As the holiday season approaches, essential oils can bring warmth, calm and joy to both your home and your spirit. From filling the air with festive aromas to easing end-of-year stress, aromatherapy offers natural support during this meaningful time.

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Aromatherapy is an ancient practice, used for thousands of years, including biblical times. Many essential oils and resins are mentioned in sacred texts and are often used in rituals and healing.

One such example is spikenard, also known as “Nard,” which Mary Magdalene used to anoint Jesus’ feet. This deeply grounding oil symbolizes forgiveness and transformation, and it has calming, sedative properties.

Frankincense and myrrh, famously offered as gifts to the Christ child, were treasured in many ancient cultures. Frankincense was used to enhance meditation and prayer, and even for embalming in ancient Egypt. In the Old Testament, sacred incense made of resins, spices and barks was burned in temples as a spiritual offering.

No matter one’s tradition—Christian, Jewish, Muslim or something else—the holidays can be a time to reflect, celebrate life and find connection. Yet, they can also be accompanied by the pressures of shopping, cooking and expectations. Aromatherapy can help anchor and uplift us through the season.

Holiday Aromatherapy Blends

Emotional Support Blend

This is a calming and uplifting massage oil to ease year-end stress and emotional fatigue. Lavender is comforting, stress-relieving and helpful for anxiety and low mood, and sweet orange is soothing and emotionally uplifting. Neroli is calming, heart-opening and helpful for regulating the nervous system, while ylang ylang helps to balance emotions, soothes adrenal fatigue and reduces tension.


To make your own, add the following essential oils to a one-ounce glass bottle, then top off with your favorite carrier oil.

8 drops lavender 


6 drops sweet orange


4 drops neroli 


6 drops ylang ylang 


To use, gently massage into the shoulders, neck or pulse points or add to a bath for deep relaxation.

Holiday Home Spray

Create a cozy, festive atmosphere in your home with oils of frankincense, a sacred oil for spiritual presence and grounding; sweet orange, which is sweet, bright and welcoming; spruce, which is refreshing, emotionally protective and helps support the lungs; pine needle, which promotes clarity and evokes the scent of holiday greenery; and cinnamon, a warming oil.

In a one-ounce spray bottle, add the oils below and a splash of vodka as a dispersant. Then, fill the rest with filtered water.

6 drops frankincense

6 drops sweet orange 
8 drops spruce 
8 drops pine needle 
2–3 drops cinnamon

Shake well and spray around your home to instantly uplift the mood and set a cozy, heartwarming tone.

A Note on Safety

Essential oils are highly concentrated plant extracts and must be used with care. Avoid ingestion unless guided by a certified aromatherapist. Topical use or inhalation is generally safest. Always dilute oils properly, and be especially cautious when using them around children, elders, or pets. ❧

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Roz Zollinger is the director and co-owner of Atlanta’s Heal Center and is recognized internationally for her contributions in the fields of reflexology, aromatherapy and energy healing. She pioneered Aromatic Reflexology and developed the Zollinger BodySystems Method of Reflexology/Aromatherapy.