Using essential oils for sleep is one of best ways to ensure a calm, restful sleep every night.
So many people struggle with insomnia nowadays. For me personally, I am constantly on the lookout for the best essential oils to help with my overall health.
I’ve noticed through some research (and trial and error) there are some amazing essential oils out there for a good night’s rest.
For improved sleep that doesn’t involve over the counter medicine, test out these oils. You will most likely be pleasantly surprised (and it doesn’t hurt that these smell amazing!)
How Essential Oils For Sleep Work
The aromas from essential oils stimulate your olfactory system.
The olfactory system is also known as your sense of smell.
When sleep promoting essential oils stimulate your olfactory system, your brain responds by inducing sleep.
Your brain promotes sleep in a few different ways including:
- •Promoting calmness
- •Relaxing your muscles
- •Clearing airways
- •Increasing blood melatonin
Each of these activities promotes both falling and staying asleep.
Inhaling the scent of sleep promoting essential oils directly stimulates your brain and leads to better sleep.
How to Use Essential Oils For Sleep
There are a few different ways you can use aromatherapy with essential oils for a better sleep.
You can try these out right before bed for the greatest effect.
A trick that seems to be working for me most nights is filling up a warm bath and using a few drops of peppermint and lavender oils.
The most popular methods include:
- •Directly inhaling. Place the bottle in front of your nose and take a few deep breaths.
- •Diffusing. Turn on the diffuser before bed and let the aroma fill your room.
- •Bathing with oils. Add 5 to 10 drops of essential oils to your bathtub and inhale the aroma. (Ensure that the oils do not irritate your skin by adding at least 2 tablespoons of coconut oil to the water.)
Something to remember when using essential oils:
Make sure you enjoy the smell! If the scent turns you off then it will most likely have the opposite effect and keep you awake.
Test these oils out before settling down to bed so you know which ones you’ll enjoy.
1. Sandalwood Oil
Sandalwood has a woody, earth scent.
It helps to promote sleep as well as relieving stress and anxiety.
Sandalwood oil has sedative properties which help promote sleep.
Some of its sedative properties include:
- 1. Reducing wakefulness
- 2. Increasing time in non-REM sleep
Sandalwood essential oil works differently than other sleep promoting essential oils.
Rather than using the olfactory system, it uses the circulatory system.
When you breath in the oil, it gets absorbed into the blood and gets circulated throughout your body.
Circulating throughout your body, the oil depresses your central nervous system.
This causes you to fall asleep and increase your time sleeping.
2. Lavender Oil
Lavender oil is the most popular essential oil for sleep. Most people enjoy the smell, which is likely why it works so well.
In addition to the traditional essential oil, it commonly comes in the form of room sprays and bath products.
Lavender oil helps promote relaxation before bed. It does this in a couple of ways including:
- •Reducing heart rate
- •Relaxing muscles
- •Increasing melatonin
Melatonin is a hormone that controls your sleep cycle.
The more you have of it at night, the easier and better your sleep will be.
Inhaling the aroma of lavender essential oils increases the amount of melatonin in your blood.
You have a better sleep at night after smelling lavender.
3. Chamomile Oil
Drinking chamomile tea or using chamomile for aromatherapy before bed promotes sleep.
This is because chamomile contains apigenin.
Apigenin is an antioxidant that helps improve sleep.
Some of the ways it improves sleep include:
- •Reducing insomnia
- •Decreasing anxiety
- •Promoting sleepiness
If you’re not a fan of drinking tea, then try diffusing chamomile essential oil before bed instead.
4. Peppermint Oil
Peppermint oil could help your sleep by clearing out your airways.
The oil contains properties that help clear out your nasal passageways.
If these passageways are clogged at night, you could experience loss of sleep from:
- •Snoring
- •Sleep apnea
- •Congestion pain
If you have a hard time sleeping at night due to congestion from allergies, peppermint oil could help you.
Be careful about using peppermint oil right before bed.
It could actually keep you awake rather than helping you to fall asleep.
Instead, take it a couple of hours before going to bed at night for the best results.
5. Valerian Oil
Valerian oil comes from the valerian plant.
It is native to Asia and parts of Europe where people have been using it for centuries.
The oil promotes sleep by preventing the breakdown of GABA neurotransmitters.
GABA helps promote sleep by relaxing the body and mind. If it is broken down too fast, you won’t fall asleep or stay asleep as well.
But taking valerian oil prevents the breaking down of GABA so you are able to sleep better.
Additionally, valerian oil also reduces anxiety which could further promote better sleep.
6. Neroli Oil
The sweet, citrus smell of neroli makes it stand out from the other essential oils for sleep.
While the others tend to be more soothing, neroli oil smells like fresh oranges with a kick of spice.
Some of the ways that neroli oil promotes sleep include:
- •Reducing blood pressure
- •Relieving negative emotions
- •Reducing insomnia
Also, it is very unique because it contains hypnotic-like properties. These hypnotic properties can induce lucid dreams while you sleep.
7. Sage Oil
Sage oil promotes sleep by reducing stress.
By reducing levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, better sleep is promoted.
In one study, women experiencing depression inhaled sage essential oil.
As a result, their cortisol levels decreased.
Another group of women who didn’t inhale the essential oil didn’t have decreased cortisol. Also, women who’s cortisol levels decreased reported feeling less depressed.
Sage oil prepares your body for sleep by reducing stress.
It can also be beneficial to you if you experience depression or overall a lot of stress.
8. Lemongrass Oil
Lastly, lemongrass oil promotes sleep because it contains eugenol.
Eugenol is a compound that releases serotonin, a sleep-regulating hormone.
When serotonin is released, it directly promotes overall better sleep. It also indirectly promotes sleep by:
- •Boosting positive feelings
- •Stabilizing your mood
- •Making you feel happy
Both the direct and indirect sleep promoting properties of lemongrass oil make it great to take right before bed or for other times when you’re feeling down.
Final Note
You will have your own preference for essential oils. These are the best ones to help you fall asleep, but feel free to mix them together to create a smell you love.
And there’s multiple ways of using essential oils, you could even put minimal drops in your bath to give you calming effects without the smell overpowering your senses.
