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Cypress essential oil.

One sniff and you can understand why people use it to clear their airways.

One drop to the skin and you can understand why people use it to relax muscle cramps.

It feels icy.

That minty cooling effect feels good on the skin and in your lungs.

Some quick research points to some of the benefits of cypress essential oil.

 

Cypress essential oil packages up some of the magic of the forest in a bottle.

Dr. Qing Li used Hinoki cypress essential oil when he performed some of his forest bathing medical research. If you haven’t met him yet, Dr. Qing Li is THE leading researcher on shinrin-yoku in the world. If there’s a forest bathing study, Dr. Li was probably involved.

So, as you can imagine, there’s something to cypress, or the forest in general.

 

Benefits of cypress essential oil:

• Respiratory support
• Promotes calm energy
• Antibacterial and antiseptic
• Immune support

 

Respiratory support

If you’ve ever breathed cypress essential oil in, you’ve experienced the invigorating effect it has on your lungs. You can feel it floating around in your lungs.

It’s great for breaking up coughs and congestion when you have a cold.

It also helps you take big, deep, cleansing breaths. You almost feel like you can take deeper breaths when you inhale it. It feels like it cools and expands your lungs.

 

Energized calm

Cypress oil is also calming and energizing at the same time, so it’s perfect for mental clarity. It’s both invigorating and relaxing. If you’re working on a big project at your job, for example, take a quick breathing break to breathe the oils in and notice how it helps you transition from a distracted frenzy to a calm focus.

 

Antibacterial and antiseptic

With its antibacterial and deodorizing properties, cypress essential oil is perfect for freshening up your feet and armpits when diluted with a carrier oil. It helps heal wounds and prevent infections elsewhere on your skin too.

 

Immune support

Cypress essential oils contain phytoncides. Phytoncides are the oils that the trees disperse into the air in the forest. Dr. Qing Li’s research uncovered that it’s these phytoncides that provide a major boost to the immune system. They also lower your stress response. Winning!

 

I got some cypress essential oil with June’s forest bathing Go Love Yourself Box, which btw I contributed to (the workbook features snippets from our Forest Bathing Immersion Library), so I thought I’d put it to good use with a mindfulness meditation.

If you’re wondering what to do with cypress essential oil, this is a good place to start.

And I’m sharing it here so you can try it too!

 

 

Cypress oil mindfulness meditation

Since cypress has a pine-y, earthy smell and comes directly from the forest, it’s perfect for a forest bathing meditation, no?

It’s even a great way to practice forest bathing when you can’t make it to the actual forest. Since the essential oil contains the same phytoncides you find in the forest, it proves effective too!

Finally, this meditation is the perfect “Threshold Exercise,” or a practice to help you transition from your normal everyday routine into your forest bathing practice. It slows and deepens your breathing, it refocuses your attention on the present moment, and it changes your mood.

You never want to go straight from the office into the forest without leaving your baggage and distractions at the entrance. 

BTW, if you don’t have cypress essential oil, you could use a pine, spruce, peppermint, or another minty oil. I suppose you could even use peppermint tea if you have no oils available;)

 

Without further ado, here’s your Cypress Essential Oil Mindfulness Meditation.

 

Take a moment afterward to gauge how the meditation made you feel. Then, come back here and share in the comments.