Using Essential Oils in Aerial Yoga: Tips & Benefits

If you’ve visited an aerial yoga studio, there is a high chance that you encountered the pungent smell of essential oils.

Essential oils are frequently used in yoga classes, to enhance emotional and mental wellness, support spiritual and physical well-being and relieve sore muscles.

So, if you are looking for a means of enhancing your yoga practice, then you should consider incorporating essential oils in aerial yoga sessions.

Read on to learn more about the benefits of essential oils in aerial yoga, the best essential oils to incorporate into your aerial yoga practice as well as tips for using essential oils for aerial yoga.

 

Benefits of Essential Oils in Aerial Yoga

So, why should you incorporate essential oils in aerial yoga sessions?

Well, incorporating essential oils into your aerial yoga sessions comes with numerous benefits.

First, essential oils can increase your focus during aerial yoga, thus helping you to execute the various yoga poses to perfection.

By inhaling essential oils such as frankincense before you begin your aerial yoga practice, you will enter a space of being focused on yourself, being present and being focused on your body, thus taking your practice to the next level.

Second, essential oils contain a wide range of active compounds, which can prepare you on a biological level.

For instance, essential oils like black pepper can help to reduce inflammation and promote circulation, leading to faster recovery after a yoga swing workout.

 

Best Essential Oils for Aerial Yoga

Without doubt using essential oils before, during and after your aerial yoga sessions has numerous benefits.

But with so many types of essential oils out there, choosing the best ones for your yoga hammock workout can prove to be confusing and overwhelming.

Fortunately, we’ve done the heavy lifting for you. Here are the best essential oils for aerial yoga.

 

Cedarwood Oil

Cedarwood essential oil is obtained from the leaves, berries, bark and needles of cedar trees.

It produces a warm, woody and grounding aroma, which promotes wellness and vitality.

Since cedarwood is a grounding oil, it can promote emotional balance, making it a great essential oil for your workouts.

For instance, it will make you feel more connected to the earth when you are performing poses like mountain pose, tree pose and warrior pose.

Cedarwood also promotes vitality and wellness, making it a great partner for your workouts.

Before you start exercising, massaging a few drops of cedarwood essential oil onto your chest will help to maintain vitality throughout your workout.

Furthermore, cedarwood’s chemical composition makes it highly effective when it comes to repelling insects.

So, if you are planning to do some outdoor yoga swing workouts, applying cedarwood oil to the area around your workout spot can help keep bugs at bay.

Sandalwood Oil

Just like cedarwood oil, sandalwood oil produces a sweet, woodsy scent. And this explains why it has been used for centuries mainly for meditation and religious rituals.

Traditionally, sandalwood oil has been used together with other therapies to manage muscle problems, digestive problems, common colds, hemorrhoids, mental disorders as well as urinary tract infections.

Apart from its physical health benefits, sandalwood oil also comes with plenty of mental health benefits, making it a great choice for aerial yoga and aromatherapy in general.

Inhaling sandalwood before your aerial yoga swing session will provide you with the focus, mental strength and clarity that you need for your workout. If it’s one of those days when your mind is all over the place, then sandalwood essential oil will realign you to your center right away.

When using sandalwood oil, you should first sit in mediation for a few minutes while inhaling steadily, thus allowing its woodsy scent to envelop you and calm you down.

Lavender Oil

Lavender oil is probably one of the most popular essential oils that you will find in most aerial yoga studios, thanks to its stress-relieving and calming effects.

For people who practice aerial yoga, applying it to your bath water after your workout will create a calming and serene environment, and relax your mind.

However, you should avoid using lavender oil during your morning yoga sessions. As noted above, lavender oil is extremely relaxing, and you might be tempted to jump in bed right after finishing your workout.

But if you are doing aerial yoga poses just before bedtime, applying it before your sessions will allow it to sink into all parts of your body, leaving you feeling calm and relaxed.

As you may expect, you will enjoy a restful sleep.

Lemongrass Oil

If you are someone who loves doing yoga hammock swing poses in the morning, then you should consider adding lemongrass essential oil to your practice. Its strong scents are highly energizing, thus giving you the boost that you need to perform the various poses.

Lemongrass will also be great for an afternoon aerial yoga session. Its strong and powerful scent will be perfect for those intense and sweaty afternoon sessions. Also, lemongrass can boost your self-esteem and confidence.

Therefore, by the end of your workout, you will be feeling as if you can tackle any task that comes your way.

Peppermint Oil

Intense aerial yoga poses like the one-legged king pigeon pose, inverted star pose or the inverted pigeon pose may leave your muscles feeling sore after your workout.

Studies have shown that peppermint oil contains anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmodic, and analgesic properties. Therefore, it can help to alleviate muscle soreness and inflammation, so you should add peppermint oil to your bathwater.

Furthermore, peppermint oil is extremely stimulating, meaning it can boost your energy levels, especially when you are feeling sluggish.

Also, as an added benefit, the menthol it contains can help to cool your body after you’ve finished your antigravity yoga workout at home.

Frankincense Oil

Frankincense is renowned for its ability to promote calm and peace. And this explains why it’s one of the most recommended essential oils for yoga meditation sessions.

Its aroma helps to elevate and stimulate the mind while helping to promote a better sense of center.

Hence, if you usually experience difficulties when it comes to centering yourself or focusing during an anti-gravity yoga workout, then you should incorporate this oil into your sessions.

Chamomile Oil

If you are one of the people who struggle with control issues and you’ve decided to use aerial yoga to help with surrender and release, then you should incorporate chamomile essential oil into your routine.

Chamomile essential oil is perfect for evening yoga swing workouts. It will help you to unwind and relax after your day’s tension and worries.

Chamomile essential oil will also help to calm an anxious mind and fight insomnia.

Eucalyptus Oil

As the name suggests, eucalyptus oil is derived from the leaves of the eucalyptus tree.

It’s frequently used in numerous fragrances and medicinal ointments, along with massage oils due to its relaxing and soothing properties.

So, if your yoga hammock involves lots of strenuous poses, then eucalyptus essential oil will come in handy.

Apart from helping to alleviate muscular pain and soreness, eucalyptus oil will also help your body to cool down at the end of a demanding yoga workout.

 

How to Use Essential Oils for Yoga

You have numerous ways of incorporating essential oils in aerial yoga practice. You simply need to try different approaches and different essential oils and then choose what works best for you.

Some of the methods that you can use include applying directly to the body, creating essential oil sprays, using aromatherapy candles, aroma diffusers, a cool down towel, or  essential oil eye pillows.

You can also add essential oils such as eucalyptus to your bath water for a relaxing and soothing post-work experience.

 

Caution with Essential Oils and Aerial Yoga

Essential oils can significantly enhance your aerial yoga practice, but you need to be cautious when using them.

First, don’t exceed the recommended diffusing intervals.

Exceeding the recommended diffusing durations doesn’t increase the benefits. Therefore, if the recommended interval is 30 to 60 minutes, then you should stick to that. Also, ensure you are diffusing them in a well-ventilated area.

Second, you should patch-test essential oils before you apply them directly to your body. Conducting a patch test will help you to determine how your skin will respond to that oil. Some can be harsh and drying to the skin, so look into this first.

Third, don’t apply undiluted essential oils directly to your aerial yoga hammocks, yoga swing or other fabrics used during your aerial yoga sessions. Essential oils can degrade the materials, thus shortening their lifespan. Instead, you should apply them to your yoga towel.

Fifth, always wash your hands after using essential oils. Scratching the inside of your ears or rubbing your ears when you have remnants of these oils on your hands can lead to itching, irritation and other adverse reactions.

 

Enhance Your Yoga Practice

Each essential oil provides a different type of experience. Therefore, your mood, the type of energy you want to cultivate and your workout goals will determine which essential oils you will use in your practice.

But regardless of the combination that you choose, incorporating essential oils in aerial yoga sessions is guaranteed to take your practice to the next level.