Lights-Out Lavender

Supporting Menopausal Sleep with Aromatherapy

If you’re new here, hello! And, if you’ve been fanning yourself with us for a while, you know that HOT FLASH! The Newsletter is where we spotlight science you can actually use—real research on what works for women like us, no prescription pad (or permission) required.

We’re all about lifestyle insights you can act on today to support rediscovering your best self in this chapter of life. Because let’s be honest: you shouldn’t have to wait for an appointment to start feeling like your best you.

Today, we’re still celebrating Better Sleep Month and exploring recent research that leans into something you may have heard in passing: “For better sleep, just put a drop of lavender on your pillow.”

For some time, women navigating menopause have turned to lavender as a gentle bedtime ally. Why not? Lavender smells like calm, and helps support it. Personally? I’ve used it on my scalp, and yes—lavender helped me ease into sleep more smoothly and seemed to soften the fires of hotflashes when nothing else worked.

This week, we’re featuring a 2025 randomized controlled trial published in Complementary Therapies in Medicine that explored how aromatherapy with lavender and bitter orange essential oils (LEO+BEO) and/or mindfulness-based therapy (MBT) could support menopausal women experiencing mild to moderate anxiety. Researchers asked: Can aromatherapy with LEO+BEO and/or MBT improve menopausal changes, sleep quality, and serum cortisol?

Over the course of 8 weeks, the LEO+BEO-assigned groups were instructed to apply 2–3 drops of the combination oil to their forearm and inhale it three times daily. Those in MBT-assigned groups received weekly mindfulness-based therapy sessions over the same two-month period. (There was also a group that received both.) The results? Both the aromatherapy and MBT groups (with a slight edge for the aromatherapy group) experienced better sleep, reduced anxiety, and an improved sense of well-being. No prescription, no side effects, no fancy equipment—just one small ritual with big results.

📬 In this edition:

• The case for aromatherapy as a healing ally during hormonal transitions

• Key findings on the effects of lavender+bergamot aromatherapy on sleep, mood, and nervous system balance

• Easy ways to bring aromatherapy into your self-care rituals

---