What’s the best essential oil for yoga?

If you’re an aspiring yoga practitioner, no doubt you have heard of essential oils and aromatherapy for yoga. Essential oils enhance your session by bringing your sense of smell into your state of mind. Depending on the type of oil used, you can improve your relaxation, your alertness, or your mood. I’ve researched and tested several brands of essential oils in my yoga teaching practice: Aura Cavia, Plant Therapy, First Botany, Now Foods, until I settled on Radha Essential Oils. It’s the brand which my students liked the best. They don’t make all the different types of essential oils I like, so in some cases I’ve had to source a comparable brand.

Lavender is the most popular essential oil I use. I also mix things up with Bergamot, Frankincense, Eucalyptus, Tea Tree, Peppermint, and Lemon depending on the time of day, and style of yoga I’m teaching. I also went through several different highly-rated essential oil diffusers of different sizes and shapes. These are great for filling an entire room with scent. If I’ve had a particularly stressful day, I’ll put on some lavender or sandalwood in the bedroom to help me relax and sleep. The best diffuser I found is at the bottom of the listings below.

radha lavender essential oil Lavender
Essential Oil

Lavender Essential Oil

Lavender is one of the most popular essential oils for aromatherapy, relaxation, and uplifting moods in yoga. However, not all lavender oils are the same. The Radha lavender oil is extracted from French lavender and has a crisp and clean aroma. I’ve found this brand to be the best lavender essential oil for yoga, as confirmed by my students.

radha frankincense essential oilFrankincense Essential Oil

Frankincense Essential Oil

Frankincense is also known as the King of Oils. It has attributes of many of the other essential oils combined in one. It can help promote relaxation, focus, and healthy skin.I frequently use Frankincense in my practice because I like the scent. I find that using Frankincense helps yoga students to relax, yet stay alert. That’s in contrast to lavender, which strictly promotes relaxation and sends some to the land of snoring during savasana.

radha eucalyptus essential oil

Eucalyptus
Essential Oil

Eucalyptus Essential Oil

Eucalyptus has a sweet, menthol aroma blended with a pine undertone. The scent is refreshes and invigorates, and relieves stress and sluggishness.I typically use Eucalyptus essential oil for yoga classes after lunch and early afternoon. I find it revitalizes students and helps them combat the 2 o’clock crash.

radha tea tree essential oil

Tea Tree
Essential Oil

Tea Tree Essential Oil

Tea Tree oil brings a clean refreshing scent to a yoga class, and helps to ease the effects of a long day. It helps to boost your immune system and to sanitize hands.I use Tea Tree in particularly grueling yoga class where students have worked up a sweat. It’s a natural deodorizer that I find rather effective.

radha lemon essential oil

Lemon
Essential Oil

Lemon Essential Oil

Lemon is a purifying and powerful fragrance. It’s familiar and naturally energizing and uplifting. It can remind people of cleaning products, so I’ll typically blend it with Cypress essential oil to give it some balance.I like to use the lemon – cypress just before mediation or pranayama. One drop of lemon in one hand and one drop of cypress in the other, then rubbing the hands together.

radha peppermint essential oil

Peppermint
Essential Oil

Peppermint Essential Oil

Peppermint has a minty fresh aroma. It can help to clear sinuses, and relieve headaches. It’s one of the best essential oils for respiratory conditions.I keep some peppermint oil for yoga classes during the cold and flu season.

healing solutions bergamot essential oil

Bergamot
Essential Oil

Bergamot Essential Oil

Bergamot is used in traditional Chinese medicine to help with the flow of energy for the digestive system. It’s also one of the best essential oils for depression. It helps relieve anxiety and stress.

I like the citrus scent in Bergamot for keeping yoga students pumped up. It’s a softer and more subtle aroma compared with lemon, so it’s also relaxing.

urpower essential oil diffuser

Essential Oil
Diffuser

Best Essential Oil Diffuser

An essential oil diffuser brings aromatherapy to your bedroom, living room, home, or office. Fill it with water and add a few drops of your favorite essential oil. Turn it on, sit back, relax, and enjoy!

When looking for a diffuser, look for one that puts out a good mist volume, one that is easy to fill and clean, and one that holds enough water to last as long as you want it.

That said, I’ve bought a bunch of different essential oil diffusers to find the best one for home use. Some would have a small reservoir and need constant refilling, despite being larger in size. Some could only put out a light mist. Some had covers that were difficult to remove and reinstall. Some would drip water when changing.

Finally I found one I liked. There are other brands that look very similar, but they are not the same. So be sure to check carefully before adding it to your cart.

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