Do you have brain fog? You can use the aroma therapeutic benefits of essential oils to clear your mind, organize your thoughts and improve mental clarity, focus and performance. Discover top 10 essential oils for brain fog below!
What is Brain Fog?
Also known as mental fog and clouding of consciousness, the term brain fog is used to describe a condition characterized by an abnormality in the stability of overall level of consciousness. A brain fog leaves you feeling spaced out and dazed, in a dreamy state where you cannot clearly remember many events that have happened recently or during a period of time.
To understand brain fog clearly – think of a thick hazy mist clouding your thoughts, making you forget things, lose focus, feel fatigued and not knowing your purpose and goals. That’s brain fog.
Some of the causes of brain fog include:
- Fatigue
- Not getting enough sleep
- Dehydration
- Feeling faint
- Prolonged periods of standing
- Too much heat or sun
- Increased stress
- Nutritional deficiencies
- High levels of inflammation
- Hormonal imbalances such as low levels of dopamine, cortisol and serotonin being produced by the body
- Certain health conditions including ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorders), Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Alzheimer’s Disease, Celiac disease & other food allergies, Mastocytosis, Fibromyalgia and neuropsychiatric disorders, among others
How Do Essential Oils Help Brain Fog?
Essential oils, highly concentrated potent oils extracted from the aromatic parts of plants, have incredible benefits for our mental well-being. Their scents have therapeutic effects of increasing mental focus, boosting mood, dispelling negative thoughts, relaxing the mind, and so much more.
When diffused or inhaled, the tiny aroma compounds of essential oils float into the nose, whose olfactory cells travel to the brain. The olfactory system gives information to the brain which sends signals and the body responds accordingly.
The scent of lavender for example prompts the brain to release calming hormones which instructs the body to become calm and reduces stress & anxiety.
Other examples include: the fresh herbal scent of rosemary which has been known since ancient times to sharpen memory and improve mental clarity and the cooling and invigorating scent of peppermint which increases focus, concentration and wakefulness.
All this shows that aroma therapy can have a tremendous effect on brain fog.
Top 10 Essential Oils for Brain Fog
1. Lavender (where to get it)
2. Peppermint (where to get it)
3. Frankincense (where to get it)
4. Rosemary (where to get it)
5. Vetiver (where to get it)
6. Eucalyptus (where to get it)
7. Lemon (where to get it)
8. Cedarwood (where to get it)
9. Ylang Ylang (where to get it)
10. Sweet Orange (where to get it)
How to Use Essential Oils for Brain Fog
Find four amazing essential oil remedies for brain fog below:
1. ‘Clear the Fog’ Diffuser Blend Recipe
What you need
- 2 drops peppermint
- 2 drops eucalyptus
- 1 drop lemon
- Non – plastic cold air diffuser (where to get it)
Method
Add oils & required amount of water (read the manufacturer’s instructions) to your cold air diffuser and diffuse for 15 minutes.
2. Focus Roller Bottle Blend
What you need
- 10 drops rosemary
- 10 drops peppermint
- 10 drops sweet orange
- Fractionated coconut oil (where to get it)
- 10 ml roll – on bottle (where to get it)
Method
- Add the oils to a roll – on bottle and top with fractionated coconut oil.
- Shake well to mix.
- Roll onto temples, back of neck, behind ears and on shoulders.
3. ‘Sharpen the Mind’ Personal Inhaler
What you need
- 2 drops vetiver
- 2 drops cedarwood
- 1 drop frankincense
- Aromatherapy personal inhaler (where to get it)
Method
- Combine the oils in a small dish.
- Remove the wick from the personal inhaler and use it to soak up the oils.
- Place the wick back.
- Breathe deeply whenever needed to clear brain fog and improve alertness.
4. ‘Awaken’ Morning Shower Melts
What you need
- 1 cup corn starch (where to get it)
- ½ cup baking soda (where to get it)
- 20 drops lemon oil
- Ice cube tray
- Spray bottle (where to get it) with water
Method
- Mix the corn starch, baking soda and lemon oil in a large bowl.
- Now start spritzing water using the spray bottle into the bowl and use your hand to mix and collect the ingredients into little molds that form a shape.
- Don’t add a lot of water, just enough to get the ingredients to form a shape without falling apart.
- Stuff the little molds into silicone cube tray and leave it to set for an hour or two in the refrigerator.
- Once set, remove and store in a large mason jar.
- Toss one on the shower floor every time you want to take a bath. The heat and pressure of the shower will melt the shower melt, releasing the fresh cleansing scent of lemon into the air.
Are you going to try essential oils for brain fog? Which recipe(s) do you plan on using?