Aromatherapy is the fastest growing holistic therapy in the United States, with business increasing as much as 50% in the past five (5) years.
So, now the question is: What is aromatherapy? Literally, aromatherapy means "a remedy" using "agreeable odors." Aromatherapy is the usage of the healing properties of plants and plant essences (oils). Since ancient times, (Greek, Roman and Egyptian) the use of these esstential oils have
helped in healing, relaxing, calming and de-stressing the body.
Essential oils are the essence of the plant, its heart and soul.
Egyptians learned to extract aromatic substances by immersing plants in oil or wine. These oils were then used in embalming, religious practices, as perfume, as medicines and in the making of wine and vinegar. The Greeks and Romans used the oils mostly for cosmetic and medicinal uses.
In the 4th century B.C., Hippocrates advised, "The way to health is to have an aromatic bath and a scented massage every day."
You may wonder how the oils are extracted from the plants. For the most part, essential oils are extracted from the plant by steam distillation. Other oils such as rose and jasmine, would be ruined by steam distillation,so another method, enfluerage is used. It takes almost 250 pounds of rose petals to make 1 pint of rose oil! So, you can see the oil is very concentrated.
Essential oils work by entering the skin either by warmth (such as a warm bath) or by massage. They can help you relax, relieve stress,help with high blood pressure and enhance your immune system.
Recent clinical studies done at Michigan State University show that for 45 depressed women, significant drops in anxiety, melancholy and hostility were observed after the women took a 30-minute bath.
For many of us, the aroma of a fresh peach or a freshly baked apple pie evoke memories of childhood and mom's kitchen. This is aromatherapy in motion. These memories are stored in the brain and can be recalled with different aromas or scents.
There are many different products on the market that include essential oils in them. Use of these products may improve the condition of your skin by increasing circulation by massaging the product into the skin and thus, regenerating skin cells and giving you that "happy glow" . These oils should NEVER be used directly on your skin. They must always be diluted before applying to the skin with a "carrier oil" such as almond, apricot kernel or jojoba, to name a few. By using carrier oils, you are able to massage the oil into the skin and since they contain EFA's (essential fatty acids) this will help in softening the skin.
Here are a few essential oils and their uses:
DRY SKIN: 3 drops sandalwood, 1 drop each
of geranium, ylang ylang and rosewood.
OILY SKIN: 2 drops each of cypress and
lemon, 1 drop of lavender.
MATURE SKIN: 1 drop each of carrot seed,
chamomile, geranium, lavender.
Links to other sites on the Web
Aromatheraphy
Fragrant
Zohar Company
Spirit
Lastly, a relaxing bath can be had by all. Here are some oils recommended for bathing, just pour into the tub as it fills, no other oil is needed:
Before bed bath: 5 drops of lavender, 2 drops of ylang ylang.
Refreshing bath: 4 drops of lemon, 2 drops each of geranium and grapefruit.
Energizing bath: 3 drops peppermint, optional> 4 drops each of juniper and lavender.
Uplifting bath: 3 drops each of eucalyptus, pine and lavender.
A good book for aromatherapy is,"The Aromatherapy Book" by Jeanne Rose, 1992. There are recipes and tables galore, enough to keep you interested for many days.
© 1997 robinhutchens@geocities.com
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