We could use many words to describe our experience of 2020; unprecedented is one, uncertainty is another. Sitting well alongside them are words such as fear, anxiety and loss. 

The start of 2021 has brought with it a more highly transmissible variant of the Covid virus with so many further necessary restrictions on our freedom of movement, but the difference this year, is that there is light at the end of what has been a very long and dark tunnel. This current lockdown has been described as the last lap. We are moving further along hope’s road with the introduction of the vaccination programme; our bodies will receive the protection we need from the scourge of a virus that has caused two million deaths worldwide to date. 

The world has experienced what it feels like to live with uncertainty and fear; we have apparently learned so much; gratitude for our health must be one of them. But despite us all learning lessons from the pandemic, there are groups of people, like me, who permanently live their lives with uncertainty and fear in it. I am one of thousands of people worldwide who live with an incurable disease; one that is life limiting but which is currently controlled by a cancer drug. I sit in the secondary breast cancer community, which currently has an average life expectancy of three to five years following a diagnosis of the incurable version of the disease. This is where the cancer has spread beyond the breast and lymph nodes to the bones and other major organs, which typically but not exclusively, includes the lungs, liver and the brain. Within that community, I am described as an exceptional responder; I have surpassed my two-year prognosis by eleven years. I am very good friends with uncertainty and fear, but I have learned to embrace acceptance, gratitude and hope.  

Essential oils as a constant presence

A constant during the last thirteen years and the fourteen years leading up to my first diagnosis of primary breast cancer aged 34, has been the use of essential oils. I began my formal training as an aromatherapist in 1995 and completed my diploma in 1997 when I was five months pregnant with my first child. Back then, I had absolutely no idea of the pivotal role that essential oils would go on to play in my life. They have provided a daily, gentle grounding and calming influence; something, which in my experience, having met hundreds of people living with incurable cancer, is a key component of achieving quality of life. My uncertain life has been bolstered and nurtured throughout it by having essential oils in it. Quite simply, they are an integral part of my self-care, which along with taking a daily cancer drug has enabled me to lead a good life whilst living with incurable cancer and the side effects of ongoing treatment. I have absolutely no control over what my cancer will do next, but I have absolute control over the choices that I make to enhance my wellbeing with the day-to-day use of essential oils. 

 The way in which therapeutic grade essential oils can support and enhance our mental wellbeing is well documented. What is less so, is how living with uncertainty and a life-limiting disease such as secondary breast cancer can be nurtured and supported with the use of essential oils. They are an integral part of my ability to live mindfully and in the present moment. Coupled with a daily mindfulness meditation practice, essential oils have provided a calming influence on my nervous system, helped to achieve an analgesic effect on painful joints, provided a much-needed boost to feelings of lethargy and cancer drug induced fatigue and so much more. 

My lived experience of the influence of essential oils

Synergistic use of a combination of three to four oils has worked well for me along with using individual oils. The world of aromatherapy advocates carefully selected blends of oils to help to achieve maximum therapeutic effect but in my experience, using oils singly can achieve positive results too. What is key to living well is the ability to make choices, and essential oils really do provide a wealth of choice and life-affirming benefits in the face of adversity and uncertainty.   

Essential oils for clarity

Living with the long-term uncertainty that accompanies a life-limiting disease has a detrimental impact on the nervous system. Our stress response is triggered encouraging our wandering mind to travel along the ‘what if’ path, as fear about what lies ahead for our wellbeing impinges on our ability to think clearly. Long-term exposure to cancer drugs can add to a decline in cognitive function leading to a loss of concentration, which in turn affects our ability to think clearly.

Rosemary, Lavender and Basil have all been proven to be extremely helpful to aid clarity of thought and to boost the nervous system. Regular use of a synergistic blend of all three, in either the bath, a diffuser and via inhalation from a tissue or inhaler, can really help to retain focus and improve concentration levels. This is particularly helpful during times when the challenge of living with side effects from ongoing treatment impacts on information retention, memory and clarity of thought. Each of these application methods has helped me enormously.

The uplifting properties of the citrus members of the Rutaceae family such as Lemon, Mandarin and Lime have each demonstrated their therapeutic ability to provide mental boosting too. Another personal favourite, is Frankincense with its clarity-enhancing and grey matter boosting properties, combined with the gentle stimulating effect on the nervous system of Sweet Orange.

Each of the nine oils mentioned above possess such a diverse range of benefits and of course, can be used for a variety of physical and emotional conditions but it’s their impact on my ability to think more clearly that has been so beneficial during times when living with a life-limiting disease has caused clouding and a feeling of fogginess in my brain.

Essential oils to reduce anxiety and tension

The challenges to our mental wellbeing from living with uncertainty can manifest themselves in high levels of anxiety and tension. Personal experience of crippling anxiety to the point of being unable to leave the house resulted in the diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder. Days filled with feelings of overwhelm were common during the early stages of my diagnosis. The ability of essential oils to reduce feelings of anxiety is a powerful therapeutic tool to have at our fingertips during difficult life circumstances.

Sweet Marjoram, Roman Chamomile and Geranium is a beautiful combination of oils that possesses the ability to embrace our mind and body with much needed doses of emotional kindness. Periods of self-doubt, internal negative self-talk and persistent rumination and thinking about what the future may hold, all combine to create mental anxiety that floods the body with adrenalin and cortisol. The hormone balancing properties of Geranium and Sweet Marjoram help to soften the impact of anxiety within the body and mind.  Combined with the tender and gentle effect of azulene in Roman Chamomile, these three oils are exquisite in the way in which they can counter the physical and mental impact of heightened levels of anxiety and tension. 

The pillars of mindfulness: self-compassion and self-kindness

A key part of living with a life-limiting disease is managing not only the physical impact of the disease but learning to live with the thought processes that accompany this kind of diagnosis. Cultivating the ability to live mindfully has been hugely beneficial. Neuroscience is now able to show us the impact on the brain of treating ourselves with the same kindness that we seem to be more readily able to show to others.  Becoming consumed and overwhelmed with a future, to which none of us holds the answer, is so debilitating and is accompanied by a lack of self-compassion that contributes to our experience of pain and discomfort in the body. Living presently and in the moment is a much more soothing space to inhabit. 

Essential oils provide a kind resource that can do so much to improve our day-to-day life. Moment to moment awareness is enhanced by the use of essential oils, encouraging us to pause in our day to inhale molecules of organic plant matter whose aromatic properties are filled with kindness. 

Manifestation of pain and loss

The manifestation of pain and loss can be both physical and mental. Long-term use of a cancer drug is keeping me alive but its physical and mental effect on my mind and body are not without side effects. Joint and muscular pain is a daily experience. It can be wearing, along with the grief for the loss of the pre-cancer version of me. 

To help with feelings of physical pain and emotional loss, we can be supported by the nurturing properties of essential oils. The analgesic effects on the skin of oils rich in terpenes, ketones or phenols such as Juniperberry, Tea Tree and Clove can be used to reduce the inflammation that accompanies a painful joint or muscle; emotional pain and loss can be soothed with Frankincense and Rose otto. Each of these oils has provided me with a sanctuary for my mind and body. Using them in massage blends, inhalations and for bathing, always adhering to safety guidelines for use, has created endless opportunities to be nurtured and nourished by nature’s therapeutic plant material. 

Living with uncertainty is hard. Living without essential oils in my life would make it harder. Oils and their unique qualities and composition can provide a lifetime of support. I am grateful for the therapeutic help I receive from them all. 

Please click here for advice on using essential oils safely and here for additional information on aromatherapy and cancer. 

Laura Ashurst
Consultant Aromatherapist