Lavender Essential Oil for Stress, Relaxation, and Sleep: Essential for Your Self-Care and Mental First Aid Kit

Lavender essential oil is widely known for its calming and soothing properties, making it a perfect addition to your home's first aid kit. Your body is actually a BodyMind, and Lavender is perfect for both aspects of ourselves, the physical and the mental. We also know that stress is the root, or at minimum influencing, many of our health problems. Because of this, be sure you begin to think about relaxation and good sleep as healthcare!

Lavender is particularly beneficial for:

Reducing stress and anxiety: Helps to calm the mind and body, promoting relaxation.
Enhancing sleep quality: Lavender helps calm your nervous system, and can help you fall - and stay - asleep.
Mood lifting: Known to uplift mood when inhaled, easing mental fatigue.
Soothing skin: It has gentle, anti-inflammatory properties that can calm irritated skin when mixed with a carrier oil.

Ways to Use Lavender Essential Oil

Dab on Wrists: Apply a drop or two of lavender essential oil to your wrists. Rub together gently and breathe in the relaxing aroma.
Add to Bath: Put 10–20 drops of lavender essential oil and a tablespoon of a carrier oil like grapeseed, sweet almond, or avocado oil into a warm bath.
Lip Balm for Aromatherapy & Lip Care: Add a drop of lavender essential oil to your lip balm for a dual effect of moisturizing your lips and inhaling its calming scent.
Hydrosol Spray: Mix lavender essential oil with water to create a hydrosol mist. Spray onto your face, pillow, or in the air to refresh and relax.
Before Sleep: Dab a few drops of lavender on a tissue or pillow, and inhale deeply while lying in bed to enhance relaxation and fall asleep more easily.
In a Diffuser: Add 5–10 drops of lavender essential oil to a diffuser to fill a room with a soothing scent.
Body Moisturizer: Combine with a carrier oil like jojoba or grapeseed oil and apply to the skin for moisturizing and relaxation.
Calming Foot Soak: Add 5–10 drops of lavender to a basin of warm water with Epsom salts for a calming foot bath.
Lavender-Infused Compress: Mix lavender oil in warm water, dip a washcloth in the mixture, and place it on your forehead or neck for stress relief.

Research Backs Up the Hype

Check out this short sample of what modern research has found:

Lavender Essential Oil for Stress and Sleep: A study found that inhaling lavender essential oil during short-duration sleep cycles significantly reduced markers of stress, such as α-amylase and chromogranin A, which reflect sympathetic nervous system activity. This suggests that lavender has anti-stress properties, particularly beneficial during sleep recovery. (Influences of Lavender Essential Oil Inhalation on Stress Responses during Short-Duration Sleep Cycles).
Lavender's Mechanism on the Central Nervous System: Research has shown that lavender essential oil and its key components, like linalool, interact with central nervous system targets. Specifically, it modulates NMDA receptors and serotonin transporters, which may explain its anxiolytic (anti-anxiety) and antidepressant-like effects. This study supports lavender's use as a safer alternative to pharmaceutical agents for stress and anxiety relief. (Exploring Pharmacological Mechanisms of Lavender Essential Oil on Central Nervous System Targets)
Lavender Aromatherapy and Sleep Quality: A clinical study investigated the effect of lavender aromatherapy on the sleep quality and vital signs of palliative care patients. The results showed that lavender oil improved sleep quality significantly, as measured by the Richards-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire. This study suggests that lavender oil may be beneficial for improving sleep in individuals with health challenges, further supporting its calming and sleep-enhancing properties. (The Effect of Lavender Oil on Sleep Quality and Vital Signs in Palliative Care: A Randomized Clinical Trial)

DIY: Do-It-Yourself Recipes

If you like to make your own personal care products, here's two easy recipes to get you started. Quality Lavender essential oil and carrier oils are easily available online. Spray bottles, oil dispensers, and other such useful containers are also available online and in many Dollar stores, Target, Walmart and the like.

1. DIY Lavender Bath and Body Oil

Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup of a carrier oil (grapeseed, jojoba, or avocado oil)
- 10–30 drops of lavender essential oil, to preference
- Bottle or container for oil
Instructions:
1. Measure out 1/4 cup of your chosen carrier oil.
2. Add 10–30 drops of lavender essential oil.
3. Mix well and store in a small glass bottle.
4. Use this oil in your bathwater, as a moisturizer after your bath, or apply it directly to your skin for hydration and relaxation.

2. DIY Hydrosol Spray

Great to keep at home, by your bed, in your car, on your desk for a refreshing and relaxing moment at home and on the go.

Ingredients:
- 1 cup (8 oz) of distilled water
- 10–50 drops of lavender essential oil, to your preference
- Spray bottle
Instructions:
1. Pour 1 cup of distilled water into a small spray bottle.
2. Add 10–15 drops of lavender essential oil.
3. Shake well to combine.
4. Use as a refreshing face, pillow, or room spray.
5. Shake the bottle before each use to ensure the oil is dispersed in the water.

With its many uses for self care and mental first aid, make sure to add some Lavender essential oil to your home First Aid Kit. Get started using it in your daily life and difficult days and moments to help foster relaxation, promote good sleep, and reduce or cope with anxiety! It is an essential addition to your home first aid kit, offering support for your BodyMind.

Dr. Kim Drolet, DACM, LAc