📅  14 July 2025

Essential oils to help you get some rest

If you struggle to fall asleep or feel restless, wake up feeling unrested, essential oils could help have a better sleep.Your nervous system is to blame and needs calming down. Sleep is the foundation of your metabolic health, brain function, and immune resilience.  Yet we occasionally all lay down and can feel exhausted of a brain that is not willing to power down, it’s a nervous system that is in overdrive.

Your body is wired to respond to signals of safety before it rests. One of the most powerful ways to send those signals is through scent. The moment you inhale the right aroma, it travels through the olfactory nerve directly to your brain’s emotional command centre – the amygdala. This bypasses logic and cuts straight to your biology, shifting you out of fight or flight mode and into rest and anti-digest.

This isn’t about burning candles or synthetic chemicals, which are not recommended at all, to hide bad smells. It’s about using precise plant based compounds that actively change your body’s stress response. Ancient cultures knew this instinctively, using sacred oils, like frankincense and chamomile to support deep rest and healing.

Today researchers are identifying exactly how those oils affect your sleep hormones, blood pressure, and brain wave patterns, validating what traditional healers practiced for centuries. If you’re looking for a natural way to fall asleep, understanding how specific oils work, and how to use them properly, could change everything.

Some oils that help are:

For emotional overwhelm, are Frankincense, and hormonal imbalances Clary Sage.

Lavender stands out for its consistent sleep promoting effect.

Chamomile and Cedar wood bring emotional comfort and hormonal support.

Clary sage and Marjoram are helpful for stubborn sleep issues.

Vetiver also works like a natural sedative and is very grounding.

Neroli provides emotional uplift for nights when your mind wont settle, often called the rescue oil.

Mandarin oil is one of the safest oils for children and adults with sensory sensitivity.

Jasmin oil has shown in studies that it is stronger then valium in clinical studies.

Sandalwood lowers blood pressure and helps the body relax more deeply.

And sometimes a personal scent can do the trick and brings back comforting memories.

Cedar wood, Cypress oil and Bergamot were used in a hospital and on pillows to promote sleep, and deeper rest, for better sleep quality.

Some oils can wake you up and are better for daytime and focusing, like Rosemary and Peppermint oil, for a clear head and refreshed feeling.

Stick with using an oil for at least a week, don’t rotate every night. But use them in different ways, bathing, on pulse points, on your pillow, diffusing, …

Have a good night sleep !

Sofie