Balancing the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) with Essential Oils

The autonomic nervous system (ANS) controls many of the functions your body manages automatically—heart rate, digestion, breathing, and stress responses.

It has two primary branches:

• Sympathetic nervous system – the fight-or-flight response

• Parasympathetic nervous system – the rest-and-digest response

For optimal health—especially digestive health and emotional balance—we want these two systems working in harmony. Essential oils can be one way to support this regulation, but the oils used should match the current state of the nervous system.

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