I am learning about the various uses of oils in my Ayurvedic studies. I am also fortunate enough to have a friend here in town who introduced me to DoTerra oils a little over a year ago. I was easily able to turn my family of skeptics into believers with the little bit of lavender oil she gave me to take on our trip home to Calgary. These trips are wonderful for bringing on nose bleeds in both my son and husband, and even though neither really believed in it they allowed me to rub a drop of lavender on the bridge of their nose at the first sign of a nosebleed. Sure enough it immediately stopped for both of them. Both of them now pack around their little bottles of lavender as a ‘just in case’.

We now have a much wider selection of DoTerra oils and I’ve really enjoyed learning about the different uses for each of them. One I bought new this month was Vetiver. I was intrigued after reading about all the successes people had with it with regards to sleep. One of the ancient authorities on Ayurveda, Chakara is quoted as saying ” Happiness and misery, growth and wasting, strength and weakness, virility and sterility, knowledge and ignorance, life and death all depend on sleep.” Sleep is as important as anything else we can do to improve our lives. In our house all of us suffer at different times from lack of sleep – whether it’s from not being able to fall asleep to that dreaded 2am wakeup to fix all the world’s problems, to tossing and turning all night long. Something that is natural and healthful to help us deal with this? Yes please!

Now, my dear Jenna suffers from a severe case of FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) that often causes difficulty for her with regards to falling asleep and staying asleep. She’s terrified something interesting is going to happen and she will miss out. She’s known to wander into my room multiple times to just hug and kiss me -even if I act like a grumpy bear she still needs to know where I am. If I go downstairs she screams from her bed to know where I am (she’s 9, I swear she won’t die if I run downstairs for a minute…) She just needs to know where everyone is and what’s going on.

I talked with the kids about Vetiver and said that we should all try a drop on our big toes before going to bed. They both were pretty excited about it – I love how they’re eager to always try something new. I put a drop on each big toe and put the kids to bed. About 15 minutes later I had turned my light off and was ready to go 10 toes up myself when I heard the dog go ballistic downstairs. I turned the light back on and lay there trying to figure out how I was going to deal with what must be the boogeyman breaking into the house. I ran into the hall and Jacob was already standing there. We talked in normal voices (right outside of Jenna’s room with her door open) about what was going on. I yelled downstairs that whomever was in the house better get the heck out because I was coming down. Set Jacob up with a phone ready to call 911 and came downstairs to find… the dog barking at the window where the birdfeeder is. I can only assume that the bear is back out of hibernation and it’s time to start taking the feeder in again at night. Jacob yelled down to me to see if I was ok, I yelled back up that I was. Came back upstairs and went to Jacob’ room to make sure he was ok. On the way, I put my head into Jenna’s room and there she was lying in her bed sound asleep!!! Unheard of. Jacob and I both stood there in shock that she had slept through the entire thing.

Now, it hasn’t fully cured her FOMO, and sometimes I still wake up in the middle of the night and it takes about a half hour to go back to sleep, but I would have to say in general our sleeping patterns have much improved. Like most things it does not work in isolation – you couldn’t drink an espresso and watch a horror movie, rub a drop on your toe and drop off to a restful sleep. But as an aid to our regular bedtime routine it’s certainly helping.

Here’s what DoTerra has to say about Vetiver:

Emotional stress is a part of everyone’s life and can be hard to manage without the proper tools. Vetiver essential oil  has traditionally been used to help with emotional, hormonal, and balance issues.

Vetiver is known for its calming properties and its ability to help children increase focus. Additionally, it can help with sleep and is a popular oil to diffuse or rub on the bottom of feet before bedtime.

Its rich, smoky, exotic, and earthy fragrance is complementary to many other essential oils and is a common fragrance used in perfumes as a base note.

– See more at: http://doterrablog.com/calm-down-with-vetiver-essential-oil#sthash.gdpo4FDW.dpuf

According to Ayurveda, Vetiver is cooling to Pitta (the dosha made of fire and water) and soothing to Vata (the dosha made from air and ether). It can help with stress and can calm and focus the mind. It is a woody, earthy smell and helps open the root chakra as well as pass energy onto the other chakras.