A diffuser can help boost your mood by adding aromatherapy to your routine. The calming scents of lavender and chamomile can soothe you, while oils like lemon, eucalyptus, pine, and peppermint have energizing properties.

Just make sure to use pure, high-quality essential oils. You should also avoid using them around pets and children, as some can be toxic when inhaled.

Reduce Stress

A diffuser uses airflow to vaporize and disperse essential oils throughout the room. The technology differs from older methods of diffusion that use heat, which can break down the therapeutic compounds in fats and diminish their effectiveness.

Inhaling aromas from a diffuser can help balance emotions, reduce anxiety and stress, boost energy and focus, and even improve sleep. Some of the best essential oils for this purpose include lavender and chamomile. Other popular options include peppermint to relieve headaches and orange to improve mood and boost mental clarity.

A diffuser can also promote restful sleep since many blends of essential oils are known to soothe the mind and body. Try a calming lavender oil or melatonin-enhancing clary sage blend before bed, and lower the lights to encourage a natural sleep cycle. Some diffusers have built-in timers, so you can set them to turn on and off at regular intervals. This creates a predictable and calming daily routine and helps signal to the brain when it’s time to relax, focus, or energize.

Boost Energy

Using diffusers, adding some reed diffuser sticks to inhale essential oils allows you to reap their multiple health benefits without applying them directly to your skin or ingesting them. The oil molecules disperse into the air and enter your body through your lungs, impacting your brain and nervous system. This can affect everything from your mood to your energy levels.

Try an energizing blend that contains oils like bergamot, grapefruit, and peppermint to help you feel alert, focused, and ready for the day. Or, create a grounding diffuser blend that contains ylang-ylang for an aroma that promotes a sense of holistic wellness and helps you feel balanced.

If you’re having trouble sleeping, try diffusing a soothing oil blend such as lavender or rose to encourage feelings of relaxation and drowsiness. Or, if you’re struggling with anxiety or stress, use an uplifting blend that incorporates essential oils such as ylang-ylang and eucalyptus to calm your mind and boost energy. Alternatively, a diffuser with a timer allows you to set your oil blend to turn on and off at specific times throughout the day, helping you maintain a consistent and calming routine.

Improve Sleep

A diffuser can help you sleep better because some essential oils have calming properties. When you inhale the vapors from certain essential oils, they can reduce stress hormones that trigger our physical response to stressful situations. This includes our heart rate and blood pressure spiking, our muscles tightening, and our breath speeding up.

Diffusers use heat or electrical energy to break up the oil’s molecules and spread them into a mist. Some can include fans for more effective and even distribution. You can also use a reed diffuser that uses reeds to soak up the oil and release its fragrance into the air.

Placing a diffuser in your bedroom can help you wind down for bed by emitting soothing scents such as lavender or clary sage. The calming aromas can relax and encourage your body to produce sleep-promoting melatonin. Some people also like to diffuse bergamot oil. It’s a citrus oil with mood-boosting and energetic properties, but it also contains a relaxing scent that can aid in a restful night’s sleep.

Relieve Aches and Pains

Aromatherapy uses natural scents to promote physical and mental wellness. Essential oils are concentrated extracts from fragrant plants like lavender, peppermint, and eucalyptus. The smell of these oils is believed to cause the brain to release neurotransmitters that can trigger a positive emotional response.

The soothing scent of a diffuser can also relieve minor aches and pains. The ultrasonic machines use high-frequency sound waves to disperse oil and water into a fine mist that scents the air. Eucalyptus and tea tree oils have antibacterial properties that fight germs in the air. Other oil options that are helpful for respiratory issues include cinnamon and oregano.

It’s important to err on safety when using a diffuser, especially around children and pets. Certain oils may be toxic to animals when ingested, making sensitive people or allergies sick when inhaled. It’s also important to purchase essential oils from reputable sources and check labels for a recommendation on using the product safely.

Make Your Home Smell Great

While it might seem like an obvious tip, having a diffuser can be one of the easiest ways to make your home smell great, there are many options for oil diffusers, from a simple unglazed ceramic pot to an electric device that resembles an air cleaner, blowing the oils into the air (be sure to research which ones are safe around pets, as some may be toxic to animals when inhaled).

Other aromatherapy techniques—like using essential oils on cotton balls and putting them in your pockets or incorporating scents into your cleaning products—can also help improve your home’s scent. But an oil diffuser is probably the most convenient and cheapest way to get that fresh, clean aroma throughout your house.

Eucalyptus and ginger oil are good options for an extra wellness boost to help alleviate respiratory issues and soothe sore muscles. While the pain-fighting properties of many of these oils are already in various ointments and other body care products, adding a diffuser to your routine can extend the benefits and help you avoid a trip to the drugstore.