Who doesn’t know PMS? I think at some point we all face it, we all know what it is and what it does. Even my husband knows…
So PMS or premenstrual syndrome, is our reaction on all these hormonal changing that are happening to us through our menstrual cycle. You can’t really change the nature of it, but you can change the way of how you react on it or experience.
The problems that are associated with PMS include:
- headaches and migraine
- joint and muscle pains
- breast swelling and tenderness
- palpitations
- weight gain
- fluid retention
- bloating
- swelling around the face
- appetite changes
- acne
- abdominal cramps
- nausea
And also our emotional well-being is heavily affected by PMS, you may experience some of the following:
- stress
- tension
- anxiety
- panic attacks
- mood swings
- irritability
- anger
- sadness
- despair
- fatigue
- memory problems
- frustration
- sense of hopelessness
- apathy
- hypersensitivity
- sleeping problems
Sometimes we may even go and see a doctor by thinking that we are not well, we are sick or need some mental help. But it might be in fact related to this our PMS and all this crazy hormonal changes we experience every single month.
To be honest, I barely had any of these symptoms, only severe cramping, before I had kids. After I have kids, my hormones are almost like having a party, they change so fast that I don’t even know how to react. Or to be more specific I was getting crazy and insane with my mood swings and irritability mixed with anger, frustration and crying out of nothing.
Luckily for us, we can actually reduce signs of PMS naturally by simple following little steps and observing how it affect our body and we behave afterwards. So the little changes you can do:
- Mindful eating. Here I mean, avoiding red meat, processed foods, sugary foods, pastries, breads, pastas, dairy products, alcohol. Instead try adding more nutritional supplements like vitamins, evening primrose oil is grate for reducing PMS and is great for balancing our hormones, and is often recommended to be used for older women who experience menopausal problems. If you really crave for sweets you can use honey, or mango.
- Yoga and Tai Chi are really great exercises to include in your daily life. They help balancing the energy, releasing negative energy, calming for our nervous system and are very revitalizing for female health, both physically and emotionally.
- Hot compress can be very handy and pain relieving in case of abdominal cramps. Even a simple warm shower I find helpful. Also gentle massage on a lower abdomen in a clockwise direction helps to reduce cramping.
- Aromatherapy. This is really my favorite. I had a great experience by using it in many ways, so I’ll be happy to give you more information on it. There is a number of essential oils which are really good for reducing PMS and PMS related symptoms. However for making it easier I’ll name most commonly used ones and their benefits.
- Rose is very balancing for our emotional health, helps to relieve depression, stress, nervous tension, mood swings, headaches, supports a healthy sleep, increases libido, helps to normalize irregular menstruation. It’s very restorative and harmonizing essential oil for our female health.
- Clary Sage is great for regulating the cycle, it may promote the menstruation, so be careful using it if you’re trying to conceive a baby or during pregnancy. In general Clary Sage is also very balancing essential oil. It is uplifting, relaxing and calming oil for our emotions, helps to relieve depression and reduce tension.
- Grapefruit is one of the most mood uplifting essential oils. It helps to reduce anxiety, fatigue, emotional exhaustion, apathy, depression, stress. With its really cheering aroma it supports our overall well-being and it is a perfect choice for cheering up after the long working day or overwork tiredness.
- Peppermint is fantastic for digestive support, like colic, digestive discomfort, spasm, upset stomach. You can apply it as massage oil on your abdominal area, it blends really well here with Fennel, Lemon, Clary Sage, Ginger. It is also a great essential oil for relieving headaches. Here it works great especially with Lavender essential oil. You can make a roll-on blend with these two oils and carry with you in a hand bag. Inhaling Peppermint essential oil might also be helpful in case of nausea.
- Ylang Ylang has really good sedative properties and is fantastic for reducing tension and alleviate insomnia. Works great with Clary Sage. It is also very good oil for relieving stress and stress related conditions, emotional tension, mood swings, irritability, over-sensitivity, anxiety. It is very calming and balancing. Apart from being emotionally calming it is also great in relieving muscular tension. Try taking a bath with Ylang Ylang or use it in a massage.
- Geranium is great to be used if you have bloating before your periods or during menstruation. It’s also helpful for fluid retention issues. Here it works really great in combination with Grapefruit essential oil. Geranium is very balancing for our emotional well-being, it is uplifting, helps to relieve anxiety, tension, stress, irritability, mood swings, anger. Also it works great in providing a relief with cramps which some may have before or during periods by applying it with carrier oil on lower abdomen.
- Chamomile Roman is probably of the best essential oils along with Clary Sage, Vetiver and Geranium for providing relief during PMS. It has gentle sedative qualities which makes it perfect for relaxation and sleep support. It is also helpful for reducing stress, tension, anxiety, anger, irritability, mood swings, moodiness. Roman Chamomile is also very helpful for alleviating aches and pain related to stress, muscle spasms, and is also helpful for reducing stomach cramps during periods. It is often used to relieve the discomfort related to digestive issues, like colic or gas, which often can follow with PMS.
- Bergamot is very good in reducing abdominal cramps, which are often the case before or during the menstruation. From emotional side Bergamot is so balancing and provides great support for our overall well-being. It helps to reduce anxiety, stress, frustration, panic attacks, lethargy, apathy, fatigue. It is relaxing and yet uplifting essential oil and very soothing in times of depression. It is phototoxic though, so be mindful when using it (read more about it here)
- Juniper is one of the best essential oils to deal with fluid retention and bloating. Also it’s great for relaxing painful muscles. Juniper supports healthy joints and is very good addition to a massage blend to reduce aches and pain in our body. It’s great for emotional support whenever you feel unsupported or misunderstood, lucking of confidence which often comes at certain days of our cycle.
- Vetiver the last but not the least in the PMS rescue oils. Vetiver is best known for being deeply calming and grounding essential oils. This essential oils is really helpful to calm our nerves and bring us down to the ground whenever we feel irritation, anger, frustration, overwhelming. It is very helpful in supporting our emotional health, it helps to deal with mood swings, over-sensitivity and other PMS related issues. Vetiver is very nurturing and restorative, it really is one of the best for relieving PMS tension. As it is a pretty thick essential oil, it is best to be used in massage blends, as a perfume in a roll-on bottle for emotional support, or to be burned in a special burner.
When using essential oils always listen to your heart, check if you like the aroma, because if you don’t like it it will be distracting for you at the end. Also be creative, use in a diffuser, as a roll-on like a perfume (really handy to carry around in a purse for emotional support as well as for topical application for relieving cramps, personal tip), take aromatic bath or use it in a massage blend either as body oil or the best way, nice relaxing massage. Your body and soul will so much love it.
These are really very simple 3 steps that you can do for yourself to reduce the symptoms related to PMS naturally and in a most healthy way. I used to struggle with severe abdominal cramps as long as remember myself, 2 years ago when I rediscovered essential oils for myself, plus adding yoga, I literally vanished that problem.
If you want to know which essential oils I recommend you can read about it here.
Cheers,
Anna