The 3-Drop Bedtime Ritual Hiding in Your Belly Button

It is 11 pm. The lights are off, your phone is face down, and your mind is still running through tomorrow's list.

This is the moment for a small Ayurvedic ritual: three drops of oil in the navel, a few slow circles with the fingertips, and then sleep. No app, no supplement, nothing to wash off. It is called navel oiling, and a quick search on TikTok now turns up thousands of videos of it.

So what is actually happening in those few minutes? The answer comes in two parts, and both are worth knowing before you try it tonight.

Where does navel oiling come from?

Start with the spot itself. Before you were born, your navel was your first connection to nourishment. Ayurveda calls it the nabhi, counts it among the marma points, the vital points of the body, and treats it as the body's center.

Oiling it has several names, Nabhi Chikitsa (navel therapy) and nabhi poorana (filling the navel) among them. In Indian homes it is an age-old folk practice, and Ayurvedic practitioners suggest doing it before bed. As one Ayurvedic practitioner told Forbes in 2025, there is "so much anecdotal and folk practice of it."

The US calls it belly button oiling. The ritual is the same one.

What does navel oiling actually do?

Here is the first part of the answer, and it is the one you can feel by morning.

In 2018, dermatology researchers at UC Davis and the University of Arizona asked adults with dry skin to put almond oil on their forearms twice a day. Two weeks later, the skin held significantly more water, as much as skin treated with petroleum jelly. Almond oil is gentle enough that it has even been tested on the skin of premature babies, where it also improved hydration.

The second part of the answer is the one most people notice first: how the evening feels.

In 2025, researchers in Greece recruited 20 people who struggled to sleep. On one night a professional gave them a relaxation massage in their own bedroom before bed. On another night they got a fake massage, and on a third, none at all. Sleep sensors recorded each night.

• 20 people with trouble sleeping took part
• 45 minutes of relaxation massage before bed
• 3 nights compared, measured at home

On the massage night, they slept more efficiently: more of their time in bed was spent actually asleep. That was a 45-minute full-body massage, far more than a navel ritual, but it shows that massage at bedtime can help you sleep. An older pilot study of a single Ayurvedic oil massage pointed the same way, with stress scores and heart rate both lower afterward.

The oil works on your skin. The ritual works on your evening.

Which oil is best for navel oiling?

If you have seen the trend, you have probably seen castor oil. It is the age-old folk oil for the navel and the one behind the social media videos, but it is very thick, and a ritual you do every night calls for something lighter.

A light, skin-friendly oil at room temperature is what you want. Almond oil is well studied for skin, and a good navel oil builds on it with other base oils and herbs. Ours combines four base oils with herbs:

• Sweet almond oil. The oil from the studies above, used for dry skin in ancient Ayurvedic, Chinese and Greco-Persian medicine.
• Sesame oil. A rich, nourishing oil.
• Grape seed and apricot kernel oils. With almond, they give the blend its light, non-greasy finish, so nothing feels heavy under your clothes.
• Ashwagandha. Best known as a root you take, it has been studied on skin too: in a 2023 placebo-controlled trial, a lotion with 8% ashwagandha root extract improved hydration and elasticity on the face over 60 days.
• Turmeric, licorice, saffron and rosemary. Four botanicals that round out the blend, with rosemary, saffron and turmeric giving it its herbal scent.
• Vitamin E. The most abundant fat-soluble antioxidant in human skin.

How to do navel oiling before bed

Back to 11 pm. Here is the whole ritual, start to finish. It takes two to five minutes.

1. Lie down on your back Get comfortable in bed, lights low, phone away. Let your belly relax.
2. Start with a clean navel A clean, dry belly button after your shower is all you need.
3. Two to three drops Put two or three drops straight from the bottle into your navel. That is enough for the navel and the skin around it.
4. Massage in slow circles With your fingertips, move in small circles around the navel, then wider ones across the belly. Light pressure only. Breathe slowly and make each exhale longer than the inhale.
5. Finish with your lips Smooth what is left on your fingertip over your lips.
6. Leave it on overnight There is nothing to wash off. By morning the oil has sunk in.

The one thing that matters more than the oil: do it at the same time every night. Repetition is what turns a few minutes of massage into a signal your body learns to expect.

Our 10-Herbs Navel Oil

Our 10-Herbs Navel Oil is made for this ritual. Sweet almond, sesame, grape seed and apricot kernel oils carry ashwagandha, licorice, turmeric, saffron and rosemary, with vitamin E, in a light oil that sinks in quickly without a greasy feel. Two or three drops are all one night takes, and its soft herbal scent comes from the herbs themselves, with no synthetic fragrance. Use it every evening for skin that feels soft and supple, lips that are smooth by morning and a bedtime ritual you look forward to.

Featured in this guide10-Herbs Navel Oil for Hormonal Balance, Deeper Sleep & Nourished Skin and Lips ★★★★★ ★★★★★ (259)$44.00 Add to BagView product

How soon will you notice a difference?

The feel comes first. The habit builds from there.

1. First night A few quiet minutes before sleep, and soft skin and lips the next morning.
2. Week 2 The point where the almond oil study, with oil twice a day, measured better-hydrated skin. Keep the same time each night.
3. Week 4 and beyond The ritual becomes automatic, the last thing you do before you sleep.

Tomorrow night at 11, the list in your head may still be there. The difference is that you will have somewhere to put it down: three drops, a few slow circles, and the day is done.

Sources

• Vaughn AR, et al. Pilot Study on the Effects of Natural Oils on Skin Barrier Function in Xerotic Skin. SKIN: The Journal of Cutaneous Medicine. 2018;2(5):269-272.
• Caglar S, et al. The Effect of Sunflower Seed and Almond Oil on Preterm Infant Skin: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Advances in Skin and Wound Care. 2020;33(8).
• Ntoumas I, et al. The Impact of Relaxation Massage Prior to Bedtime on Sleep Quality and Quantity in People with Symptoms of Chronic Insomnia: A Home-Based Sleep Study. Healthcare. 2025;13(2):180.
• Basler AJ. Pilot study investigating the effects of Ayurvedic Abhyanga massage on subjective stress experience. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 2011;17(5):435-440.
• Narra K, et al. A Study of Efficacy and Safety of Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera) Lotion on Facial Skin in Photoaged Healthy Adults. Cureus. 2023;15(3):e36168.
• Ahmad Z. The uses and properties of almond oil. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice. 2010.
• Linus Pauling Institute, Oregon State University. Vitamin E and Skin Health.
• Jyothi D. Concept of Nabhi Basti in Ayurveda: A Compilation Study. International Journal of Ayurveda and Pharma Research. 2026;14(2):91-94.
• American Academy of Dermatology. 7 dermatologists' tips for healing dry, chapped lips.
• Akim T. Castor Oil In Belly Button Trend: An Ayurvedic Practitioner Explains. Forbes. July 2025.