Lavender is associated with tranquility and relaxation. It’s believed to promote a calm restful state, so you fall asleep easier.
It works for me.
There’s also some scientific evidence that supports the age-old assumption that lavender might help you sleep, since it seems to have a positive effect upon the nervous system..
One study published in the Evidence Based Alternative and Complimentary Medicine journal found that lavender oil may act as a “sedative” and “mood stabilizer.” (You can see a link to this study at the end of this post.)
How you use herbal lavender for relaxation is up to you.
You can brew lavender tea with dried flowers. Or you can make a pillow sachet filled with dried lavender.
But the easiest way, in my humble opinion, is to use lavender essential oil.
You can diffuse lavender oil in a cold air diffuser. Or you can apply it to your body, after mixing it with a carrier oil.
Or you can make a luxurious sleep cream with lavender essential oil and just two other ingredients.
How To Make Lavender Sleep Cream
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Below you will find a really easy recipe for lavender sleep cream. It contains lavender essential oil, plus two ingredients that can help moisturize your skin.
You can apply this directly to your skin without the need for a carrier oil. Normally, essential oils are too strong to use directly on your body. So you need to mix them with a carrier, such as fractionated coconut oil.
If you’re using this cream for relaxation, you could use it for a night moisturizer after you shower.
Or you could just put it on your skin about 15 minutes before you plan to go to bed. (Sweet dreams.)
Lavender sleep cream also makes a great gift. So you can whip up a double batch, and have enough left over to give to someone else. (Did you know that half of all adults in the United States have trouble sleeping?)
I use the word “whip” literally. Because the recipe involves whipping with an electric mixer.
This results in a creamy body butter that glides on your skin. One of the ingredients is shea butter, which is like a super moisturizer.
Shea butter is often added to commercial creams and lotions. However, these products often include other things you may not want, such as artificial fragrances and endocrine disrupting parabens.
DIY Sleep Cream Recipe
Anyway, here’s how to make your own sleep cream with lavender essential oil.
1/2 c of organic shea butter (You can get it here)
1 c of organic coconut oil (You can get it here)
10 drops of lavender essential oil (You can get it here)
Homemade Lavender Sleep Cream Recipe
Melt the coconut oil and shea butter in a heavy sauce pan. Use low heat. Watch closely and remove from the heat as soon as this mixture becomes liquid.
Cool for 15 minutes and then put into the freezer for 10 minutes. (Don’t let it stay longer, or else it will start to freeze.) The edges will be firm.
Then put into a large bowl and whip with an electric mixer on a medium setting for 10 to 11 minutes. Just before you stop mixing add the lavender essential oil and make sure it’s thoroughly mixed.
The recipe will yield a cream like body butter.
Store your body butter sleep cream in a clean glass jar with a lid, away from heat and light.
Lavender sleep cream should last about six months in a temperate climate. Coconut oil becomes liquid at 76 degrees F. So in warm weather you may have to store your sleep cream in the refrigerator.
Disclaimer
These statements have not been approved by the FDA. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. Pregnant and nursing women should not use essential oils unless directed to do so by a healthcare professional.
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Lavender and the Nervous System
