It seems like everyone is dealing with a ton of stress these days. Stress is harmful to both our physical and mental health and needs to be properly managed, but how can we do that? It turns out that using aromatherapy through essential oils is an effective and natural way to achieve the stress relief you need to support your well-being and get that good night’s sleep (finally!) 

Why Use Essential Oils?

Before we get into the nitty gritty on some of the benefits of essential oils, we should probably talk about what they are and why you should even use them in the first place! Essential oils are compounds that are extracted from plants in order the essence, including helpful properties and the specific aroma from that plant. These substances can have positive physical and mental effects in just a few drops, but how?

Scent is one of our 5 senses that is able to impact your brain through the olfactory system. This system has a nerve that runs from the nose to the brain, sending signals to parts of the brain that are in charge of emotions, mood, and memory. These brain parts also influence the autonomic nervous system that leads to physical changes! Meaning aromatherapy with essential oils through inhalation, diffusing, and more can lead to physical and emotional changes in your body. Wow!

All in all, using certain essential oils can be a natural remedy to boost your wellness and provide a nice calming effect to relieve symptoms of stress, and help you drift off to sleep at night.

What Are the Best Aromatherapy Essential Oils for Stress Relief and Sleep?

Clearly, using aromatherapy through essential oils can benefit your health and upgrade your self-care routine. That being said, not all essential oils have the same benefits to help relieve stress and support sleep, so knowing which ones to use if key!

Here are some of the best essential oils for stress relief and sleep that you definitely need in your arsenal:

• Jasmine Essential Oil: Just like how jasmine tea can be calming, jasmine essential oil can have the same effect! This floral scent is very relaxing, helping to relieve stress and drift you off to sleep. Other benefits of jasmine essential oil are that it can help nourish your skin, soothe muscle soreness, and help you breathe easier.  
• Rose Otto Essential Oil: If you love floral scents and need to relax, rose otto essential oil is a great option! This essential oil may help to soothe symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression, as well as help to alleviate physical maladies such as headaches. Plus, WOW's rose otto essential oil is a skin-safe blend with 100% pure jojoba oil to make it affordable and accessible -- how's that for stress relief?
• Lavender Essential Oil: Lavender essential oil has a reputation for being one of the best essential oils to help you calm down and relax -- making it great for stress relief and sleep! Not only that, but it’s also a natural disinfectant. 

• Geranium Essential Oil: Continuing with the floral scents, geranium essential oil is another essential oil staple. Like the other floral essential oils, geranium essential oil is known to boost your state of mindfulness by alleviating stress symptoms and calming your nerves. 
• Ylang Ylang Essential Oil: A floral favorite, ylang ylang essential oil is another option that works for sleep and stress relief! Ylang ylang essential oil has added benefits that can also help soothe both external and internal inflammation, and beauty benefits like nourishing dry, irritated hair and scalp. 
• Bergamot Essential Oil: Moving on from the floral aromas, bergamot has a sweet, citrusy, and punchy aroma that stimulates to relieve your stress points. From there, you can relax and drift off to sleep! 
• Lemon Essential Oil: The fresh and clean scent of lemon essential oil has been known to improve mood, relieve stress, combat symptoms of depression, and promote sleep. With those bad thoughts out of your head, you can relax your mind and your body to quickly fall asleep.  
• Sweet Orange Essential Oil: Another citrusy scent that can help with stress and sleep is sweet orange essential oil. This essential oil is extremely effective in countering symptoms of anxiety and stress that can leave you tossing and turning all night long. In addition to these benefits, sweet orange essential oil can also help with pain relief, digestion, immune support, and common cold symptoms! 

The Best Ways To Use Aromatherapy Essential Oils for Stress Relief and Sleep

Just as there are many different types of essential oils to choose from, there are also many different ways to use them! Here are some of the best ways to use aromatherapy essential oils so that you can easily incorporate into your daily routine to achieve long-term stress relief and better sleep:

• Diffuse: The first way that you can use aromatherapy essential oils for stress relief and sleep involves using an oil diffuser. A diffuser allows the amazing aroma of the oils to fill the entire room! Just add a few drops of your favorite oil (or even essential oil blend!), turn the device on, sit back, and relaaaax.
• Skin-safe massage: Another way that you can use aromatherapy essential oils for stress relief and sleep involves diluting the pure essential oil with a carrier oil or lotion so that you end up with a massage oil/cream that can be applied directly to your skin. Some essential oils are already diluted and are skin-safe like our rose essential oil, so be sure to double-check beforehand. Once diluted, you can gently massage the oil onto your skin in circular motions and onto pulse points for both physical and mental benefits! 
• Relaxing Bath: There’s nothing more relaxing than a nice warm bath, so adding essential oils to the mix can really take it up a notch to help you get de-stressed and ready for bed. All you have to do is add a few drops of your favorite relaxing essential oil to your bathwater and enjoy before bedtime. 

Conclusion

With these great essential oils from WOW Skin Science, you don't need to be an aromatherapist to find complementary oils for a good night’s sleep no matter how stressed you are from the day’s events. All you need to do is find your favorite relaxing scent, add a few drops to your diffuser, and drift off to sleep. 

Sources:

1. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/urban-survival/201604/six-aromatherapy-essential-oils-stress-relief-and-sleep
2. https://www.healthline.com/health/ylang-ylang
3. https://thesleepdoctor.com/2018/06/12/7-essential-oils-for-relaxation-and-better-sleep/