Sweet Sleep

Do you know the children’s story “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie”? It’s such a masterful circle story that starts and ends…with a cookie! Our lives are full of circle stories and scenarios where one choice leads to a result which leads…in a circle (and let’s say the cookie represents our well-being!). Healthy sleep and a healthy body go hand-in-hand. One thing leads to another. Conversely, lack of adequate rest can make a big impact on our overall health and wellness. 
There are many scenarios that make sleep disregulation wreak havoc on our well being. The first comes from self-sabotage. You know, leaning on a venti latte to get going, for instance, or snatching a late-night snack just because you’re awake. Perhaps it’s skipping the gym because you’re just too tired. These scenarios can become vicious cycles that sabotage your systems and lead further down the path of wellness breakdown.
Unhealthy choices breed unhealthy habits. Too little sleep translates to disregulation of vital whole body repair and toxin flush that occurs in a normal sleep cycle. A rested body helps lead to a properly functioning body.
A sleepy brain is inefficient and dull. Insomnia may cause a person to make poor decisions and to have poor impulse control. One can also crave junk food when over tired. Sleep is to the brain as nutrition is to the body.
The stress hormone, cortisol, spikes up on too little sleep, causing a body to keep hold of, or hoard, fat.
Adequate sleep sets up your body for your day - gives you a better perspective to face what’s in front of you. Allows you to have the energy stores you need to get your move on - which in turn returns your cycle to again get good rest for the night. It’s a beautiful circle story!
When you have inadequate sleep, you are setting your metabolic system up for being as groggy as you are! In sleep debt, your grumpy fat cells, instead of carrying fatty acids and lipids from the blood stream, do just the opposite, allowing excess insulin to have it’s heyday. Fat gets stored in all the wrong places, like liver tissue. Dare I say this is a sad circle story?
Too much sugar, causing blood sugar imbalance, in turn causes wakefulness and restlessness. Too much screen time negatively affects the body’s ability to regulate a quieted system. Caffeine on board ramps one up. All of these can stir up adrenal fatigue and imbalance
How can we make sleep a priority and set our systems up to work more optimally? It only takes a quick search through the very reliable anecdotal testimonials in oil chat groups to produce a myriad of helpful options. There are a whole host of Young Living products used to support our bodies to have the best rest. Here I’ve compiled a list from one such search. Don’t let the list overwhelm you, or get bogged down with the details. Just quickly scroll through to get a sense for the fact that many oils and products can help with one & many things!


What did you do to get your best nights sleep? Here is a compilation of answers:
* 2 valor, 1 cedar wood in diffuser + 2 valor on spine
* Cedarwood, lavender and peace & calming
* Diffuse lavender
* Rutavala or cedarwood, vetiver and lavender
* Lavender under big toes + valor on ears and toes
* Nutmeg and lavender on wrists
* Valor, lavender and cedarwood on big toes, tranquil on forearms and temples
* Lavender and cedarwood, lavender bath gel in shower and Ylang Ylang
* Diffuse lavender, cedar wood and stress away + roller of lavender, patchouli, vetiver, valor and stress away used on wrists and under big toes
* Peace and calming on feet + vetiver on big toe
* Diffuse lavender, valor and vetiver
* Vetiver on big toes and behind ears, diffuse sleepyize
* Stress away, cedarwood and vetiver in diffuser
* Cedarwood and tangerine on feet
* Lavender, cedar wood and marjoram - 2 each, diffused
* Rutavala + diffuse lavender, cedar wood, stress away, yang yang and clary sage
* Tranquil roll-on
* Tangerine and valor on feet
* “I can’t do lavender for anything sleep”…try cedarwood, valor, bergamot, diffused + cedarwood on big toes
* Tranquil or white Angelica on brainstem, wrists and behind ears, + diffuse: sacred mountain or peace and calming
* Tranquil and lavender lotion
* Patchouli
* Vetiver
* Rutavala
* Valor and cedarwood, topically
* Valor, vetiver and peace and calming with carrier on bottom of feet
* Cedarwood across forehead
* Frankincense and sacred mountain in diffuser
* Cedarwood/sacred mountain or lavender/Northern Lights black spruce diffused + cedarwood on bottom of toes
* Cedarwood and geranium diffused
* Lavender and vetiver in spray bottle with water - spray on pillow
* Tranquil, gentle baby, norther lights black spruce, aroma life
* Diffuse: roman chamomile and lavender
* Vetiver, frankincense, lavender and cedarwood
* Lavender, cedarwood and stress away
* Northern lights black spruce and orange
* Vetiver on wrists and behind ears
* Sacred mountain and tangerine
* Peace and calming and lavender and tangerine
* Clove and orange
* Immupower
* 2 sacred mountain + 5 orange in diffuser
* Mix equal parts and use neat (25 drops or so each): stress away, lavender, cedarwood, valor, frank - over heart, back of neck, big toes, under/behind ears, wrists, under nose
* Dream catcher
* Peace & Calming and lavender in diffuser + tranquil on spine and bottom of feet
* Peace and calming
* 3 valor and 2 lavender
* Vetiver, cedarwood and bergamot in roller with carrier
* Release and forgiveness
* Layer stress away, vetiver, rutavala or peace & calming, valor and rutavala
* “Sweet dreams” roller, applied behind ears and on big toes: 10 drops each of lavender, valor, cedarwood, orange, vetiver, frankincense and ylang yang
* “Sweet sleep” roller: 20 lavender + 7 vetiver
* Diffuse: 4 cedarwood and 4 white Angelica
* Sleep Essence
* Thyromin and Tranquil roll-on
Note the variations. Diffusing, applying topically, ingesting - the options vary and are as unique as the people recommending. The oils are as versatile as people are. Everyone is unique and different. We can all use different oils and get along, haha!! Really…what works for one may not work for another, but there is something that will work for you. You may just need to go through the process to find your ideal option. The promise lies in the fact that there is a YL oil or supplement (or combination) that will work to bring balance to your rest needs.
You see there are commonalities throughout this list. Lavender and cedarwood come up A LOT. Those may be good starting points for a newcomer to this process. There are many differences, too. Who knew bergamot could help support sleep, and how did she discover that combined with vetiver and cedarwood in the diffuser could send one to lalaland? As Dr. Jim Bob Haggerton says, “Everybody’s body is different”. I didn’t even see Cortistop on the comments.  I saw a major improvement in the quality of my sleep after doing the recommended 2 months of Cortistop supplement.  And I love to diffuse Sacred Mountain, Stress Away and Pine at bedtime which also aren't in the list! 
There are many things that can lead to poor sleep patterns. As you pinpoint your own unique needs you can hone in on the best support for those needs.

• Do you need to focus on supporting your hormones as a way to bring your body to better restfulness?
  
• Is brain balance your target?
  
• Does anxiousness sink down on you?
  

Choose an oil or product based on those needs and begin the trial to discover if it works for you. Pick a suggestion from the list above that appeals to you and try it out. As you discover what helps you sleep better, you are building your own unique program for your own unique YOU!

As you get your sleep regulated you can better your circle story: get the right amount of sleep for your body and you will be better set up for whole-body wellness. If you are in wellness, you can think better, move better, and make healthier choices. And the cycle continues! You are writing your circle story to raise your wellness level, and that is way better than giving a mouse a cookie!

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