Sleep. I am awful without sleep. For 8 years I worked the night shift at the hospital. Working nights is not for the faint of heart. Our bodies need to rest. To recharge. Sleep is a vital part to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I really started to understand the value of these little bottles of oils when it helped me and my baby sleep. I was working as a night nurse, and breastfeeding a baby, so sleep was an issue. A big issue. After getting my little guy set up with Calming Blend in his diffuser every night and him starting to sleep through the night. It was time to look into ways to help me. I love diffusing but had not quite found the right combination that helped me sleep. {Insert Vetiver.}
Vetiver is a root oil. I wish I had known that before I took my first whiff of this guy. Friends it
initially smells like earth. Dirt really. I do not know what I was expecting but that was not it. I thought no way am I diffusing this by itself. Let alone putting it on me. So I started by putting 2-3 drops in my diffuser with 3-4 drops of Calming Blend every night. It was amazing. Is still amazing. The Vetiver adds a warm woodsy aroma with the sweetness of Calming Blend. Making it one of my favorite combinations. Since my sleep issues were so bad after working the night shift for eight years, I also applied 1-2 drops of Vetiver on my feet with 1-2 drops of Calming Blend and catch my Zzzz's without an issue.
Vetiver is wonderful to use to calm emotions, promote sleep, use in massage, and added to a bath. One thing I do want to point out is Vetiver is THICK. I purchased a medicine dropper to use as the cap instead of the orifice it comes with. Dispensing it this way is simple and time efficient.
I no longer work nights, and mostly just diffuse at night. But if my mind is going, and I know I need to get to bed, applying Vetiver to my feet, or behind my ears is what I do. I know I will sleep well. And now I LOVE the smell. Love it.
Thanks to all of the Halloween festivities my 4 year old was having nightmares. Guess what that means? Poor sleep for all of us. Essential oils to the rescue. What would I have done before I had these little guys? Been a complete bear to be around to say the least. I used 1 drop of Calming Blend with 1 drop of Vetiver with a teaspoon of fractionated coconut oil to dilute and rubbed in on the bottoms of her feet and back of neck. Guess who slept all night? Yup she did. So we did this for a few nights, she slept, and I thought all was right in our little world again. I stopped applying it for two nights and guess who was back to waking up? You guessed it. If anyone is familiar with what a 4 year old little girl is without enough sleep then I have your sympathy. If you have not had the pleasure let me tell you... It. Is. Rough. We all need adequate sleep. And she is no exception. I am so happy to have something to help her. To help her get a good nights rest and keep the nightmares at bay. Vetiver I love you.
How We Use Vetiver
- Diffuser for sleep. See my combination below.
- Topically: Applied to bottoms of feet. For myself 1-2 drops applied to bottom of big toes, behind ears, and inhaled from hands. Also used when I am feeling particularly frustrated, or when stress is high. It is calming, and helps ground me.
- Internally: I have never taken it internally. I like the smell too much so we use it aromatically and topically :)
- Kids: Apply a drop topically to back of neck and feet, focus on big toes, diluted with fractionated coconut oil (or whatever carrier oil you have). Perfect if your child had a particularly hard day to help promote feelings of calmness.
- 3-4 drops Calming Blend
- 1-2 drops Vetiver
- Optional: 1-2 drops Cedarwood
This is how our family uses Vetiver. Did anyone count how many times I used the word "love" in this Vetiver post?
If you are interested in winning a bottle click the GIVEAWAY banner to the right. Want to learn more about essential oils and get started with the oils we use email me at allison@theoilcorner.com
Have A Happy Day!
~Allison
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