What are the best essential oils for sleep?

A lot of the time, people tend to forget about the power of scents in helping them to get a better, more rejuvenating sleep. In truth, some of the best essential oils can be introduced to a before-bed routine to help you get into a more relaxing state of mind and enjoy a fuller night’s sleep.

Some of the best essential oils for sleep can help relax both the body and the mind so that you wake up feeling more rejuvenated. Sleepless nights are no fun for anyone, and even if you do get to sleep, you might not wake up feeling fully rested.

However, when you’re looking for the best essential oils to help you get to sleep, it can sometimes be a little overwhelming. There’s a wide variety of choices out there, and some that may be helpful for sleep may still not qualify as the most effective choice.

Therefore, trying to find the best essential oils for sleep can feel impossible, especially if you are a total greenhorn when it comes to this type of therapy. Below, we’ll take a look at what the best essential oils for sleep are and why they work so well.

The way the smell affects your mind and body

A woman in a hat holding a flower up to a man's nose who is sniffing it.
The pleasant aromas of essential oils are great for helping you sleep.

Have you ever smelt a certain aroma that reminded you of a memory or transported you to another place and time? Maybe the smell of a certain flower your mother had in her garden reminds you of her, or perhaps the smell of glue reminds you of building models as a child.

The best essential oils are often responsible for giving us aromas that remind us of pleasant memories. This is why certain aromas from these products can make us feel happy and take us back to a pleasant memory.

Our olfactory system is connected to our brain, and therefore we connect memories with what we experience through it, just as we would with our other senses. When we process information about scents, the information goes to our limbic area of the brain, where memory and emotional reactions are handled.

The best essential oils are so effective because they play on one of the strongest senses; smell. The information we gather from our olfactory system goes through our brain and activates our memories, provoking an emotional response. Because of the amazing speed of these connections, we experience these emotional responses before we even know what they are.

The best essential oils to help you get to sleep

Lavender

Lavender on a table with gems and bowls and a box of essential oil bottles.
Lavender is an essential oil known for helping with sleep and relaxation.

One of the best essential oils for sleep has to be lavender. It’s easily one of the most widespread for anyone seeking sleep and relaxation benefits. It is normally the first thing people try when they want to leverage aromatherapy to help them get a night of better sleep.

Lavender is known for being associated as a natural anxiety remedy as well as being helpful for sleep and relaxation. The smell it has is very soothing, and this is one of the best essential oils that you will find out there.

Because of its popularity, lavender is also the most studied of all the essential oils out there. It has been associated with many benefits, but not all of the research is conclusive. All we know for sure is that lavender has been used for a long time as something that can help people with sleep and relaxation.

Ideally, using lavender will increase the quality and amount of sleep that you get. This is why lavender is undoubtedly one of the best essential oils for sleep.

Vanilla

Two vanilla beans on a white background.
Vanilla essential oil has a sweet and appealing scent.

Vanilla is a very popular cooking ingredient because of its sweet and highly appealing scent. However, it also has a reputation for being used in assisting people in enjoying better sleep and relaxation. It is known to have some effects on the body that help to calm things down and reduce restlessness.

Vanilla is one of the best essential oils to help you get to sleep as well as ensure you wake up in a better mood. If you are looking to get a night of great sleep and a great start to the next day, then this is certainly a great option for you.

Geranium and Rose

A bottle of essential oil in a bowl of rose petals.
Geranium and rose essential oils can reduce anxiety and stress levels.

This pair is known for having similar scents and are both some of the best essential oils to help reduce anxiety and stress levels. They work great in combination with some of the other best essential oils, and they are a great alternative to valerian if you don’t like the smell of it.

Jasmine

A bunch of white jasmine flowers with green leaves.
Jasmine essential oil can reduce restlessness.

Jasmine is known for having a floral scent that is very sweet and is another one of the best essential oils for helping you to get to sleep. It can help to reduce the amount of restlessness you experience and help you to be more alert in the daytime after you wake up.

Sandalwood

Hand holding a small bottle of sandalwood essential oil.
The earthy scent of sandalwood essential oil can help reduce anxiety.

Sandalwood is another one of the best essential oils for sleep and is famous for its earthy, woody scent that’s been associated for a long time with relaxation and the reduction of anxiety. For some people, sandalwood can actually make them feel more awake and alert. In contrast, for others, it’s very relaxing, so it will take some experimentation to know whether or not it is an ideal option that you can make use of to help you get to sleep.

Everyone tends to have different reactions to scents, and you need to find what works for you. While some are considered better for specific goals, they are versatile and can invoke different feelings for different people.

Finding the best essential oils for sleep

Now that you have a better idea about the best essential oils that can help you get to sleep; you will probably be seeking a means of obtaining them. Luckily, there is no shortage of options out there for you when it comes to stores selling extracts of lavender, sandalwood, geranium, and more.

Search the web

Woman sitting on the floor with her laptop on the table browsing essential oils for sleep.
Browsing the web is a good place to start to find essential oils.

Jump onto your preferred search browser and perform a search for the best essential oils. You will be shown an almost endless array of results, and the most relevant ones will appear first, making it easy for you to find and compare the offers from different stores.

Browse the range

Browse the range of products on the website you visit and try to locate one of the extracts for sleep that we’ve listed above. Use the search functionality on the website and filter the number of options on the screen so that you can find what you are looking for.

Make your selection and wait for delivery

The beauty of online shopping means that you can get the best essential oils for sleep delivered straight to your front door. Just place your order in the cart and hit the buy button. Ideally, the online store that you go with will have a good website and payment security system in place so that your credit card information is secure.

Conclusion

A woman asleep in bed from essential oils.
Essential oils are a great thing to try to help you get a better sleep.

Hopefully, the information above regarding the best essential oils for sleep is going to be able to help you in getting a good rest at night and waking up energised for the next day.

Cooper Harry
Cooper Harry
Cooper Harry is Lita’s reporter based in Adelaide. Before joining the LM, Cooper reported on personal career issues for local Adelaide news sites and also for TBD. He’s the author of a non-fiction book, Aran Condition: How Baseball Cards Became Your Obsession, and his stories have appeared in The National, The Ages, and Outside. He’s won the Award for Young Journalists in 2017.

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