Whether you’re setting your intentions for the day, making goals for the month or creating a resolution for the new year, essential oils can help you make the energetic shift needed for those goals and intentions to turn into reality.
My top 10 essential oils for setting goals and intentions are ginger, wild orange, spikenard, bergamot, copaiba, eucalyptus, frankincense, geranium, lavender and lemongrass.
Read on to find out how these essential oils can help you release old patterns, create a positive mindset and attract positive, abundant outcomes.
How do essential oils work on a mental-emotional level?
Pure, therapeutic grade essential oils can help you raise your energetic vibration. As a result, low-energy emotions such as anger, sadness, grief, frustration, guilt or shame can no longer exist within you.
The body automatically wants to release these emotions and make room for higher vibration energies such as love, joy, confidence and acceptance. Your emotional health increases as negative emotions are able to come to the surface so that you can release them. Once negative emotions are released, you’re able to receive the emotions that will serve you in achieving your goals and intentions.
This process of releasing and making room for more positive emotions is much like decluttering your living space. The more you remove old, worn-out items that you no longer love or need, the more room you have for creating a space that nourishes you, represents you as you are right now and which will support you on your journey toward greater joy, abundance and love. Essential oils will help you do that same work internally, on a mental-emotional and spiritual level.
The chemical properties of essential oils have been shown to have a powerful impact on physical, mental and emotional well-being. Smell, one of our primal and most important senses, has a direct influence over thoughts, memories, moods, behaviours and emotions.
Just think of walking into a room and smelling something burning — immediately your body triggers alarm signals. Or walking into the kitchen to the smell of your favourite pie baking in the oven — immediately you remember the taste from past experiences and anticipation builds for being able to eat this one.
The scent of pure essential oils have a complex molecular structure that helps them bind to sites within your body to help bring about balance and wellness. In other words, essential oils can trigger responses in your body that can help support you on an emotional, physical and even spiritual level.
The step-by-step process of how essential oils can help you set your goals and intentions
Now that you have an idea of the power of smell and how essential oils can positively impact your emotions, you can use this information to help you set your intentions and goals. The process is simple:
1. Think of a goal or intention you would like to achieve. Write it down or state it clearly in some other way like recording yourself saying it. Make sure your goal is clear, positive and in present time. For example, ‘today I see only the good in others’, ‘this month I double my sales from last month’, ‘this year I give myself the so much self-love that I overflow with it and as a result I am able to love those around me unconditionally’
2. Now think of either what emotions stand in your way of achieving your goal/intention or which emotions you would like to experience in order to fulfill your goal/intention. For example, in order to ‘see only the good in others’, your may need to release judgement or fear. Or, you may want to feel the emotions of peace, confidence and acceptance every day. For the goal of doubling your sales, you may want to release self-doubt or feeling judged by others. Or, you may want to feel confident, motivated and focused. For the example of feeling self-love and giving unconditional love, you may want to release feelings of scarcity, fear or low-self worth. Or, you may want to attract feeling abundant, loved and supported. Get clear on what 2-3 specific emotions you want to release or attract and write those down. These will help you choose the essential oils you need!
3. Find which essential oils have those emotional properties. Here you want to make sure that your oils are pure and of therapeutic grade. For more info on purity, read my article here. Keep reading for my list of the top essential oils for setting goals and intentions. Once you have your oils, you can either diffuse them or make a roller blend to apply them to your skin.
- For diffusing, you can add 1-3 drops of each oil to your diffuser and have it running for several hours a day. This is especially helpful during meditation, journaling or while you’re actively working on your goal/intention
- For topical application, add 1-5 drops of each oil to a 5ml roller bottle and top with your favourite carrier oil. Apply over pulse points such as inside of wrists or behind ears. You can also apply the roller to the bottoms of your feet and back of neck. The chakra points can be powerful application areas. For example, if you desire to feel more love, apply your roller bottle over your heart chakra. If you desire to speak more confidently, apply the blend over your throat chakra.
4. Support your choses essential oils with further activities that help you release old patterns (journaling, visualization techniques), create a space of receiving new positive energies (meditation, decluttering your space), and which will help you achieve your goals (making a plan, scheduling your time, asking for help).
My top 10 essential oils for setting goals and intentions
Ginger
Ginger helps you feel empowered, committed, capable, purposeful and accountable. Ginger will help you overcome feelings of being powerless, not present, stuck, and feeling that everything is outside of your control.
Ginger can be diffused, applied topically and also ingested (always read the label of your essential oil). Ginger works powerfully when applied over the solar plexus (upper stomach)
Wild Orange
Wild Orange helps you feel abundant, creative, joyful and playful. It helps to release feelings of scarcity, envy, rigidity and lack of energy.
Wild orange can help when you’re taking life too seriously, have a lack of energy, are feeling discouraged or when you are focusing too much on work and are neglecting the rest of your life.
Wild orange is safe for aromatic, topical and internal use (always follow the label of your essential oil). Apply wild orange over your sacral chakra (upper stomach), behind ears and inside of wrists. Keep skin out of direct sunlight after application.
Spikenard
Spikenard is a precious and ancient oil that helps you feel grateful, content and peaceful. It encourages you to surrender and accept life as it is. This letting go process will make room for seeing the deeper meaning of your life and finding all the joy and happiness you desire.
Spikenard can help you release anger, resistance, ingratitude, greed, and a negative outlook on life. Spikenard can be diffused or applied topically.
Ideal topical application points are the solar plexus, your third eye chakra and the pulse points on your wrists.
Bergamot
This essential oils is all about self-acceptance. Bergamot helps you feel optimistic, confident, hopeful, lovable and just plain good enough. It will help you release self-judgement and make room for unconditional self-love.
Bergamot can help you release low self-esteem, self-judgement and feeling hopeless, unlovable or despair.
It is especially powerful when applied topically over your chakra points such as the heart, solar plexus and your third-eye/forehead area. Dilute before application and keep skin out of direct sunlight (bergamot is a photosensitive oil). It can also be diffused and taken internally (read your label first).
Copaiba
Copaiba allows the deeper meaning and purpose of your life to be revealed so that you can embrace you who really are. Copaiba will help you feel more worthy, self-aware and purposeful in your existence. It will give you clarity, allow you to forgive and be forgiven and through that, redefine yourself to align with your higher purpose.
Copaiba can help you overcome feelings of guilt, regret, self-dislike, shame and feeling unworthy. It can help bring repressed emotions to the surface so that you can release and overcome them.
Copaiba is safe for aromatic, topical and internal use (read your label). Ideal application points are over the heart, your sacral chakra, your crown chakra, the third eye chakra and the back of your neck.
Eucalyptus
This oil is is perfect for anyone wishing to release illness. Sometimes it’s easier to give sickness as an excuse rather than stating your point openly and honestly.
Eucalyptus addresses deep emotional/spiritual issues around the need to be sick. It gives you the courage to let go of the attachment of illness and to feel liberated, well, encouraged and able to heal. Eucalyptus helps you overcome feeling clingy, defeated, despairing, powerless to get better or needing to be ill to escape some kind of responsibility or life obstacle.
Eucalyptus works well applied with a carrier oil over lungs, chest or throat. It can also be diffused at any time of day.
Frankincense
This precious oil helps you release lower vibrations, deceptions and negativity. It is a powerful cleanser of the soul to reveal your inner light and deepest truth.
Frankincense helps you feel enlightened, loved, protected, wise, spiritually receptive and connected. It can help you overcome feelings of abandonment, being surrounded by darkness, feeling disconnected or misaligned.
Frankincense has the ability to supercharge any other oil it’s paired with so it is a great addition to diffuser or roller blends. Apply it to your crown chakra, forehead and behind ears. It can also be diffused any time of day.
Geranium
Geranium is a beautiful scent that helps you restore your trust in others and in the world. Geranium helps to heal a broken heart and to bring to the surface any suppressed grief or pain so these can be released.
It helps to install unconditional love and can help you become more empathetic, trusting, forgiving, loving and tolerant. Geranium helps you overcome feelings of loss and abandonment. It can help release you from feeling distrusting, unforgiving, disheartened or unloving.
Geranium is best applied over the heart chakra and over the liver area (right side of abdomen). It can also be diffused and combines well with lavender, copaiba or lemongrass.
Lavender
This is a powerful oil for creating a sense of calm and to help express yourself verbally. It addresses deep seated fears of being seen and heard.
Lavender encourages you to have open communication and emotional honesty. It helps you become expressive, self-aware and live with a deep sense of peace of mind. Lavender can help you overcome fear of rejection, racing thoughts, feeling unseen or unheard and feeling tense or insecure.
Lavender can be used aromatically, topically and internally. You can apply it over your throat, temples and the back of your neck. Always read the label of your bottle for safe usage instructions.
Lemongrass
Last but not least we have lemongrass. It is a powerful cleanser of energy to help you release limiting beliefs, negative energies and even hoarding tendencies.
Lemongrass can bring about spiritual clarity and the release of what is no longer needed on all levels. If you’re holding on the the past, feel despair, are surrounded by clutter or feel like your world is full of toxic or negative energy, lemongrass can support you. It helps to bring about non-attachment, simplicity, a discerning mind and spiritual clarity of what your next steps need to be to fulfill your dreams and desires.
Lemongrass can be used aromatically, topically and internally (read your label). Apply it to the bottoms of your feet and/or diffuse it throughout your living space.
Blends for positive intentions and goal setting
Succeed With Confidence
3 drops ginger
3 drops wild orange
2 drops lemongrass
2 drops frankincense
Diffuse or add to a 5 ml roller bottle and top with carrier oil.
Surrounded by Love and Light
3 drops lemongrass
2 drops geranium
2 drops eucalyptus
1 drop bergamot
1 drop wild orange
1 drop frankincense
Diffuse or add to a 5 ml roller bottle and top with carrier oil.
You Can Do Anything
3 drops Copaiba
2 drops Frankincense
2 drops Geranium
1 drop Ginger
1 drop Wild Orange
Diffuse or add to a 5 ml roller bottle and top with carrier oil.
Peace Within and All Around
3 drops lavender
2 drops spikenard
2 drops geranium
1 drop bergamot
1 drop frankincense
Diffuse or add to a 5 ml roller bottle and top with carrier oil.
Live With Compassion
3 drops spikenard
3 drops lavender
3 drops frankincense
1 drop geranium
Diffuse or add to a 5 ml roller bottle and top with carrier oil.
Whether its for the day, week, month or year…I wish you complete success in achieving your goals and intentions. In fact, I want you to surpass even your wildest dreams in creating the life that you love.
I would love to hear which essential oils you chose! Maybe you picked some from the list above or came up with your own favourites. Leave a comment below.
All my best,
Daniela
Live/Dried Blood Analysis - Homeopathy - Essential Oils Specialist
Health & Life Coaching
daniela@danielaharfman.com
References and Resources:
Emotions and Essential Oils, 7th Edition
The Essential Life, 5th Edition
Gifts of the Essential Oils by Adam Barralet and Vanessa JB Ovens