what are the best essential oils for meditation?

sandalwood essential oil, frankincense essential oil, lavender oil, vetiver oil... what are the best essential oils to help you to meditate?

fragrance has been used to enhance meditation practice, relieve stress and anxiety and promote relaxation since meditation began (at least since records began)

 

in yoga texts it is referred to as gandha.

gandha is sanskrit for fragrance and the use of fragrance for meditation and spiritual practice. (interestingly, gandha also means sandalwood). this is from where I got the name yogandha

mindfulness and meditation have grown hugely in the past ten years - but an awareness of the beneficial effects of essential oils - to engage the spirit, to deepen focus, to create the sense of calm needed to meditate and to help bring your spiritual practice into the busier parts of your life - has not got much focus

this is the dharma of yogandha - so thank you for finding us and allowing us to spread this message!

so which essential oils to use? and should you use a single oils or go for essential oil blends?

it depends

and the true teacher here is your own inner knowing - in the moment that it engages with the oil - there's an exchange that's pure chemistry (and for me, spirituality) creating the true wisdom 

sandalwood essential oil is known to calm them mind, thoughts and any irritations - mental or physical - so that's a great one to start with

frankincense essential oil has the amazing ability to calm and deepen the breath - so soothing the mind and getting into an emotional readiness for meditation or yoga

vetiver is an oil that I have very deep feelings for - but i think everyone does - because vetiver is so deep - it can't have any other energy! because of its nature - to grow very deep roots into the earth - it's incredibly grounding - so great for bringing your mindful practice into the parts of your day where you tend to be more busy (those parts where you feel all your meditation and mindfulness can't quite reach). vetiver and all these essential oils mentioned will help the roots of your meditation to take hold in these more frenetic times

so is a singular essential oil or a blend better for meditation?

I prefer a blend. i worked with combining different essential oils - all those mentioned above (I wasn't prepared to lose out on the magic of any one of them) as well as other essential oils - to create yogandha ground. the other essential oils it contains are lavender - that beautifully soothing spirit that is lavender, myrrh - so transformational and transcendent and finally black pepper - traditionally used by monks to stay awake during meditation!

I created ground to be the perfect essential oil blend for meditation and yoga because it provides a spiritual and pranic symphony that engages mind, body and spirit. And (this part was critical for me) to help bring the roots and vines of your meditation into those part of your day that needed that energy the most