3 Calming Essential Oil Blends That Create Feelings of Peace and Calm

At the end of a long week, my son and I collapsed onto the couch last night. Staring at the TV, my mind went blank, then suddenly drifted back to the things I should be doing. I blinked a few times forcing myself back to the moment; then looked to my son and said, “I’m exhausted.”

He nodded looking back at me. “Mum, I know. . .we both are.”

THEN THE PENNY DROPPED

I’d love to tell you that this superwoman picked herself up off the couch and raced headlong into cleaning and tidying the house in preparation for Saturday – but I didn’t.

We live in a society that operates at a dizzying pace. Between work and homelife, family and kids activities and schedules, and the nagging notifications on our smartphones, our brains literally sprint from the moment we wake up, until the moment we collapse or pass out on the couch watching TV. In fact, if you’re anything like me, my brain literally can’t switch off!

This is the BIG reason I’ve turned to essential oils to help support my emotional well-being. This includes using essential oils for sleep and calming essential oils to help my family relax not just during the evening, but throughout the days over the weekend too.

I’ve used essential oils for over 30-years, but sadly in my rushed paced life, they slipped off the radar and last night the penny dropped – I need to soak up a calming essential oil blend that would sooth away our exhaustion and stress and help us drift into a restful night’s sleep.

Using these calming essential oils showed me that we CAN live in a state of peace and calm and that we do not need to live in a state of busyness and go-go-go.

Give yourself permission to stop.

Give yourself permission to relax.

Give yourself permission to feel calm.

Give yourself permission to feel peaceful.

Added stressors such as the constant media coverage of global warming, climate change, fires burning out of control and loss of life and habitat. If your life is anything like mine and you’re running on empty. . . give yourself permission to feel good. Especially now!

So, I’ll start with the oils we love, followed by the calming blends we love, and then I will show ways you can use your calming essential oils for maximum effect.

1. LAVENDER ESSENTIAL OIL

Lavender is literally the queen of essential oils and tops my list because it’s one of the best-known aromatherapy treatments for insomnia. Lavender is rich in linalool linalyl acetate, which are natural sedatives, known to relax muscles, lower blood pressure, increase circulation, and lower cortisol levels.

It’s one of the most studied sleeping herbs, and is backed up with considerable scientific evidence that it really works to promote calm and create restful sleep.

This is one of the few essential oils that is mild enough to use undiluted on your skin. It’s also a great choice for over active children who resist bedtime.

How to use: When my son was younger, I’d mix up 20 drops of lavender oil and water in a 100ml amber glass spray bottle and used it to chase away monsters and bad dreams before tucking him into bed. For a bedside blend that induces sleep, add this mix to your aromatherapy diffuser* with water.

1 drop pure Roman Chamomile Essential Oil

9 drops pure Lavender Essential Oil

3 drops Neroli / Vetiver Essential Oil

2 drops Sweet Orange Essential Oil

2. ROMAN CHAMOMILE ESSENTIAL OIL

Chamomile, is one of the gentlest essential oils, which makes it great for infants and children. Praised for its sleep-inducing qualities, Chamomile tea was one of my son’s favourite bedtime brews. However, if you don’t care for the taste, you can get the same benefits by using Roman chamomile in a diffuser. Roman chamomile essential oil is a mild sedative that helps calm nerves and reduces anxiety by promoting relaxation.

I recently read a 2013 study published in Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, that found a blend of lavender, Roman chamomile and neroli essential oils, reduced anxiety and aided sleep quality of patients in ICU compared to conventional nursing intervention.

How to use: for an overactive mind or child, this bedside diffuser blend will induce sleep in no time. Add this mix to your aromatherapy diffuser* with water.

3 drops pure Lavender Essential Oil

3 drops pure Roman Chamomile Essential Oil

2 drops of pure Vetiver Essential Oil

3. NEROLI ESSENTIAL OIL

Neroli is not the essential oil that immediately springs to mind when you talk about relaxing aromatherapy oils. However, the three main ingredients – linalool, limonene and linalyl acetate, has been shown to significantly reduce the stress hormone, cortisol.

To identify the effects of neroli, a group of 83 prehypertensive and hypertensive participants were given a mixture containing Neroli oil to inhale at regular intervals over a 24-hour period. During this study, they found a significant reduction in the concentration of salivary cortisol, and concluded that inhalation of this essential oil can have immediate and continuous positive effects on reducing stress.

Its scent, sweet, deep and fruity, is complex and hard to describe until you try it for yourself. I personally love the rich, floral scent, with citrusy overtones and used in companion with lavender, ylang-ylang, and marjoram, these oils will calm your nervous system.

How to use: When I’m feeling particularly stressed or over anxious, my naturopath recommended inhaling this mix twice each day. I also love using it as a bedside diffuser blend. The aroma is to die for and calms my mind before sleep. Add this mix to your aromatherapy diffuser* with water.

10 drops pure Lavender Essential Oil

7 drops pure Neroli Essential Oil

5 drops pure Ylang-Ylang Essential Oil

1 drop pure Marjoram Essential Oil

SAFETY

It’s worth noting that essential oils are a highly concentrated medicinal substance, so some safety precautions must be observed. For a healthy adult, most essential oils are safe, however when using essential oils during pregnancy, for babies and children, for the elderly or for those suffering from a serious illness, it is prudent to get professional advice. Do some research to ensure that you use essential oils that are suitable and that you use the correct dose.

*Depending on the method of diffusion and the water capacity of the electric diffuser.

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