Are you looking for something to help you relax and unwind and have heard essential oils may be just what you need?

Here is a guide through some of the best calming oils that have been known to help with feelings of anxiety, sleep and overall relaxation.

What are essential oils?

They’re little bottles of oil that have been extracted from the roots, stems, leaves, flowers and fruit of a variety of different plants.

Widely used in complementary and alternative medicine, these highly concentrated oils are taken from plants and flowers.

The beauty of essential oils is that there are so many to choose from.

How do I use essential oils?

And there are just as many different ways you can use them too; from gently inhaling and diffusing them, to bathing in them and combining them with a carrier oil and dabbing them on your skin and even use in massage.

A carrier oil is neutral oil such as almond oil or ground nut oil witch can be used to mix with the concentrated oil to make it go futher in massage and to protect the skin as some can be very strong.

Which oil is best for anxiety?

You may be looking for just one oil to help ease your anxiety, but there actually happens to be several different essential oils, as well as relaxing essential oil blends, that have been linked to potentially helping with feelings of anxiety.

These oils are:

  • Lavender
  • Bergamot
  • Orange
  • Sweet Marjoram

What oils are best for sleep?

Due to their ability to help us feel more calm and relaxed, certain essential oils may also help us drift off too.
According to the Sleep Foundation, they are:

  • Lavender
  • Bergamot
  • Chamomile
  • Cedarwood
  • Clary Sage

Summary

Therefore incorporating these oils in a diffuser when we feel anxious or to help us relax before bed can help us unwind in a safe and natural way. Having a soothing lavender salt bath can help relax the tension in our muscles after a long day or even keep a bottle on us to sniff through out the day to ease anxiety as it arises, this can help us to reduce our stress hormone cortisol. Another way to smell amazing and use a natural and inexpensive perfume is to mix a few drops of essential oil into a carrier oil and dab on our wrists and I find dabbing lavender on my temples can help to ease a headache.

Remember it’s a bit of trial and error to find the oil that works for you so have some fun next time you pop into a health food store e and sample some smells. Also these can ease and help remember if your suffering always consult your GP.