The Best Sleep Inducing Scents to Help You Drift Off

This post may help you fall asleep faster and discover how to have more pleasant dreams!

Though we try our best to get enough sleep, it is easier said than done at times.  Regardless of how we attempt to block out the events of the day, they often follow us to the bedroom to make sleep a challenge.  The right scents, however, have the power to affect the olfactory receptors of the brain to calm as well as help the type of dreams we have.  

Essential oils from nature are the most potent source to benefit from aromatherapy. Some experts believe the essential oils’ molecules directly stimulate the brain to influence it.  Others feel that those molecules once in contact with the blood and hormones or enzymes are what cause the brain to react with a mental or physical change.  

Thus, you are always best to stick with essential oils like lavender, chamomile, sandalwood, and geranium for easing into a peaceful night of rest. If you feel stressed to the point that your blood pressure is rising, then the scent of neroli oil may help even more to bring it down.

Did you know that the scent of rose can help you experience more pleasant dreams?  According to researchers at one university hospital in Germany, the scent of rose during the dreaming state of sleep (REM) when the higher regions of the brain’s thinking processes kick in about every 90 minutes during the sleep cycle can alter the feeling of the dream.

In fact, you might want to try my DIY herbal sleep potion potpourri to help reduce stress and sleep or my DIY Sleep Spray.  They also have rose for improving the quality of your dreams.  

For other ways to improve your odds of more sleep, do read my earlier post.

Some Reasons That You Need to Sleep More

This beauty knows the value of sleep to maintain her beauty and health.

Everyone has occasional restless nights, but women seem to experience this even more than men.  Part of this problem is due to the unique physiology of our female bodies.  Menstruation, pregnancy or the onset of menopause all can interfere with our sleep patterns besides more increased stress than decades earlier from balancing home, family and work.

However, skipping sleep on a fairly regular basis can take a toll.  If sleeplessness becomes your new norm, it can raise your risk for high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes.  

Obesity can also be in your future.  The reason you can put on more weight is because lack of sleep interferes with your hormone function and how the body burns fat.

Without ample hours of sleep, your brain can’t function to its full capacity for learning, cognition, memory and your response to the data it receives for doing things.  Proper sleep allows the brain to digest information and makes it easier for it to retrieve upon waking.

Though eight hours of sleep sounds like an unrealistic luxury, trying to reach for that goal can only improve the quality of your life, relationships and health.  

For more on the subject, please read my earlier post on sleep.

What You're Risking if You Don't Get Enough Sleep

Sometimes, getting enough sleep can seem like a luxury.  However, skimping on sleep can adversely effect your health in ways you may not know.

For starters, you can gain weight when you miss sleep because your hormones that control your appetite change flow and will increase your hunger.  In this sleep deprived state, you're more prone to grabbing foods high in fat and calories to satisfy yourself. 

Without enough sleep you can also be more at risk for heart disease.  Studies have shown that women who get on an average of less than five hours of sleep each night are seriously increasing their odds of developing hypertension, which can lead to heart disease.  Without adequate sleep, the body produces enough stress hormones and other substances to build inflammation to set the stage for heart disease and stroke.

Skimping on the normal hours of sleep you need can also help you develop diabetes.  Regularly sleeping fewer than five hours a night gives you two-and-a-half times higher chance of getting diabetes than someone that sleeps a normal seven to eight hours a night.   The reason diabetes can occur is because you need deep sleep to regulate blood-sugar levels.

Another negative health impact of insufficient sleep is you will become more irritable and unable to handle your emotions very well.  This happens because part of your brain that controls reasoning becomes deactivated due to a lack of sleep.

Lastly, you will get sick more.  You need normal hours of sleep because cytokines, chemicals that help the immune system, are released to fight off disease and infection.  Being sleep deficient can lead to more infections and even affect how your body produces antibodies after a vaccination.   According to the research, sleep starved people often only produce half the flu antibodies compared to a regular sleeper.