Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy is the art of using scents for healing. The catch is that they have to be naturally derived essential oils. Essential oils, also called volatile oils, are extracted from plant matter and bottled. They are highly concentrated and extremely effective. For example, it is said that one ton of rose petals produces one ounce of the essential oil. That’s a lot of rose petals, and that is also why the essential oil is so expensive. The good news is that once you purchase a bottle of the oil, you don’t use a lot of it at once. One or two drops can be mixed into one ounce of carrier oil, also called base oil, or other medium such as witch hazel, water, or even vodka. Base oil examples include olive oil, almond oil, and jojoba oil. You can also mix the essential oils into shampoos, conditioners, and lotions.
The term ‘aromatherapy’ was coined by a French perfume maker in the late 1800’s. He had burned himself in his laboratory and stuck his arm in a vat of lavender essential oil. He had been burned himself multiple times and noticed that it healed faster than usual. He realized that the burn healed quickly because of the lavender. He decided that it must be ‘aroma therapy’. He then devoted much of his life to studying other essential oils to see what kinds of health effects they had. He also published his findings.
If you would like to learn about aromatherapy, there are several ways you can approach it. The first is to purchase some books on aromatherapy and study it on your own. There are also a lot of resources online. The second approach is to actually study it officially through a school. There are also workshops you can take. Or you can do a combination of any of these methods.
The one thing to realize is that just because essential oils are natural does not mean that they are not harmful. They are highly concentrated parts of a whole plant. Problems such as allergies and other side effects could be a problem. For example, there have been reports of people experiencing allergic reactions to some essential oils. There are also other oils that could be irritating. If you are interested in it, the best thing to do is to buy a book for reference.
