Before you start reading this, I want you to grab your rosemary essential oil (or a squished fresh rosemary leaf or even some cracked dried rosemary) and take a deep whiff. Why? Because it will help you retain all this information.
Done? Read on.
Have you still been working on thinking outside the box? Was Tuesday tough?
I don’t know why I’m asking, because while some of you shared some extra fun ideas – and I didn’t have to add a single one, because you covered all of mine – for the first part of the day it was *crickets* in the comments.
So, to help you prepare for the rest of the month – and the rest of your life, young grasshoppers – I want to share my very favorite way to use essential oils. Ever. Even more favorite than clearing my stuffy nose with ’em.
I love to use essential oils to make my brain smarter, quicker, and clearer. If you want a little help getting your brain geared up to “think outside the box” this is one heckuva place to start.
The best thing about using essential oils in this manner is that, if you’re in an “accepting” mindset, you’ll see results immediately.
When I say “accepting mindset,” I mean that you have to want to feel quicker, clearer, and more alert. At least, this is how it is for me. Whenever I try to use them, but I’ve decided that I’m a big, slow lump of blah, that’s what I remain. Nothing will change it.
But if you combine the effectiveness of the essential oils with the magnanimous power of your own mindset, you get an instantaneous lift, a rapid clearing of the fog.
This leaves you ready to learn more, think extra creatively, and just be an all around whip-smart conversational companion.
5 Favorite Essential Oils for Mental Clarity
While there aren’t volumes of scientific studies to back up the claims that these essential oils actually help your brain, there is hundreds of years (if not more) of traditional wisdom that confirms it.
However! Much has been studied about one of these essential oils, especially, in terms of how it affects the brain – and the results of the studies are excellent. (Yes, of course, we’re talking about rosemary.)
Here are the 5 Favorite Essential Oils for Mental Clarity:
- Rosemary
- Basil
- Juniper Berry
- Peppermint
- Sage or Clary Sage
Rosemary and clary sage will probably always be my two favorites, but I’ve recently discovered juniper berry – and it is a fast and quick love.
If you want to know where to get these essential oils? Check your local natural foods store, pop over to Mountain Rose Herbs, or check out Vitacost.
Now that you know what to use, here’s how to use them.
How to Use Your Essential Oils to Clear Your Mind
There are several different ways in which you can harness the aromatherapeutic power of these essential oils. I’m going to give my favorite three ways (which also happen to be the easiest ways), but I’m sure you guys can think of more.
You know, thinking outside the box and all.
Use the Ever-So-Easy Pot and Water Method
If you’re okay with filling your entire house with the scents of these essential oils, the quickest, most inexpensive, and easiest method is simply to drop them into a small pot that’s filled a little way with water.
Let the water heat up just until it’s steaming, and then turn down the heat and leave it on the burner for a few minutes until all the oils have evaporated into the air.
Or, my favorite thing to do, walk around the room/house with a pot of steaming essential oil water, so it fills the air with the healthy goodness. Be careful not to drop it, though.
Add Your Blend to a “Homemade Solid Perfume”
Instead of using your homemade solid perfume as, well, a perfume, why not turn it into a mental clarity balm?
Choose a blend of your favorite brain-boosting EOs (or just a single EO, is fine, too) and swap it for your more perfumey oils as you’re making the recipe.
Then, when you need a brain pick-me-up, just dab a small bit of the perfume on your temples or just under your nose.
Voila!
Pick Up An Inexpensive Candle Diffuser
This is the method I use at night if I’m writing in my bedroom, so I don’t fill up the whole house with essential oils that might otherwise keep people awake.
An aromatherapy candle diffuser looks like this (only yours might not be quite so dusty):
You just drop the essential oils in the top bowl and then light a tea light underneath. The heat from the tea light evaporates the essential oils into the air around you.
Where can you buy them? Nearly anywhere that sells essential oils, including Mountain Rose Herbs (which carries gorgeous soapstone diffusers) and Vitacost.
Mind Food Essential Oil Blends
Any of the above essential oils can be used singularly to help enhance your brain power and boost your mental clarity; however, if you want to get fancy and up the effectiveness, blend three of them together in a mix that’s pleasing to your olfactory system – or add one or two to another of your favorite essential oil (lemon or lemongrass, too, help with your energy levels – so don’t forget those)!
If you want to use them in “larger” quantities, as in filling your whole house with the scents, you can double or triple the blends.
Here’s my favorite blend:
Crunchy Betty’s Mind Food Blend
- 4 drops juniper essential oil
- 3 drops rosemary essential oil
- 3 drops clary sage essential oil
And here’s a blend I found in a book I JUST bought today (Mary Lee’s Natural Health and Beauty):
Mary Lee’s Mental Alert Blend
- 6 drops eucalyptus
- 2 drops peppermint
- 5 drops basil
And one from my favorite aromatherapy site, Aromaweb:
Aromaweb’s Memory and Concentration Blend #3:
- 1 drop basil
- 2 drops rosemary
- 2 drops cypress
Any Outside-the-Box Ideas to Increase Mental Clarity?
Do you have a favorite essential oil that helps you out in the brain department? I’d love to hear about it!
Or, do you have a completely different way you get your mind geared up, crystal clear, and ready to rock the intellectually creative world?
This is the time to share!
Please note: Due to excessive spamming on previous essential oil posts, I’m implementing a policy of no personal links to your own “essential oils” sales sites. You know which brands I’m talking about. No MLM, pretty please and thank you. : )
Tuesdays Outside the Box: Flour and Seasonal Allergies
Hi I just read your post and wanted to share. I have been burning a double wick Glasshouse candle in Lemongrass and have just done some of my best work.
Heating essential oils will destroy the important constituents in the oils. It is important where your oils come from, do you know? A cool diffuser is much better than heating oils. You may have the smell, but not the other benefits.
I started a new job several months ago and went through intense training for 6 months working I customer service call center. I’ve told many of my friends I honest ply don’t think I would have made it if I had not used EO daily. My favorite is a mental focus blend that has basil rosemary grape fruit and clary sage. Also love chamomile and lavender to de-stress.
Great suggestions – and I absolutely love Frankincense on my forehead!!!
I am looking for something to help my dad with energy and mental clarity/focus. I’ve read rosemary and safe are not safe for people of blood pressure meds. Is this also true when diffusing and using topically??? Please help ANYONE!!!
I DRIVE A TRUCK AND ON A LONG HAUL—-DRIVING I NEED SOMETHING–COFFEE DOESNT ALWAYS DO IT..JUMPING..ORANYTHING ELSE–SO MAYBE THESE OILS WILL WORK
My favorite study blend is 4-5 drops Frankincense,1 drop peppermint, 1-2 spearmint, and 2-3 of stress away. This a great blend to wake up your brain and help soak up everything.
*if you’re studying for a test, use the oils when you study and put a drop or two of the same oil before the test. The scent is associated with the things you took in while you first smelled it, so your brain will not only remember the scent but everything you studied!*
I bought the oils for Mary Lee’s Mental Alert Blend and put the recipe into a roller – can it be used pure on the foot or does it need a carrier? thank you
You should always use a carrier oil when applying to the skin. About 1oz of carrier to about 6 drops of essential oil is a 1% dilution.
I put a couple of drops of Orange essential oil in my drinking water. Very refreshing and uplifting.
I have been suffering with mild confusion most of the day, so I typed in “mental clarity essential oils” and found your blog. YAY! I have peppermint and eucalyptus already mixed that I use for headache. I started some peppermint in my tea light candle similar to the one you have pictured, and now I am ready to zoom. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I printed off your blog so I have the recipe once I add rosemary to my growing collection. I use peppermint often, but I didn’t even seem to have the clarity to start it this afternoon! But, your blog was available. I also subscribed.
I just made a yummy concentration blend and use it in my Aroma Ace diffuser.
1 part Benzoin
1 part Basil
2 parts Lemon
2 parts Rosemary
Smells fantastic and helps clear the cob webs while giving a soothing, yet uplifting energy.
Enjoy!
I have 2 questions: 1. what is the difference if any between sage, clary sage and spanish sage?
2. I have heard that using heat (such as candle diffusers) with essential oils causes them to break down and makes them less effective and that a cool mist diffuser is the best way to go. s there any truth to this?
Yes heat diffusers break down the enzymes in the oil.it is best in a cool water diffuser.
The difference between sage and clary sage is that it is a different plant. Sage (salvia officinalis) and clary sage (salvia sclarea). Spanish sage (salvia lavandulaefolia). Sage has many cautions that follow it. It can be dangerous depending on how you use it. Clary sage is generally safer except if you are pregnant you have to be careful with clary.
I just tried using rosemary (dabbed some on straight from the bottle behind my ears and under my nose), and within a few minutes, it’s as if the clouds have cleared! Thank you!! I’ll be trying the other suggestions also, adding them one at a time to be able to tell which ones affect me the best.
my favorite blend around the house is 6 drops grapefruit, 4 drops lemon, 3 drops rosemary, 3 drops sandlewood. so fresh and bright smelling! and totally a motivator to get going and accomplish things! thanks for this post!
Can one who has lost her sense of smell glean any therapeutic benefit from EO’s? Damaged olfactory nerves in ’94 car accident, tho’ my sense of taste is still there ( tho’ muted) … Which suggests my smell sense is not *completely* gone….
Your sense taste and smell are the same sense, so you should get some benefit. This is a very interesting question though. I think I’m going to google it!
One of the wonderful things about essential oils is that even with no smell they still work. It’s not all about the nose it’s about the chemistry of the oils and that’s what makes them work.
It’s not an oil, but it’s definitely brain boosting! I’ve been doing an exercise regimen called “T-Tapp,” which is specifically designed to fire up your brain’s left-right connections. One of her signature moves is called “Hoedowns.” YouTube has several different videos of it, but here’s the main one: http://youtu.be/lsURicKB_G8. I’m not a representative of the company, but I am one very happy, satisfied customer. I teach on the college level, many times in the late afternoon. I sometimes make my students do them in class, if everyone is drooping. Perks them right up!
Hi,
Will diffusing the oil using heat still give us the therapeutic benefits? I am confused with so many articles suggesting that when we heat , we just get the aroma .
this is going to sound like an ad… but recently i found a coffee that effectively gets my
scattered, into focus. caribou coffee. their regular signature ground beans blend. its not very tasty. but its tremendously idea sparking.
Love this post! Just thought I’d mention Clary Sage can have a narcotic effect – especially in higher doses, so it is recommended (at least by all my Aromatherapy text books) to avoid it you are planning to drive or are drinking alcohol.
My favorite for a quick mind booster is Sweet Orange EO. I actually created my own little inhaler that I carry around with me now. I took a small vial, stuffed a bit of cotton ball into it, and then dripped some Sweet Orange (with a hint of peppermint) onto the cotton ball. Now all I have to do is pop it open and sniff! I’m surprised I don’t get funny looks at work 😛
For my office, I got one of those ceramic ring diffusers that you put on a standard incandescent light bulb, and I put a few drops of bergamot EO in it every morning to improve my mood. I should try the peppermint though and see if that makes me more productive!
I like mixing my own, like a grapefruit and peppermint mix (in oil or with water in a spray bottle). But, I haven’t yet met a mix that compares with the awesomeness of Lotus Wei’s Inspired Action and Pure Energy blends for this purpose. I think you are totally right about having to be in the right frame of mind. If I’m not going to get up off my butt then no EO is going to make me. I also like to burn a nice orange EO candle, or a peppermint candle. I like to have a candle going while I do my morning yoga (combined with some work on a balance ball and free weights). My morning routine of tea, yoga and breakfast is necessary to get moving.
Lovely post. I’ll take Mental Clarity for $200 please cause this tired mama sure needs it.:-)
I actually made up some perfume oil this morning because I suspected that it was going to be a bad day (deadlines/tests/roommate drama/lesson ALL AT ONCE). It was ten drops lavender, eight drops rosemary and five drops ylang-ylang in about a teaspoon of vanilla-infused grapeseed oil. I don’t know how much I like it as a perfume, but it is officially my favoried “It’s Okay” blend! The fact that I managed to snatch an hour in which to read under a tree, barefoot, in the sun helped, too. 🙂
I like to drink water or grapefruit juice (particularly on long drives), so I’m guessing grapefruit E.O. would work, too.
Eat a mint. Drink some water. Stretch. Recall a “good times” up beat memory that you haven’t thought about in years, like the time you and your friends went on a two hour travel montage looking for two cups of flour to make pancakes at midnight on New Year’s Eve and had to finally pirate some off your friend’s friend. >.>; Yeah….
I used to do all these things during the midwatch while I was in the Navy, and had to get up at reveille two hours after getting off watch. Local command policy allowed any bottled drink except alcohol, but no food except hard candies like mints or butterscotch. While I was at school for my job training, we were allowed sunflower seeds. Working something with your mouth can help keep you focused, and I’ve resorted to sunflower seeds many times since while doing schoolwork. Tastier than chewing on a pen, and less destructive!
I love using grapefruit EO, mostly because when I’m dragging my mood is too so the citrus uplifts my spirits. I fell in love with a bath oil my husband bought me once for aches that was a blend of juniper and wintergreen primarily, but it also had a titch of rosemary and possibly sage. It was amazing! I really should treat myself to some more so I can figure out how to blend it myself!
I only have rosemary and peppermint EO so far, but I have everything except the juniper growing in my yard! My basil and sage are just little sprout-lets so far, so it will be a while ’til I can use them. I love making fresh herbal infusions from the peppermint (hot or over ice). And I can’t walk past any of them without grabbing a few leaves to smell for aromatherapy on the go.
I love your diffuser! Where did you get it? Also, thanks for the allergy info, Faith, I really needed that!
there’s one similar to this (not exactly) at vitacost right now. =)
I’m open to this idea. I don’t have a particular blend, but any lemon or orange essential oils always make me happier 🙂 🙂 Love and hugs from the ocean shores of California, Heather 🙂
Grapefruit essential Oil is great For an energy boost too
Do you put just the essential oils in the candle diffuser? I have always filled it with water and then added the essential oils to that. Good to know!
I was always taught to put the EOs into water as well (meant to ask that too but I had lavender brain hehe). I imagine that each oil burner (diffuser) would be different, but some might get too hot for the neat oil, and that would be why you’d want to drop them in a water bath.
I like the idea of a bit of moisture in the air (very dry here in Canberra) so I’ll probably continue the water method myself.
I have no idea, really, so I’ll definitely be prowling for ideas! I will note, however, both my thanks for the “no sales links” policy AND a caution with EOs… if you’re allergic to something in the wild, so to speak, you’ll be even more allergic to the EO. Juniper all but killed me before we moved to an area where it doesn’t grow much. (seriously. really.) I can’t use avocado oil. Be aware of your allergies, and take that into account when you’re gathering your essential oils and carrier oils, please. =)
My absolute favorite is lavender and clary sage. I have one of those alarm clocks that can act as a scent diffuser, so I usually load up a cotton ball with equal parts of the oil and let it go to work. This is AMAZING when you’re hormonal. I’m pretty sure this combo has stopped me from going on a rampage through the local village more than once.
I’d love to hear more about this alarm clock.
What is the name of the alarm clock
Yes, please tell us more of this amazing alarm clock!
I did some research, there’s a plethora of Essential Oil Alarm Clock ‘s on sale on Amazon. The only thing I strain is make sure it is a diffuser or nebulizer and one that does not heat the oils (which wastes the product and breaks it down).
The nebulizer uses only oils no water, so it’s more potent but can use a lot of oil. It normally spreads through you house nicely, but again you will be using more oil.
Diffusers use water so it dilutes the oil and makes it last much, much longer.
Peppermint, mostly because it helps clear my sinuses, which then cease to put pressure on my brain thus allowing me to think. Oh on the allergy relief topic.. wash your bedding regularly, use either a good microfiber that attracts dust or a damp rag to pick up the dust rather than spread it, replace or clean any air filters regularly etc. If you wake up with symptoms plain old ordinary coffee (with caffiene) can help, at least with the sinus irritation, plus it makes pain meds (like aspirin) work better.
I had an aneurysm with aphasia 11 years ago. My word are better but I start with frankincense for the brain. I had a pot bomb so I add the frankincense in the bowl. I can use the bomb without the pot! It is easy to smell through the bomb. It what to the brain. I felt the veins through to the brain. I noticed that my words are much better. Remember, I had the aneurysm eleven years ago. And I start the frankincense three month ago!! I am adding peppermint, rosemary and the frankincense and eucalyptus.
Jumping jacks. Seriously. I just do jumping jacks if I’m working and start to feel sleepy/drowsy/lazy/unmotivated and it wakes me right up. Just getting the blood moving gives me a boost! And drinking lots and lots of ice water.
I also do jumping jacks to get my blood moving and get myself motivated. Some days I do 50 when I roll out of bed. Makes a great start to the day!
I like to stand on my head to perk myself up!
I have no idea, so I am loving your ideas!!! Thanks for the giveaway!
A couple of drops of rosemary in a glass of demineralized water is a great ‘final rinse’ for hair (after shampooing) and a great way to refresh your entire scalp.
An aside about sage essential oil – Sage is incredibly powerful and is ‘close to’ the hormone estrogen – enough to wreak havoc if applied topically – even in very small amounts. Therefore – be VERY careful with it. You are absolutely right in recommending clary sage – as this EO doesn’t carry the warnings sage EO does.
Interesting…
I love the flavour of sage in cooking, and I have been thinking about growing some in the garden. It’s also used a lot in traditional spiritual practise, but I haven’t got around to reading up about that yet. I’m even more curious now.
I’ve read that if you throw sage into a campfire it will keep insects away, although I have yet to try this.
Gahhh, I’ve got nothin’! I have spent the last 2 hours ‘harvesting’ lavender from a huuuuge stash I hung up to dry a couple of months ago. I smell divine, but I am soooo relaxed and sleepy right now 🙂