Candles & Mental Health
In the turbulent times that we are currently living in, it is best to cherish the small things that make us happy. For quite a long time, candles have been utilized in bringing a calm harmonious feel into our space. Specifically restorative candles are made with a mix of essential oils, by burning or lighting restorative candles a little stream of smells is produced into our environment. Leaving us feeling sentimental as we associate fond or not so fond memories with the scent.
Some studies have shown a correlation between mental health and well being with lighting scented candles. Scandinavian countries such as Sweden, Norway and Denmark conform to a 'hygge' lifestyle, meaning contentment, happiness and an overall positive energy. Statistics have shown that lighting more candles has a direct connection to our mental state of mind, which can also be why stalls and shops have started manufacturing different candles designed to enhance our mood or destress us, but of course, we mustn't forget to put them out too!
In the past we have often associated candles with celebrations such as birthdays or weddings so why not celebrate our mental health everyday because what else can be more important than our mental health? Here are some benefits of owning and burning several different scented candles:
1. Helps improve your mood:
Imagine coming home after a long and somewhat miserable day and having your space smell like rosemary. The scent can boost your immune system and regulate hormone levels, not to mention the vibe you’ll have created for yourself. Regardless of if you’re a guy or a gal, candles are unisex!
2. Candles help reduce stress:
Ever caught yourself just looking into a fire and losing track of time? Apart from their scent we are often caught paying an ample amount of attention to the fire itself. It seems to bring us into the present moment a lot more which helps reduce our stressors for the future or the past.
3. Helps combat insomnia:
Better sleep equals better mental health, am I right? Of course! Better sleep means we’re less tired in the day and have more energy to get things done and be productive in our own way. The practice of using scents to affect the mind and body is known as aromatherapy.
4. To signal your wind down time:
We sometimes don’t know this but we can trick our brain and body to react how we want them to when we can't do it actively ourselves. Association really helps with our bodies mood, our body knows its time to wake up and start the day because maybe you start by working out or having a cup of coffee?
That way you're signaling your brain to start working but have we ever thought about how we close the day? To let go of the stress and tension of the day and ease into our down time so that the next day we can do better?
You can try that now, every time you want to relax after a long day at work just light up a scented candle and before you know it your body will automatically respond to it.
We hope that this list helps you go out there buy a candle if you don’t already have one and get focused on yourself all day everyday! Happy Mental Health Day everyone. Remember your mental health is your number one priority before anything else!