Purple Haze-

Sweet Scents = Sweet Sleep?  Too often this simple equation is overlooked in people’s quest for a good night sleep.  The most common scent and best known to help with sleep, is lavender. Lavender was used to scent the Roman baths and during the Middle Ages, was rubbed on the gloves of workers to ward off the Plague.  This actually had validity, as the smell of lavender repels fleas and it was the fleas that were transmitting the disease. 

In more modern times, lavender is used to aid with sleep and relaxation by sewing the seeds and flowers into small pillows and placing them in pillowcases at bedtime. 

One formal study of it’s aid for sleep was study done at Britain’s University of Southampton.  For a week, half of the test volunteers  slept in a room with lavender essential oil diffused in the air while the other half, slept in a room with almond oil.  At the end of the 7 nights, the people who slept with the lavender reported a 20% increase in the quality of their sleep!

Another research test with lavender involved psychologists at Wesleyan University. They had 31 men and women sniff lavender essential oil one night, followed by smelling distilled water the next. The subjects slept more sound when smelling the lavender and by monitoring their sleep cycles with brain scans, researchers saw an increase in slow-wave sleep.

But don’t take their word for it, lavender soap, sachet pillows, oils and sleep masks are easily found in most department and health food stores.

So take a deep breath, relax and drift off into the land of Nod…

Sweet (smelling) Dreams-  Jane