Before we talk about what the best doTERRA oils for sleep are, it’s important to talk about a few other things first to help you understand a little more about essential oils, some other things you can do to help with creating a healthy sleep routine and the science behind essential oils and sleep. Then we can start talking about what the best essential oil to help you sleep will be.

Essentials Oils are Natural and Effective

For thousands of years, essential oils have been utilized for their calming and soothing properties. Anciently, calming oils were used for meditation, aromatherapy, and even things like religious ceremonies or rituals.

The method of using essential oils to promote relaxing, calming feelings have remained popular throughout the years because essential oils provide a natural, yet effective way of calming the mind and body.

Because essential oils are so potent and powerful, they provide rather quick results, which makes them useful for promoting a good night of rest.

Not only can essential oils with a calming or soothing nature help relax the body and mind before bed, but the comforting aroma of essential oils can also help create an environment that is conducive to sleep.

Getting Enough Sleep Is Important

We often worry about everything we should be doing during the day to maintain good health. We are concerned about getting regular exercise, having a healthy diet, managing our emotional health, and dozens of other factors that influence how we feel.

However, we often neglect a major part of good health—getting good sleep. For most of us, busy work schedules demand alot from our family, and endless to-do lists keep us from getting the rest we need.

While the amount of necessary sleep will vary from person to person, experts suggest that adults get between seven and eight hours of sleep per night.

Many of us have the best intentions of getting adequate sleep, but it can be hard to get the mind and body to relax after a full day of stress or activity. You may think that the only consequences of losing sleep are feeling tired or cranky the next day; however, sleep deprivation can have a significant impact on our mental and physical health.

Without proper sleep, we put ourselves at risk for serious health issues that will impact our quality of life. Sleep deprivation:

• Can make it difficult for us to lose weight or maintain a healthy weight
• Can negatively influence our emotions and how we behave throughout the day
• Can impact how we learn or influence our motivation levels
• Can have a negative impact on nearly any of the body’s organ systems, which influences overall health
• Can influence our reaction time and ability to drive safely (thousands of accidents are caused by drowsy drivers every year)

Just as sleep deprivation can negatively affect how we feel each day, getting quality sleep can help improve our quality of life.

Need Help Falling Asleep?

For many people, improper sleep is a result of circumstances beyond their control. It is difficult to get good rest when you are interrupted by a child or newborn several times throughout the night, have a job that requires you to work late, or a busy schedule that requires early mornings and late nights.

However, if you have tried your best to get good, quality sleep and still feel like you can’t get your mind or body to quiet down, you might need a little extra help.

The suggestions on this slide can help those who might need extra help falling asleep or staying asleep at night. If you are having trouble sleeping, try a few of the following suggestions:

• Do your best to eat healthy during the day.
• Create an environment that will promote a good night of rest. Make sure it is dark, not too hot or cold, and quiet.
• Make sure you’re getting enough magnesium – a good magnesium oil spray (like Ancient Minerals) on your skin can help.
• Try to avoid stimulants like alcohol, nicotine, and caffeine throughout the day, and especially before bed.
• Make sure that you have adequate bedding. It might be time to buy a new mattress or pillows.
• Follow a regular exercise routine. Make sure that you don’t exercise too close to bedtime, or your body might be too exhilarated to sleep.
• Remove distractions from your bedroom, like technology and TV. Try to avoid screens for an hour before bed to help your eyes and mind relax.
• Relax the body by taking a warm bath, or drinking a cup of tea (non-stimulating).
• Reset your internal clock by going to bed and waking up at the same time every night and morning.
• If you’ve tried the above and consistently still have problems, check with your doctor and make sure you don’t have adrenal fatigue or thyroid issues
• Make sure your back is in alignment because when it is out of place the flow of your body is interrupted and that can wake you up

In addition to all of these methods, there are countless home remedies and unique approaches that claim to help with sleep. However, essential oils provide a simple yet effective way to create a relaxing environment and promote quality sleep.

Each individual has different needs and preferences when it comes to sleeping, and the variety of essential oils allows the user to find an oil that works for them personally. When it comes to getting quality, consistent sleep, it is important to find what works best for calming and relaxing your body or mind before bed.

The Science Behind Essential Oils and Sleep

So, what is the best doTERRA oil for sleep? How do they work? Well, every essential oil has a different chemical makeup with a unique combination of chemical constituents. These chemicals are what give an essential oil its benefits.

Certain chemicals can make an essential oil useful for cleansing, soothing, or warming, while other chemicals might make an oil calming, invigorating, or cooling. Because each oil is taken from a different plant or plant part, each oil has a completely unique chemical profile, and thus a completely unique set of benefits.

By choosing essential oils with chemicals that hold relaxing, calming, or soothing benefits, it is easy to use oils to promote a peaceful environment for sleep.

Here’s how it works. When you inhale the aroma of an essential oil with calming properties, it can induce a response in the body or brain for relaxation. Typically, this type of reaction helps relax the body and promote a restful night of sleep.

Once you’ve had a good night of sleep after using a specific oil, the brain makes a connection between the smell of the oil and the quality sleep. This is called a positive association. An established positive association promotes further use of the oil in your regular bedtime routine to help you repeat the practice of a good night’s sleep.

Which doTERRA Essential Oils for Sleep work the best?

When using essential oils to promote a good night of sleep, it is best to choose oils with calming, soothing, or relaxing properties. The beauty of using essential oils to help with sleep is that there are a lot of oils with calming properties to choose from.

Two people can have a different reaction to the same oil, so you can experiment to see which oils work best for you and your sleeping preferences.

I did an informal poll of some current essential oil users about what essential oils for sleep they use.  I couldn’t believe the variety of answers I got. It seems like every person needs a different oil or oils.

• doTERRA Serenity Restful Complex Softgels (read more about it here) –  combine Lavender oil and natural plant extracts to encourage restful sleep.* The formula is designed to help you get a refreshing night of sleep without feeling sleepy the next day.
• Serenity restful blend –  designed to promote relaxation and help calm the emotions and body before bed. You can easily enjoy the calming benefits of the dōTERRA Serenity blend by diffusing the oil, applying it topically, or adding it to a warm bath. I love it’s relaxing properties!
• Lavender (don’t use too much or it will keep you awake) – Commonly used for its calming properties, the light, floral aroma of Lavender oil makes it useful for creating an environment conducive for peaceful sleep
• Cedarwood – The warm, woody scent of Cedarwood oil promotes a peaceful feeling that can help the mind and body unwind before bed.
• Vetiver
• Clary Sage
• Frankincense
• Balance grounding blend – a blend of essential oils and plant extracts that can help to naturally promote relaxation, and, as you probably guessed, create feelings of balance. dōTERRA Balance is an optimal blend to use before going to bed because it can promote feelings of peace and tranquility while providing the body with a sense of relaxation. Consider placing a few drops of dōTERRA Balance in your essential oil diffuser, applying the blend topically to the neck or bottoms of the feet, or using in a massage before bed.
• Roman Chamomile
• Bergamot
• Ylang Ylang – The rich, floral aroma of Ylang Ylang oil can help reduce the effects of daily stress while promoting a calming environment.
• Marjoram
• Thyme
• Breathe respiratory blend – combines essential oils like Peppermint, Eucalyptus, Melaleuca, Cardamom, and Lemon to help the user maintain feelings of clear airways. The fresh aroma of this oil blend can help calm the senses and promote a restful night of sleep. To enjoy the benefits of dōTERRA Breathe at night, you can add a few drops to an essential oil diffuser, or apply the oil topically to the chest, back, or bottoms of the feet. To avoid sensitivity, dilute dōTERRA Breathe with a carrier oil like dōTERRA® Fractionated Coconut Oil before applying topically to the skin.

So how do you find which doTERRA oils for sleep work for you?

This is what I did for my 9-year-old son because I was having such a hard time finding something that would work. I was really sick of guessing what combo would work. So I worked my way down the list of oils that may possibly help. I only tried one oil at a time and gave each oil 3 days.

After a week or two, I found that frankincense completely helped him sleep peacefully but he still wasn’t sleeping very well. So I kept going down the list and found Balance Grounding Blend and cedarwood help him sleep better.

Then I started putting vetiver on the back of his neck to help him calm down and actually get to sleep. He’s sleeping much better now. Every person is very different, so if you are having a hard time sleeping, you may want to do a sleep experiment like this too.

How to use doTERRA essential oils for sleep

In addition to a wide variety of oils to choose from, there are also many effective ways to use essential oils to promote a good night of sleep.

• Diffusion – see this post for lots of doTERRA sleep diffuser blends and this post for doTERRA diffuser reviews, including my favorite one that’s very affordable and lasts 12 hours.
• Roller blends – see this post for lots of doTERRA sleep blend roller bottle recipes
• Warm bath or shower – Add a few drops of a calming oil to a warm bath before bed, on the shower floor or to your shampoo * or conditioner *
• Pillows and bedding – Add a few drops of a calming essential oil to a spray bottle * and mix with a few ounces of water. Use the spray bottle * to spritz the mixture over your pillows and bedding before going to sleep to create a restful environment.
• Heating pad or neck wrap
• Topical application and massage – Apply topically to bottoms of the feet, neck and shoulders, temples or wrists. Massage: shoulders, arms, back, legs, feet
• Tea – A warm cup of tea before bed is a tried and true sleep solution; however, adding essential oils to your bedtime tea can provide a unique relaxing experience.
• Cup and Inhale – if you don’t have a diffuser, this an inexpensive way to get some of the same benefits

How Do We Use doTERRA Essential Oils for sleep?

For my girls, it seems like we have to keep switching the oils. One thing we have found works well is to give the oils to each child one at a time and let them smell each oil and ask her if she likes the smell and if it makes her feel relaxed.

We do this every once in a while when we found that she isn’t sleeping as well anymore. We find that her body naturally knows what oils it likes. It’s also good to do this at bedtime.

For my son, we both diffuse and put one drop on each of his toes of: frankincense, vetiver, cedarwood and Balance grounding blend. For me, I love vetiver and cedarwood.

How Do Others Use doTERRA to help with sleeping?

In my informal poll I mentioned above, I received these answers of how others use doTERRA sleep time oils. Hopefully, this will give you some ideas of some things to try.

I use Balance Grounding Blend, Serenity Restful Blend, Lavender, Vetiver and Roman Chamomile all together, 10 drops each, on a roller bottle & the rest filled with FCO. I put it on my feet- soles & big toe, back of my neck, wrists, behind my ears & temples.

I use Cedarwood…with Ylang Ylang.

I use Lavender and Vetiver mixed with fractionated coconut oil to improve sleep.

If you are more of a “Type A” personality, try Basil on the adrenals several times/day.

I like to diffuse Ylang Ylang and Cedarwood at night. Lavender keeps my oldest son awake so I often use Roman Chamomile in his room at night.

I diffuse Geranium and Wild Orange together. It is so soothing for me, and Ylang Ylang at night on my chest does it for me.

I use Cedarwood…with Ylang Ylang.

Vetiver, Balance grounding blend, and Marjoram massaged into the big toes.

I use Balance grounding blend and then Cedarwood.

What have you tried that works well for sleeping?

Here are other doTERRA posts you may also like:

Bedtime for Kids

doTERRA Sleep Blends

My Favorite doTERRA Diffuser Blends

doTERRA Essential Oils Calming Diffuser Blends

Blissful Bedtime Cream

Serenity – Lavender – Cedarwood – Wild Orange