Aromatherapy is healing with essential oils. Below is a brief overview of what aromatherapy is and how it works. Please take a few minutes to inform yourself of how aromatherapy works. If you already know about aromatherapy click the link below.

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Aromatherapy assists the body in balancing itself in order for healing to take place. It can be used as a natural alternative to complement conventional medicine. Aromatherapy embraces holistic healing through:

• Lifestyle enhancement
• Natural prevention
• Botanical medicine.

Science is confirming that essential oils have healing properties on both physical and emotional levels. Essential oils are absorbed through the skin and inhaled through the olfactory system. Our sense of smell is directly linked to the limbic brain where emotions, memory, and certain regulatory functions are seated. Since we are all unique, our sense-memory bonds will be different.

• Some scents may upset our stomach, or calm it.
• Other scents used in cooking may cause us to salivate and become hungry.
• Cinnamon and peppermint are commonly used in restaurant bathrooms to aid in digestion as well as hide odors.
• Blends of basil and rosemary can be used in offices to wake the brain.
• Doctor’s and dentist offices use ylang ylang and lavender to ease stress.

The World of Aromatherapy

Since ancient Egyptian times people have used essential oils to enhance their surroundings and promote healing. Cleopatra used so many plants and oils that she established a trade route to the East where many exotic herbs and spices were available. She used gallons of rose absolute to soak her sails in, and filled her chambers with rose petals to attract the love of Mark Anthony.

Roman citizens had scented massages after their baths with blends of expensive ingredients like:

• Balsam
• Myrhh
• Cinnamon
• Cardamonn
• Lotus
• Saffron
• Marjoram.

Even Napoleon carried a lemony, rosemary blend in his boot to mask the scent of war. The term ‘aromatherapy’ was coined dy a French chemist named Renee’ Maurice Gattefosse in 1938. ‘Aromatherapy’ means the use of scent in healing.

Uses of Aromatherapy Oils

Today, most aromatherapy essential oils are used as concentrates of the plants that carry the strongest medicinal properties. Most essential oils contain phyto hormones which alter our mood and are antiseptic, killing germs.

• Cinnamon and balsam warm the skin by bringing blood to the surface of the skin, and increasing circulation.
• Peppermint and eucalyptus open the bronchials and allow us to breathe better.
• Grapefruit is used to aid in weight loss and stimulates activity.
• Juniper is used for cleansing the body, mind, and spirit. It is used topically for edema and cellulite.

Choosing the correct essential oil or combination is important in achieving the greatest benefits from aromatherapy. Essential oils have unique characteristics which can help energize, calm, or delight you. They may also be mixed to aid in healing, stress relief, and increase sensuality.

Following are a variety of ways that essential oils can be enjoyed:

• Diffusion: Oils may be diluted in water, diffused by electric heat such as a lamp ring, or heated by a candle. They may also be diffused on a stream of air with a glass nebulizer or a small absorbent pad.
  
  
• Inhalation: Enjoy the healing and stimulating benefits of aromatherapy by adding a few drops of essential oil to a bowl of hot water and inhale the vapor. A pan of warm water with herbs or oil can be heated on the stove. A few drops of essential oil can be placed on a tissue and inhaled gently through the nose, or a few fresh leaves of the herb can be placed in a pillow. Sachets and potpourris can use the leaves and oils to fragrance rooms, linens, and clothes.
  
• Bath: Add up to 6 drops of your preferred essential oil or oil blend into a hot bath. Enjoy and relax! Bath salts use sea salt or earth salt as a carrier and releases the scent as it is mixed with the water. Add one tablespoon of your pre-blended massage oil to your bath water for a moisturizing and emollient bath. For the greatest benefit, always get into your bath before adding the oils.
  
  
• Massage: Body care products that allow you to apply the herbs and oils topically work in two ways. The scent affects the brain, and the skin absorbs small amounts of the oil into the bloodstream. Diluting essential oils in carrier oils is necessary as intense concentration of oils can cause skin irritation. Massage oils are best when blended with light or non scented carrier oils.
  
  
  • Apricot kernel oil: especially useful on sensitive and aging skin.
    
    
  • Avocado oil: especially useful foe mature, wrinkled, dry, and itchy skin.
    
    
  • Evening primrose oil: quickly becomes rancid, should be refrigerated. It is useful for dry skin, eczema, and psoriasis.
    
    
  • Grapeseed oil: non-odoriferous oil that is easily absorbed by the skin, suits all skin types.
    
    
  • Jojoba oil: nourishes the skin and hair. It contains anti-bacterial properties so it is very good for the treatment of acne and suits all skin types.
    
    
  • Sweet almond oil: Great base for massage, bath, body and skin-care products because it is nourishing to the skin. It is especially suitable for dry or irritated skin.
    
    
  • Wheat germ oil: An anti-oxidant oil that is particularly beneficial to dry and mature skin. It helps heal scar tissue, soothes burns, and smooth stretch marks, but should not be used on people who have wheat intolerance.
    
    
  • Canola oil: Lighter than many oils and has little or no scent to interfere with the end product.
    
    
  • Balms: a semisolid form of fragrance that uses coconut, bees wax, or other ingredients to firm up the base, but melt on contact with the warmth of the skin.

Attributes of Oils

Plants have traits that classify them as to the elements they display: earth, air, fire, and water. They are also classified by gender: masculine and feminine. When selecting an aroma, let your nose be your guide.

Elements

• EARTH: Earth elements are woody baser notes which nourish the digestion and processing of life’s thoughts, helping to restore balance in the body. These scents are used for grounding and completion of thought, and are often connected to creativity and imagination. Peru balsam, cedarwood, and vetiver are heavier woody scents. Earth elements are used for nurturing and grounding. They affect the root and chi chakras.
  
  
• AIR: Air elements are light and often astringent in scent. They are used for cleansing, improving memory, clearing vision and increasing depth of breath. Menthol scents are often active diffusers like peppermint, eucalyptus, and rosemary. Air elements open and activate the third eye and crown chakras.
  
  
• FIRE: Fire elements are stimulating, warming, and increase circulation, flexibility, and energy. Spicy scents like clove, cinnamon and frankincense warm the body and help increase action. They affect the solar plexus.
  
• WATER: Water elements are restorative, usually nervines, calming, relaxing, and soothing the emotions. Floral scents, light, sweet scents, rose, jasmine, and gardenia are water scents. Healing and supportive are used to describe the water elements. They affect the heart and throat chakras.

Masculine and Feminine Traits

The gender of an oil has to do with it’s action. The feminine scents are more nurturing. The masculine scents are geared towards directness and action.

Feminine traits are floras, often water and earth elements. Feminine oils are passive, lying close to the body, nurturing, soothing, healing the mind and the body. Some of these scents include lotus, jasmine and rose.

Masculine traits are often woody and spicy, fire and air elements. Masculine oils are direct action, sending their scent into the room and away from the body. They stimulate action in life, strengthen the will, and direct thought.

Many of the plants with masculine traits are used to wake the brain, increase circulation, and give energy to the body like cinnamon, frankincense, and vetiver.

Follow your personal preferences for choices in blends, using the traits of oils to check your natural responses.

Click Here To Learn More about the Aromatherapy in My Shop & Aroma Therapy Blends

Download Aroma Therapy Blends PDF

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