconds to practice this somatic therapy technique, so it's a simple way to take care of yourself during your school day.
