Sleep, Why Won’t You Come to Me?
There’s nothing I hate more than laying in bed at night and staring at the ceiling waiting for sleep to come. Have you ever wondered what essential oils are good for sleep? Have you ever wondered HOW essential oils help you to sleep? It’s something I wondered right off the bat. The idea that smelling something could help me sleep better was foreign to me.
Essential oils have piqued my interest lately. Since I was a teenager, I’ve been fascinated by folk remedies. My family were my test subjects because I liked to try them out to see if they worked. I’d never heard of effective natural sleep remedies that involved smell alone, so naturally I wanted to give essential oils a try to see if it helped my insomnia.
Essential oils work by stimulating various parts of the brain. When you inhale essential oils that are used for sleep, rest, etc., those smell molecules (my scientific term 🙂 ) alter your brain’s physiology and behavior.
But what essential oils will make you drowsy, reduce stress, calm your mind and make you sleep like a baby?
In a hurry?
Here is a shopping list of my favorite essential oils for insomnia ===>
What Essential Oils are Good for Sleep and Relaxation?
I admit, I knew absolutely nothing about essential oils before I started using them to help me sleep. I started off using a premade sleep blend, but I eventually realized it was better to make my own sleep blend recipes.
Even if you were like me and had no clue about essential oils and aromatherapy, most people know lavender is associated with relaxation and stress relief, and it’s extremely effective. It’s the first one I thought of.
But what essential oils are good for sleep besides lavender? There’s many quality essential oils for sleeping that’s just as effective, if not more effective, than lavender. You can even mix different them and create essential oil sleep recipes, too.
These are my top six essential oils for sleep I prefer to use. You can use them topically, but I recommend you use a small, quiet essential oil diffuser, placed beside your bed for best results.
====> I use this diffuser in my room.
Aroma Essential Oil Diffuser
Ultrasonic Wood Grain Oil DiffuserUltrasonic Aroma Diffuser Essential Oils Cool Mist
&Improve Sleep Quality with Valerian Essential Oil
Wake Up Feeling Tired? Improve Sleep Quality with Valerian Essential Oil
Valerian 100% Pure, Best Therapeutic Grade Essential Oil
Valerian essential oil is a sleep powerhouse. Valerian’s main active compound, valerenic acid, has sedative properties. It’s known to help you fall asleep quickly, promote a more peaceful sleep, and stay asleep longer without sleep interruptions.
So no staring at the ceiling waiting to fall asleep, or waking up in the middle of the night. Yay!
This is truly the only way I can take Valerian to sleep better at night. I can’t stand the taste of it in tea form, and I can still taste its overpowering flavor when I take it in capsule form. But used aromatically, I’ve found Valerian essential oil is effective and, more importantly, enjoyable.
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Mind Race at Night? Calm your Mind and Nerves with Roman Chamomile Essential Oil
Roman Chamomile Essential Oil Ultra-Premium 100% Pure Therapeutic Grade
Using chamomile for sleep is no surprise. It’s almost kind of cliche to see people on TV and movies drinking chamomile tea for sleeplessness.
But I can’t stand the taste of chamomile tea either. Luckily, for me, I’ve found that Roman Chamomile essential oil is just as powerful as chamomile tea. And smells a lot better than it tastes.
Does your mind go ninety miles a minute at night and keep you awake? That’s often what keeps me up at night. Chamomile can help calm a racing mind and nerves, and bring about a peaceful feeling.
Chamomile can also have a sedative effect and relaxes nerves and muscles, which helps you fall asleep faster.
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Stressed and Can’t Sleep? Relax with Ylang-Ylang Essential Oil
Ylang Ylang Complete Essential Oil. 10 ml. 100% Pure, Undiluted, Therapeutic Grade.
Using ylang-ylang for sleep is no surprise. because its properties promote an overall relaxed feeling and sense of calm.
If you’re a stressed out bundle of nerves, you might find this oil helpful because ylang-ylang calms stress and frazzled nerves. I admit, stressing about stuff keeps me awake at night, too. And when it does, I add a few drops of ylang ylang to my bedside essential oil diffuser.
Ylang-ylang has a definite floral scent, but not overpowering. I’m very sensitive to strong smells, and I find ylang-ylang a flowery smell I can tolerate.
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Waking Up in the Middle of the Night? Try Bergamot Essential Oil
Bergamot – 100% Pure, Best Therapeutic Grade Essential Oil
Bergamot is known for increasing the time you’re in deep REM sleep, and for relaxing your muscles.
Some nights I fall asleep quick, only to wake up in the middle of the night and never fall back asleep. I get up in the morning feeling like a zombie because I’ve been awake since 4 a.m. But I’ve recently started using bergamot for sleep, and I’ve really noticed a difference.
One of the reasons bergamot oil is my favorite (not just because it works so well) is because it smells just like oranges. I really love citrus smells because it makes things smell so clean. Now if I could just figure out how it could be as clean as it smells when I wake up in the morning! 🙂
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Tossing and Turning at night? Get Drowsy with Marjoram Essential Oil
Sweet Marjoram 100% Pure Therapeutic Grade Essential Oil by Edens Garden
Every once in a while I have the type of night where I can’t get comfortable. My pillow feels like a rock, my bed feels like a rock, and I’m not even sleepy and all I do is toss and turn. Then I’m one big cranky mess the next day.
Marjoram is a spice I cook with, but I was surprised to learn marjoram is more powerful as a sleep aid than lavender.
So on nights when I get the tossing and turnings, I put a few drops of marjoram essential oil in my diffuser. Marjoram relaxes muscles and acts as a sedative, so it doesn’t take long before I’m knocked out like a light.
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Get to a Deep Sleep Faster with Sandalwood Essential Oil
Sandalwood (Australian) (Large 4 ounce) Best Essential Oil
Most women go for fruity floral smells, but I love deep earthy masculine aromas like sandalwood. But sandalwood is so much more than a pretty smell.
You know that getting to the REM sleep stage is a must for getting a good night’s sleep, right? Sandalwood decreases the time spent waiting to fall asleep and improves REM sleep. And more REM sleep means a bright eyed and bushy tailed me and you in the mornings.
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So What Essential Oils are Good for Sleep for You?
Essential oils are a personal thing. They may be effective in helping you get some zzz’s, but you may not like the smell. And that’s okay, we all like different things. Just try other essential oils for a good night’s sleep until you find one that smells (and works) for you.
Plus, don’t be afraid to mix these together. Add a couple of drops of different essential oils to make your own personalized essential oil sleep recipe and add them to your diffuser or in DIY sleep balm.
Would you like to learn more about sleep promoting essential oils?
The Insomniac’s Essential Oil Guidebook covers 18 essential oils that are known to help sleeplessness, restlessness, racing thoughts, etc., PLUS explains the best way to use each of them. As a bonus, there’s also 40+ easy to follow essential oil recipes to help you drift of to dreamland!
Just wondering……does valerian oil give nightmares? I have used valerian in supplement form and experience nightmares with it. As much as I would like to try the oil, I hate the thought of nightmares. This of course creates more stress when I wake up in a cold sweat due to a nightmare.
I think it might be worth a try to give the valerian oil a shot. You’re not taking anything internally like you would be with supplements and teas, so maybe it would work for you.