As the winter months approach, it can be challenging to stay active and maintain our well-being. Strength training is an excellent way to keep fit during this time, as it helps boost immunity, maintain muscle mass, and improve mood—all crucial for staying healthy during the colder, darker days. However, even with regular exercise, the winter season can sometimes bring fatigue, seasonal affective disorder (SAD) and a need for additional support to lift our spirits.
How Aromatherapy Complements Your Winter Wellness Journey
This is where aromatherapy can play a wonderful complementary role in promoting holistic wellness. By integrating essential oils into our routine, we can enhance our wellbeing journey—whether it’s transitioning through the seasons or finding extra warmth and comfort during short, bleak winter days. Aromatherapy helps create a sense of calm, alleviate seasonal blues, and support our immune system, making it an excellent partner to strength training for staying well in winter.
At Fitagain, we believe in supporting the body and mind in harmony. Our collaboration with Heather allows us to provide our members with expert advice on essential oils, helping you embrace holistic health through strength training and aromatherapy. Our programs are designed to provide individualised support, incorporating both fitness and holistic approaches to health.
Modern Lifestyles and Reduced Connection with Nature for Holistic Wellbeing
Our lives have changed considerably over the last century. Take, for example, the way we grow and harvest our food. Not long ago, we mainly grew and consumed vegetables, fruits, herbs, and plants native to our local vicinity. Today, however, foods we once ate seasonally are available year-round. Improved transportation and communication networks have opened up the world to us, with almost instant, 24-hour access to anything we need at the click of a button. Added to this, our lives are increasingly oriented indoors—in offices, shopping centers, schools, and other environments. We may go outside for walks or engage in healthy activities, but our connection with the natural environment has been reduced and overshadowed by time limits and constraints.
As convenient as this is, it can leave us less tuned into our environment and less conscious of our internal needs. Just like plants and every living creature around us, we function in intimate relationship with our immediate natural environment. We are swayed by its rhythm, flux, and flow—responsive to temperature, atmosphere, and available sunlight, which are all crucial for our body’s metabolic functions, growth, and repair.
The Role of Essential Oils in Supporting Our Natural Rhythms for Holistic Wellbeing
Essential oils can play a significant role in aiding alignment with our natural rhythms. For example, they can support the transition from one season to another:
- From spring to summer: Cypress, rose, and lavender.
- From summer to autumn: Melissa (lemon balm), petitgrain, pine needle, and nutmeg.
- From autumn to winter: Coriander, juniper berry, marjoram, and turmeric.
- From winter to spring: Cedarwood, citrus oils, myrrh, black pepper, vetiver, and ylang-ylang.
Essential oils can bring sunshine and warmth to short, bleak winter days. Uplifting citrus oils like bergamot, grapefruit, lemon, mandarin, and orange can help, while warming oils such as cedarwood, myrrh, black pepper, and turmeric provide comfort. Melissa and lemongrass may ease winter blues, while spice oils like cinnamon and clove create antimicrobial room scents that add warmth to cold days.
How Do Essential Oils Work for Holistic Wellbeing?
Essential oil molecules interact with olfactory receptors the nasal cavities and other tissues throughout the body. These neural signals activate when essential oil molecules are absorbed into the body’s circulatory system via the lungs, dermal application, or food consumption. Essential oils directly influence the limbic system, which includes the amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus, and hypothalamus. They indirectly impact the pituitary gland and the frontal lobe, helping regulate mood and emotional responses.
Essential oils are adaptogens, supporting the body’s response to stress, anxiety and fatigue while encouraging feelings of well-being. They can instigate physiological, neural, and psycho-emotional responses that are protective, restorative, and rejuvenating. For example, cedarwood instills feelings of peace, while frankincense and patchouli slow and deepen breathing to instill a sense of calm.
Bringing Aromatherapy into Your Routine
To support holistic wellbeing during winter, consider integrating essential oils into your daily routine. Personalised training sessions can also help you optimise your fitness goals, incorporating essential oils and tailored exercises to can further enhance your overall health. Diffusing uplifting scents like lemon or grapefruit can boost your mood, while applying warming oils like black pepper or turmeric mixed with a carrier oil can help ease muscle soreness after strength training. By consciously using essential oils to align with the rhythms of the season, you can enhance both physical and emotional well-being throughout the winter months
Aromatherapy Evening
At Fitagain, we offer personalised guidance on how to integrate aromatherapy into your fitness journey. Our members benefit from the synergy of strength training and holistic wellness practices, including the use of essential oils for enhanced vitality and resilience during winter. Our personal training services ensure that each member receives a customised experience, blending fitness, aromatherapy, and holistic health strategies.
We would love you to come and see how we do it:
Date & Time: 20th November 2024 @ 19:30
Location: Fitagain, Unit 7 Town Mill, Rosemary Lane, Colyton, EX24 6LS
Description:
Discover the benefits of aromatherapy and how essential oils can enhance your wellbeing in our exclusive workshop. This event is an introduction to aromatherapy, focusing on how the practice of using essential oils can be highly beneficial for your wellbeing. You’ll gain personalised guidance and practical knowledge on how aromatherapy can enhance your physical and mental health, improve relaxation, and support overall wellness.
To book on go to our events page
Books and Further Learning for Holistic Wellbeing
For in-depth information about essential oils and their benefits, check out these resources by Heather:
Chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of the essential oil from leaves of Algerian Melissa officinalis L. EXCLI J. 2014; 13: 772–781.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4464394/ (2014)
Rosemary Tea Consumption Alters Peripheral Anxiety and Depression Biomarkers: A Pilot Study in Limited Healthy Volunteers. Journal of the American Nutrition Association 41(3): 240-249. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33565922/ (2022).
The effect of lavender herbal tea on the anxiety and depression of the elderly: A randomised clinical trial. Complementary Therapies in Medicine vol 50. Elsevier. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0965229919316292 (2020).
The antibacterial effect of sage extract (Salvia officinalis) mouthwash against Streptococcus mutans in dental plaque: a randomised clinical trial. Iran Journal of Microbiology 7(3), 173-177. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4676988/ (2015)
Circadian Rhythm, Lifestyle and Health: A Narrative Review. Iran Journal of Public Health 47(8) 1068-1076. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6123576/ (2018).
Effect of Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia) Essential Oil on Acute Inflammatory Response. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2018; 2018: 1413940. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5878871/ (2018)
Therapeutic Effect and Mechanisms of Essential Oils in Mood Disorders: Interaction Between Nervous and Respiratory System. International Journal of Molecular Science 22(9): 4844. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8125361/ (2021).
Ghazizadeh, Javid Saeed, Sadigh-Eteghad, Wolfgang Marx, Ali Fakhari, Sanex
The effects of lemon balm (Melissa officinalis L.) on depression and anxiety in clinical trials: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Phytotherapy Research 35(12): 6690-6705. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34449930/ (2021).
Action mechanism of roman chamomile in the treatment of anxiety disorder based on network pharmacology. Journal of Food Biochemistry 45(1). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33152801/ (2021).
Linalool as a Therapeutic and Medicinal Tool in Depression Treatment: A Review. Current Neuropharmacology, Bentham Science Publishers, 20(6): 1073-1092. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9886818/ (2022).
Chamomile: A herbal medicine of the past with bright future. Molecular Medicine Report, vol 3 issue 6 p 895-901. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2995283/ (2011).
Essential oils for treating anxiety: a systematic review of randomised controlled trials and network meta-analysis. Frontiers in Public Health. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10267315/ (2023).
Journal of Biological Rhythms vol 36 issue 6. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/07487304211044301 (2021).
Environmental chemical affect circadian rhythms: An underexplored effect influence health and fitness in animal and humans. Environment International, Elsevier vol 149. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412020321140
About Heather and Her Approach to Holistic Wellbeing
Heather’s studio in Lyme Regis offers essential oil therapy, workshops, and organic essential oils. Heather has extensive experience in aromatherapy, and her award-winning books are available at major book retailers, including Lyme Regis Bookshop. Her passion for essential oils began in the early ’70s, and she holds a degree in Counselling and Complementary Medicine, as well as certifications in mindfulness and teaching. Heather moved to Dorset ten years ago after a career in academia, and now focuses on sharing her love for aromatherapy with others.
Together, the Fitagain Gym and Heather can help you embrace the best of both worlds—physical fitness and holistic wellbeing. To learn more about how we can support your health journey, visit us at Fitagain Gym, which is based near Lyme Regis, Dorset.
