Sleep is vital for every person and has a tremendous impact on health and quality of life. Yet, still, most of us do not get enough of it. Sleep may impact: brain function, emotional well being, blood sugar, hormone balance, growth, and immune system health. The right amount of sleep may also lower your risk for a variety of serious health problems, including heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, depression, and stroke. So how do we improve sleep? First, sleep habits are important. One thing that you should do if you are having trouble with sleep is build more consistent, healthy habits around bedtime. This includes going to bed within an hour of a consistent time, keeping the optimal sleep environment, and avoiding nicotine and caffeine.
When this isn’t enough, essential oils can help support in a variety of ways. There are a few important things to consider with using essential oils for this specific purpose. First, essential oils used to support rest and relaxation should smell appealing to the individual using them. Most of us know from experience that it can be very difficult to relax around an unpleasant smell. When using essential oils for aromatherapy, it isn’t often that smell takes such a high priority, but in the case of sleep, smell is of great importance. Another consideration is that some of the same essential oils that can be relaxing also become stimulating if using too many drops (remember, just a few drops). And, of course, you need a high quality essential oil, not just a fragrance!
Additionally, complicating the use of essential oils for sleep, is that there are a variety of way to support sleep: including falling asleep, staying asleep, and staying calm and centered during a busy day. There also needs to be careful consideration needed for the method of using oils. For example, you can make a bath salt, a linen spray, a body butter, a massage oil, an inhaler, or a diffuser blend for sleep. Each has specific reasons and functions just a little bit differently for the user. A bath salt may help a person calm after a long busy day and help aid someone who has a hard time falling asleep. Linen sprays would have a similar effect, but the scent would remain while the person drifted to sleep. A body butter or massage oil would help with physical tension as well as soothing and comforting. An inhaler may help a person fall asleep or be useful for a person who wakes in order to support them to quickly fall asleep again. And a diffuser blend would fill the room with a scent as the person drifted to sleep. Sometimes, sleep issues are quite complicated and require a combination of methods in order to succeed in supporting a person to fall asleep, stay asleep, and reduce overall stress.
So how does a person decide what to try? Start by thinking about your own sleep. What part of sleep is the biggest struggle for you? Is it dealing with a stressful day? Perhaps try a bath salt, linen spray, or diffuser blend with some calming essential oils that smell appealing to you. A body butter would also be useful in the situation when your body might be holding on to tension. Is it waking up in the middle of the night? Try using an essential oil inhaler that you keep on your nightstand to help support you as you fall back asleep. Do you have trouble shutting off your brain and overthinking things at night? Try anything with Marjoram Essential Oil to help you relax and avoid this overthinking trap. Check out these other posts with recipes for rest, relaxation and sleep.
Recipes for Rest, Relaxation, and Sleep
- Bath Salts for Rest, Relaxation, and Sleep
- Linen Sprays for Rest, Relaxation, and Sleep
- Body Butters for Rest, Relaxation, and Sleep
- Massage Oils for Rest, Relaxation, and Sleep
- Roller Bottles for Rest, Relaxation, and Sleep
- Inhalers for Rest, Relaxation, and Sleep
- Diffuser Blends for Rest, Relaxation, and Sleep