Do you find yourself daydreaming at work when the day is only half over, and you have so much to do still? If you said yes and relate to this all too well, you may like to try improving your mental clarity with aromatherapy!
Mental clarity is being able to think clearly and use the mind to focus on what is at hand without becoming distracted by other thoughts, emotions or outside stimuli. Living with a constant brain fog or scattered and unorganized thoughts can cause difficult decision making and it can even interfere with daily work or home life. A lack of mental clarity can affect our lives in many ways—including poor mental health and decreased quality of work. There are several reasons why the mind can feel out of focus such as stress, a lack of sleep and exercise or poor diet.
In this post, we'll discuss how aromatherapy and other lifestyle changes can help you clear the fog and begin to focus better.
5 Ways to improve focus and clarity
Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy is a holistic health method that uses natural plant extracts known as essential oils to promote mental and physical well-being. Essential oils are often used to improve mental clarity, focus and concentration and even increase energy levels because of how they stimulate the senses. Several scientific studies have proven that smelling certain essential oils can enhance mental focus, clarity and memory in individuals. Some of the most commonly used essential oils to improve mental clarity and focus are Peppermint, Rosemary, Lavender and Basil.
Try: MOXĒ Breathe Nasal Inhaler
MOXĒ Breathe is an aromatherapy nasal inhaler that contains Peppermint, Eucalyptus, Cajeput, Tea Tree, Lavender and Rosemary essential oils, as well as Pink Himalayan Sea Salt. This aromatherapy inhaler combines natural plant therapy in energizing essential oils that help you inhale yourself into focus and fight headaches, using the power of therapeutic essential oils. The invigorating aroma of the essential oil blend contained in MOXĒ Breathe stimulates the senses and can improve mental clarity to help boost you out of your brain fog!
Meditation
Meditation is another holistic approach to achieving mental clarity by training the mind to become more aware and present in the moment. Mindfulness meditation can help one to sort through the clutter in their mind and be present in the moment. Meditation can be beneficial for mental health by increasing productivity, decreasing stress and anxiety and getting better sleep, as well as spiritual health by increasing your awareness of the world around you and deepening your self-connection and self-purpose. Achieving these great benefits of meditation takes practice—with time, you will notice fewer wandering thoughts and more mental clarity from regular meditation. This practiced skill of achieving mental clarity through meditation can be transferred into every day life when the mind starts to wander or a brain fog comes rolling in.
Exercise
We often forget (or may not know at all) that regular exercise benefits our mental health in addition to our physical health. It’s no coincidence that when you get back into a consistent workout routine, you have more energy, concentration and an overall more positive outlook. Consistent exercise can increase cognitive function—directly by reducing insulin resistance, inflammation, and stimulating the release of growth factors in the brain, and indirectly by improving mood and sleep and reducing stress and anxiety. A study done by the University of Pittsburgh found that regular aerobic exercise even increases the size of the hippocampus, which is the part of the brain that controls memory and learning. The time you feel a brain fog coming on, try working up a sweat to boost your mental clarity!
Get more sleep
The amount of sleep we get directly impacts how well our brain functions—a lack of sleep can cause impairment of most cognitive functions including memory as well as ability to concentrate, focus, react, and pay attention. Sleep deprivation is so detrimental to the body’s ability to function properly that drowsy driving is on par with being as dangerous as drunk driving—a 2014 AAA Traffic Foundation study found an estimated 21 percent of fatal crashes involve drowsy driving. Not getting enough sleep interferes with the brain cells’ ability to communicate with each other, which slows down our decision-making, information processing and ability to focus—in short, sleep deprivation impairs our mental performance. Having these cognitive functions operating at a lowered capacity can throw off the entire day by making even simple tasks take much more effort—depriving the mind and body of sleep on a regular basis means that cognitive functions are consistently impaired. If you find yourself constantly in a state of lowered cognitive function and brain fog—consider whether you are getting enough sleep!
Maintain a healthy diet
Eating a healthy and balanced diet nourishes the body as well as the mind with nutrients, and an unhealthy diet can deprive the mind and body of these nutrients and cause harm. For example, diets high in refined sugars have been linked to increased inflammation and oxidative stress as well as impaired brain function and worsening symptoms of mood disorders. There are several foods boasted as “brain foods” that have been linked to improved cognitive functions such as memory and concentration and even neuroprotection. It’s also important to listen to your body: eat when you are hungry, stop when you are full and pay attention to how eating different foods makes you feel—sometimes food sensitivities such as a lactose or gluten intolerance can cause problems in the body. Maintaining a healthy, nutritious diet and introducing brain boosting foods into your diet can help to boost cognitive functions and improve mental clarity.
Take Away
There are many possible reasons as to why someone might have a hard time staying focused and finding mental clarity, but it is possible to escape the brain fog and improve cognitive performance. Aromatherapy is a natural and often effective way to achieve this.
By looking at one’s lifestyle habits and making changes where needed, mental clarity and better overall health can be obtained!