aromatherapy

Boost Brain Health with Essential Oils: A New Study

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Plug in diffuser, candle diffuser, and essential oil

Want an easy, pleasing way to increase your health and longevity in the new year? Something that doesn’t feel like deprivation but is instead adding aesthetically pleasing components to your life? Or maybe you have a parent or loved one who is getting toward the 60+ range, who is starting to take brain health more seriously. This is for them, and YOU.

I heard about this study in the news a few times this year, and I intended to look further at the study but always got distracted when I sat down to do so. I finally looked into it and, wow, it’s a good one. It is rare to have a scientific standard study involving natural ingredients, but one was carried out recently involving ‘odorants’ and aging brains, and the results were statistically significant!

The Study

If you want to read the entire article on the study, here it is. I actually found it by way of another article which I will link to here also because it is a good one as well. I will try to give you the biggest takeaways here in a short summary:

There was a study involving adults ages 60-85 who were instructed to put essential oils into a diffuser for two hours at night when they went to bed. There was a control group that did the same actions, but the ‘essential oils’ were just a highly diluted, scant scent. The adults were given cognitive tests before and after the six month trial period, and the adults who used the essential oils had a significantly significant better outcome than the control group.

This study was undertaken because there has already been a recognized correlation between the sense of smell and brain health. The decline of the former foretells a decline in the latter. This has been shown not only related to dementia, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and other age-related decline, it has also been recognized in COVID patients who have lost their sense of smell. The article on this study says that even those with chronic sinus infections show declines in certain regions of the brain.

How to Use these Findings

If you want to emulate the study’s participants, you need a diffuser and seven unique essential oils. The diffuser needs to be the kind that can stay on for two hours, and then automatically shut off, such as this one from Mountain Rose Herbs. It is a plug in model that allows for 120 minutes of diffusing time, exactly what is needed. They used one essential oil per night, no blends, just one pure scent per evening. The novelty of a different scent each night was deemed important, as well as the fact that these were not blends. The essential oils used in the study were: eucalyptus, lavender, lemon, orange, peppermint, rose, and rosemary. The essential oils that they picked don’t seem to matter so please use whatever seven essential oils best suit you. Theirs were obtained from The Essential Oil Company, Portland, OR, but you can get essential oils from any natural foods store such as Whole Foods, or online at Mountain Rose Herbs, or Aura Cacia.

Recap

Each night, before you or your loved one goes to bed, put a few drops (the amount varies depending on the diffuser) of an essential oil in a diffuser. Turn it on its two hour setting, so it will automatically turn off after you are asleep. Then go to bed. That is it! Remember to use a different essential oil each night, and rest assured you are building up your brain while you sleep.

Other Takeaways

The original research article discusses other studies showing how using essential oils throughout the day benefits the brain. The larger truth found in that article is that we would all benefit from using more essential oils in our lives, whether it is at night, in the morning, or sometime in-between. Preferably multiple times in-between AND morning and night! There are so many factors that cause ill health, poor aging, diseases, and declines in all areas of our lives now, so it makes sense to counter some of those factors with what we know works. Essential oils have been proven to work.

If you need other ideas on how to incorporate more essential oils into your daily life, please use the search function on my website for ‘essential oils’, and take a look at my book, All Natural Perfume Making.

Personal Note

This post was written with my lovely, late friend, Lisa Garvey, in mind. This is exactly the kind of finding we would have excitedly talked about over drinks after a long day of working (and goofing off) together at Rainbow Blossom back in the late 90s. I miss you girl.

Happy New Year!

May 2025 be a year of exceptional health, growth, and peace.

Natural Support in a Classroom Setting

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My friend suggested I write about what, if anything, a teacher could do in his or her classroom to help students learn. There are definitely things one can do in a classroom, but what exactly can be done has a lot to do with who and where you are teaching. This friend of mine is actually in her home country of South Africa right now but we lived in Prague together as English teachers many moons ago, so that got me thinking about the differences in cultural classrooms and also the differences in ages being taught. We taught adults in Prague but we both have experience with kids too, both as teachers and parents.

DB4A47C5-BB47-4296-ACC9-D268FC499839[1]One thing just about anyone can do is to bring in fresh plants. This is something parents or students themselves can actually take the initiative on to freshen up the air in a classroom and depending on the plant, actually have added benefits. There are certain plants that cleanse the space of specific toxins, and the fragrance of herbs and flowers can actually benefit the moods and brain functioning of people. One year when my two kids were still in elementary school, I gave their classroom teachers each a pot of Rosemary before the state testing began, thinking the teachers would already know that Rosemary is great for brains, benefiting focus, clarity, and memory.  The teachers were surprised to hear that Rosemary was traditionally used in such a way and I’m not really sure if they believed me or not, but the plants stayed in my boys’ classrooms for the rest of that year.

If you travel from classroom to classroom, then plants might not be practical. Luckily, essential oils are portable and can be used in a couple of different ways. Diffusing essential oils in the classroom can help promote positive mental and emotional health. There are different options when it comes to diffusing, including plug-in ones, light bulbA59AF0A5-9A2C-4D76-B61A-3D62814D9DC0[1] rings, ceramic discs, and candle fueled ceramics. Orange or Bergamot essential oils would be good uplifting choices for returning to school after a long break. When it might be necessary to keep a class calm, Lavender is the obvious choice. When taking a big test, nothing beats Rosemary essential oil for clarity, focus, and memory help. When going through a study guide, if you have any essential oil scenting the room, it will help to have that same scent in the room during the actual test. (Just as at home studying can be amplified with essential oils and then the brain triggered during the assessment with the same scent.) It’s important to switch up the essential oils if used in this way, so assigning certain subjects with certain essential oils can help the brain function best. Also, doing blends might be the best option of all so the scents will be truly unique to a certain class and its specific material, so that way students won’t automatically think of the pythagorean theorem every time they smell Cedarwood for the rest of their lives, or whatever scent has been married to whatever subject. It’s truly something to consider! The role scent plays in memory cannot be overstated, due to the construction of the brain, so making use of it is wise, but being thoughtful about it is kind.

Besides diffusing essential oils, making sprays can be another way to scent the room, and also to combat germs. Thieves oil is the classic germ buster, but many essential oils have anti-bacterial properties, and some are even anti-viral. Thyme is especially good for cold and flu time of year, and besides being antiseptic, antibacterial, and antiviral, it is antifungal too. You can use the spray you make not only as an air freshener, but also to wipe down desks and tabletops. You can also use sprays made from distilled water and essential oils as a body spray to help keep yourself or your student healthy. Just diffusing the essential oils into the air will help keep down the germs, and almost all the essential oils have some antiseptic properties so you can’t really choose badly in that respect. While more essential oils are antibacterial than antiviral, the following have both antibacterial and antiviral properties: Cinnamon, Clove, Lemon Eucalyptus, Garlic, Lavender, Onion, Oregano, Tea Tree, and Thyme. (Reference: Valerie Ann Wormwood’s The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy.)

For more about what students and parents of students can do to combat anxiety and increase their study power, click the links, and here are two more posts on immune boosters for winter.

Although winter is an especially good time for bringing plants and essential oils into the classroom, students and teachers can benefit year round from a bit of nature in their shared space. Instead of gifting teachers apples, a potted plant or a bottle of essential oils might be the healthier option for all. Wishing you all the best in health and happiness~ do what it takes. You are worth it. Please subscribe for weekly posts about herbs, natural health, and green beauty, and please share this with anyone who might be interested.

 

 

 

Sense-ational Scents

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This is a post in conjunction with another blogger’s month long celebration of the senses. I’ve chosen the sense of smell for Litebeing Chronicles’ “Sense-ational Challenge” because essential oils are a beautiful, fully positive part of my life and they fulfill the requirements of ‘joy and delight’ that are part of the criteria as we celebrate the human, earthly experience that our spirits both endure and relish in.

Scents are a positive part of my day, all day long. I start every day by diffusing essential oils into the air to wake up the brain with happy, invigorating scents~ as I said before, the usual combination is Rosemary and Orange oil. While getting dressed, I first lather up my arms and stomach with oil blends that I make which are meant to lightly perfume my personal world with intention. (I’ll show you how to make your own down below.) After I’m dressed I spray myself with blends that I make that are either calming or stimulating, depending on the time of day. My favorite daytime combination is Bergamot and Clary Sage in a 50/50 ratio. This is an anti-depressant combo that is happy, uplifting, and awakening with calm undertones. It can be hard to remember at times that calmness is an important part of ‘happy and stimulating’,  because we often equate happiness and being energetic with a kind of jumpy attribute, like an over-caffeinated cartoon, but calmness preserves energy for long term use and is the happy place for the brain and body. Calm does not mean tired, although being calm is definitely a prerequisite for a good night’s sleep. During the day I use the sprays periodically as needed on both my body and the rooms I am in, and I also diffuse essential oils throughout the day. Lately I’ve been using Fennel essential oil around meal times because it encourages proper digestion and it smells good with food.

Here’s a quick video on making your own body oil or perfume with essential oils which is healthy for the body, brain, emotions, and even the environment. Be sure to reuse your glass bottles and know you are doing beautiful goodness for yourself and others by avoiding chemical fragrances with their endocrine disruptors and carcinogens, and instead opting for the natural beauty of earthly gifts.

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If you don’t want to make your own body oil, Kate’s Magik makes lovely body oils that are also Reiki infused. They are labeled by intention, not scent, but the blends are all deep and decadent so you can’t go wrong by picking one out based on your intuition and intention. There’s one for Transformation and Change, one for Passion, Love and Creativity, one to Evoke Love and Trust, one for Grounding and Empowerment, and one for Clarity and Strength. These are great for both men and women by the way. I actually found these by getting one for husband’s stocking one Christmas years ago and we’ve both used them off and on every since.

When making my own perfumes and body oils I usually use Aura Cacia brand ingredients because they are readily available at Whole Foods and other natural foods stores. Be sure to make certain you use reputable brands that are pure and natural because chemical fragrances are not going to give you the mental and emotional benefits that naturals give you. Have fun, be creative, and delight in your sense of smell a bit every day. Please subscribe for weekly posts about herbs, natural health, and green beauty, and please share this with anyone who might be interested.

The next blogger doing a post within the blogging challenge is C at https://judahfirst.wordpress.com/ so follow along if you wish.

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