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5/5/2024

I've always had trouble sleeping.

Even when I was a little girl...I remember having nightmares. When I was seven, and we had just moved into a new house out in the middle of the desert in the boonies, I dreamed over and over for weeks of ants crawling all over my bed.

I'm sure part of this was due to an overactive imagination and a love of reading Grimm's Fairy Tales at too young of an age.

But my sleep--it's light, fitful, and prone to colorful dreams. Even (may especially) now that I'm an older lady.

If you or someone you know has sleeping problems or is a light sleeper, here are some tips for using essential oils to help. In fact, they're one of my favorite things to use (besides herbs) to help me get enough of that precious Z-time.

In fact, let's talk a little about the science of sleep, first, and I promise to make this science-y part quick.

The Stress Cycle and Sleep in a Nutshell:

1) When you have a stressful period, your body produces more cortisol. Too much cortisol in the body keeps you awake.

2) This means you have trouble sleeping.

3) A lack of sleep (especially "good" sleep) harms your entire system, especially your immune system---this makes you a target for illness.

4) AND of course you feel more tired. Feeling tired is stressful, especially if you have a difficult job or home life.

5) This exhaustion makes it super hard to deal with any additional stress in your life, which we always have, right?

6) Additional stress that's not dealt with well negatively impacts our ability to focus, our productivity, and even our self-control.

7) All of these things cause us even more stress, and this causes more cortisol outside of normal times and limits, and this causes....

8) Difficulty sleeping.

Essential Oils to the Rescue!

One of the areas in which aromatherapy absolutely SHINES is in stress management and relief. Using certain essential oils can elicit rather strong relaxation responses, and thank heavens we have this tool at our fingertips!

Essential oils are also complementary to other relaxation techniques including meditation, prayer, deep breathing, restorative exercise, warm baths, etc. This means essential oils can greatly enhance these other experiences.

Incorporating essential oils into your bedtime routine and having an easy essential oil plan for those times when you wake up and can't get back to sleep is a REALLY good idea. Ask me how I know!

By choosing essential oils that are relaxing and even sedative in nature, we can train our minds to start associating these pleasant scents with rest. This training cues our mind to begin the relaxation response, and powers up the actual physical effects of the essential oils.

Why Do Essential Oils Work for Sleep?

1) Physiological Effects:

The chemical makeup of essential oils have various physiological effects on the body. For example, essential oils rich in ester alcohols (such as linalyl acetate found in lavender and others) are well known for their sedating properties that have a direct and clinically proven effect on the nervous system.

Ester-rich essential oils include lavender, bergamot, black spruce, clary sage, tsuga, valerian, and spikenard.

Some essential oils increase the activity of the parasympathetic nervous system, helping to lower heart rate and blood pressure while increasing heart rate variability. These can then help increase and enhance deep sleep, the restorative period of the sleep cycle.

2) Psychological Effects:

There's a direct connection between the olfactory (scent) system and our limbic (emotional) system in our brains. Scent is more powerful to our survival and well-being than most people realize. In fact, some scientists believe it's more powerful than our sight.

When we smell a pure essential oil that we find pleasant or have happy memories of, it can immediately shift our mood upward and depending on the scent, induce a relaxation response in our mind-body.

The truth is, when you can relax your mind, your body can then relax.

My Favorite Essential Oils to Support Sleep:

1) Lavender: One of the most popular essential oils for supporting the nervous system and improving sleep quality. Heavily studied, it's been scientifically proven over and over and over again to be effective.

2) Roman Chamomile: This is one of my favorites to work with in conjunction with lavender and tangerine for children. Adults usually like it too. It has an "apple-honey" aroma and calms an overactive mind.

3) Black Spruce (or other evergreen essential oils high in alpha-pinene): alpha-pinene has also been clinically studied and shown to support healthy sleep. It's also very helpful for the respiratory system and supports release of upset emotions that won't go away.

4) Sweet Marjoram: Sweet marjoram is a sedating essential oil and is another of my favorites to work with. It's a star in my Calm Heart blend (which I also use for maintaining healthy blood pressure in times of stress as needed). Clinically studied in this blend, it's just wonderful. Sweet marjoram is also an anti-spasmodic essential oil and may help with RLS (Restless Leg Syndrome) which tends to rear its ugly head at night.

5) Tangerine/Mandarin: Containing both esters and aldehydes, these citrus oils are also mildly sedating and calming to the nervous system. **Some aromatherapists differentiate between them. Others say they're the same plant. I'm in the latter camp.

6) Clary Sage: If you're peri-menopausal, menopausal, or post-menopausal...clary sage just might become your favorite essential oil. Besides its ability to support hormone balance, clary sage is known for its relaxing qualities.

7) Patchouli: Patchouli grounds and relaxes the mind, helps your body release tension, and its scent is sweet and peaceful for many.

Ways to Use Essential Oils to Sleep:

1) Inhalation: Directly inhaling or diffusing essential oils of choice is a great way to start taking advantage of their relaxing benefits. In fact, I keep a little bottle of spikenard next to my bedside or a blend with sweet marjoram, clary sage, spikenard, and tangerine which I inhale deeply through each nostril 3-4 times.

2) Topical Use: Another tip I use myself is after I take a warm shower, I keep an unscented lotion base near the shower. I drop a few drops of essential oils into it, combine well, and slather all over my body. (A 1% dilution is best for all over body use.) Or, you can be smarter than me and just make up a bunch of your own scented lotion at a 1% dilution and have it be ready to go.

3) Dream Pillows: I LOVE these. They are so effective...and they make the cutest gifts. You can see how to make one here: Dream Pillows and why they work. You can also spritz or apply a few drops to your pillow directly.

4) Linen spray: Use this to spritz onto your sheets and pillow. Find out how to make a safe and effective linen spray here.​

5) Cupping: This is my favorite method for when I wake up in the middle of the night and toss and turn. I add a couple of drops of essential oil to my palms, rub them together (and perhaps pat them on the back of my neck), then I cup them over my nostrils and breathe deeply several times. Then I say a prayer of thanks for the knowledge of these lovely scents....and fall back to sleep.

That's it for this Scentsational Sunday's tips! I hope you get some great sleep.

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​Take a look at our new school site! We're still fixing a few bugs, and when everything is 100%, we're planning a huge Grand Opening. In the meantime, enjoy some special perks like this one!

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​And check out our latest video on YouTube!​

Last Wednesday, you learned about cleavers. If you missed that note, you can watch me make some Cleavers Vinegar and learn what this amazing little common weed can do for your body. It's great for kids too!

Hugs, Health, and Herbs,

Heidi

P.S. Please forward this note along to someone who might enjoy it, as sharing is caring.

"Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever." ----Psalm 118:1

And PTL! God is SO good. All the time.

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