
Pillow Mists, an Aromatherapeutic Cure for Sleepless Nights
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In a world in which fitful sleep is all too common—more than a third of American adults don’t get enough rest—any serenity-inducing bedtime ritual is worth giving a go. But if listening to white-noise machines and banishing your smartphone to another room aren’t cutting it, it may be worth trying an age-old remedy: aromatherapy. Employed as medicine since at least 3500 B.C. and popularized in 1830s France, essential oils are now being reborn as ever-handy “pillow mists.” Despite their fanciful name, science proves that the ingredients typically used in the sprays produce measurable effects that help facilitate relaxation: Lavender calms the central nervous system, for example, while bergamot lowers blood pressure, and chamomile lessens anxiety.