Essentials of Aromatherapy
A bottle of lavendar treats a million things, and it's not scary if used wisely. -- Shelly Rizzi, herbalist and
aromatherapist.
Making Sense of Healing
You come home late, stressed out after a high-pressure day at the office. You reach for your trusty bottle of lavender essential
oil, pour several drops into a streaming bath, and climb in. And, as always, you feel your stress level start to fall as soon as you inhale
those soothing vapors. Ah, aromatherapy works its magic once again.
It certainly smells good. That accounts for the "aroma" part of the word. But is it really a therapy?
Aromatherapy, the practice of using essential oils -- concentrated plant essences -- to relieve stress, invigorate, heal, and promote wellness
is an ancient one. The Bible is filled with references on the use of concentrated plant scents, such as frankincense and myrrh.
Cleopatra was legendary for her use of rose and jasmine oil. And monks in the Middle Ages were among the first to distill plant essences
and administer them for purposes of healing.
But it wasn't until the 1920's that the word aromatherapy was coined by a French chemist working in a perfume factory. It was this
chemist, Rene-Maurice Gattefosse', who burned his hand and recovered from his burns by applying some lavender oil that happened to be
nearby. He went on to classify a number of essential oils and their medicinal properties.
What's labeled "aromatherapy" at the cosmetic counter is frequently created with synthetic oils and has very little science behind it.
True aromatherapy is created with real plant essences and has some (but still not a whole lot) legitimate science behind it. Medical
aromatherapy strictly focuses on the physiological affects of certain pure essential oils, such as lavendar for reducing stress (and thus
reducing blood pressure) or eucalyptus for easing sinus headaches. If you're going to spend your money to enjoy the wonderful fragrances of
aromatherapy, you should at least know what you're getting.
What's the difference? To begin with, price. Natural essential oils are more expensive to produce because they require so many
plants. It takes 16 pounds of fresh peppermint leaves, for example, to make an ounce of peppermint essential oil.
There's also a chemical difference. Aromatherapists maintain that the complex chemical structures of real plant essences lie at the
mysterious heart of aromatherapy's ability to heal.
Essential Oils, so named because they are created from plants' essences, are complex chemical structures extracted from nearly 400 types of
plants. To get these oils, manufacturers use various parts of the plants, including flowers, leaves, bark, roots, fruits, grasses, and
resins. These plant parts become oils either by steam distillation, expression (mechanical pressing), by using carbon dioxide (a cold
process), or by employing solvents.
Many essential oils don't feel particularly oily, not at all like olive oil or corn oil, for example. In fact, they can seem downright
runny. Be assured, however, that they are true oils and will float on water and mix quite nicely with other oils.
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