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Just a sniff of an essential oil reveals the powerful healing benefits of aromatherapy. Feeling stressed and unable to cope? Here’s a tip: Slowly breathe in, and then breathe out. Ah, don’t you feel good? Now, try it again, but first take a sniff from a bottle of a relaxing essential oil such as lavender. Much better. Such is the healing power of aromatherapy at work.
“The science of aromatherapy is the use of essential oils (pure extracts from aromatic plants and trees) for therapeutic use,” says Elisabeth Millar, author of The Fragrant Veil: Scents for the Sensuous Woman (Llewellyn Publications). “When you inhale a scent (such as an essential oil), the smell goes directly to the portion of the brain (called the limbic center) that controls emotions, imagination, intuition and sexuality as well as primitive drives and survival instincts,” says Millar.
Aromatherapy has been used for thousands of years in the West and even longer in the East. In fact, in ancient times, essential oils were used in all areas of daily life, as incense to inspire, as unguents to beautify, as perfumes to entice, as medicines to heal. Often more valuable than gold, vast quantities of precious aromatics were burned on temple alters throughout the day. Honored guests at Roman feasts were misted with exotic scents, the wings of birds were tipped with aromatic oil to perfume the air and food was served on ornate earthenware soaked in fragrant oil.
Back in those days, all the oils were authentically organic, but these days you may get fooled by a synthetic version of a popular oil. In fact, the more popular aromatherapy gets, the more difficult it becomes to get the authentic product, says Valerie Gennari Cooksley, author of Aromatherapy: Soothing Remedies to Restore, Rejuvenate and Heal (Prentice Hall Press, 2001). The chemical copies made in labs may possess the identical smell, but are made inexpensively. The problem, says Cooksley, is that isolating certain ingredients and bombarding the body with it can become very toxic. Many times the synthetic, cheap inexpensive oils are produced by using solvents, chemical byproducts and other caustic chemicals which break down the oils, stripping them of their natural organic essence. To make sure you’ve got the real deal: Go to a natural foods store, and always ask for organic oils that are steam distilled.
Because natural essential oils are so powerful, they are wonderful for healing all sorts of medical and psychological conditions. In fact, Connecticut-based certified aromatherapist Melanie McMillan used essential oils (including peppermint and geranium) to treat and heal a spastic chronic stomach condition.
A few cautions before using essential oils: Familiarize yourself with the oil’s properties (and any contraindications) by reading up on them. If you are pregnant, talk to your doctor first before using oils. Always dilute them in water before making a body mist/environmental spray, or add to a carrier oil such as almond or jojoba oil or unscented lotion before applying to the skin. Finally, always store essential oils in dark glass bottles away from heat and light to make them last.
Here are some of the many ways to have a more scent-sual life:
Use it By Diffusing It: Use a commercial electric diffuser or an aroma lamp
to diffuse essential oils (you can pick one up for little money at a health
food store).
Take It Straight: Sniff an essential oil from the bottle. Or put a few drops
of oil on a tissue or cotton ball and keep it in a plastic baggie. Take it out
when you want to take a whiff.
Store On a Radiator: Pour a few drops of oil into a bowl of water and then
place on a radiator. The heat will spread the scent.
Spray Misty for Me: Fill an eight-ounce mister bottle with distilled
water and add twenty to thirty drops of favorite oils and spray when needed.
Bathe in It: Dilute a few drops of an essential oil (1-5 drops) for each teaspoon
of a carrier oil such as sweet almond and jojoba, and then pour it into your
bathtub for a scent-sual bathing experience.
Light(en) Up: Try an aromatherapy candle from an aromatherapist or health
food store that you know definitely contains natural (not synthetic) essential
oils.
That’s the Rub: Massage in oils by diluting them first with a vegetable,
nut or seed oil or an unscented natural lotion.
“Value your sense of smell. It’s the last sense to go,” says Valerie Cooksley. Actually, the fragrances you smell are the stuff that memories are made of. And that’s a bit of common scents you don’t want to turn your nose up at.
Oils can waft into a number of refreshing categories. According to Elisabeth
Millar author of The Fragrant Veil: Scents for the Sensuous Woman, you
should try:
Relaxing: Cedarwood, Chamomile, Clary Sage, Cypress, Frankincense, Jasmine,
Lavender, Marjoram, Neroli, Rose, Sandalwood, Vetivert, Ylang Ylang
Uplifting: Basil, Bergamot, Clove, Geranium, Grapefruit, Juniper, Jasmine,
Lemon, Orange, Patchouli, Pine, Rosemary.
Stimulating: Basil, Black Pepper, Clove, Grapefruit, Juniper, Lemon,
Peppermint, Rosemary, Thyme
Aphrodisiacs: Black Pepper, Cedarwood, Clary Sage, Jasmine, Neroli, Patchouli,
Rose, Pine, Sandalwood, Vetivert, Ylang Ylang
There are four essential oils you must keep around in your house says Valerie
Gennari Cooksley, author of Aromatherapy: Aromatherapy: Soothing Remedies
to Restore, Rejuvenate and Heal. They are:
Lavender (Lavendula angustifolia, L. vera, L. officinalis) Physical:
Use it directly on the skin to heal bites, stings, or skin inflammations (unlike
the other essential oils, lavender and tea tree oils don’t need to be diluted).
The oil also helps with muscle spasms because it is anti-spasmodic. Other uses
are for anxiety, high blood pressure and pain associated with arthritis, sprains
and strains. Mental: Sniffing the oil helps with nervous tension, irritability,
insomnia and stress and hyperactivity.
Lemon (Citrus limonum) Physical: Use it for acne, boils, oily
skin, cellulite, obesity, fever, arthritis, pms. Mental: Use for depression
and especially SAD (seasonal affective disorder), as well as confusion, and
to help with concentration.
Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus radiata, E. globulus, E. smithii) Physical:
Use to help with colds and flu, and during any change of season. It also helps
with asthma, chest and throat infections, stimulates the immune system and helps
with congestion, fever, viral infections (such as herpes), muscle stiffness
and soreness. Mental: It increases alertness and clears the mind.
Peppermint (Mentha piperita) Physical: Great for nausea, indigestion,
tension headaches, cold and sinus problems (peppermint cuts through mucus),
bad breath, low blood pressure. Mental: Helps with lethargy, mental fatigue,
depression, stress and shock.
Fly Power: When flying, put two to three drops of lemon or lavender
essential oil (which contains immune stimulating properties that ward off colds
) on a tissue, and stick it in a ziplock plastic baggie, says McMillan. Take
the tissue out and periodically sniff it throughout the flight.
Can’t Sleep?: A few drops of lavender on a cottonball, tucked inside
your pillow will give you sweet dreams says McMillan.
Lessen Congestion: Dilute 10-20 drops of eucalyptus oils into an ounce
of a carrier oil such as sweet almond and massage it on your chest and upper
back to relieve cold or flu-based congestion.
Ease Pain: Try mixing a couple of drops of black pepper oil with a carrier
oil and massage it into your skin to help with muscular aches and pains, including
rheumatoid arthritis.
The Dope If You Can’t Cope: Frankincense helps the grieving process,
as well as with anxious and obsessional states linked to the past. Apply a few
drops to a cottonball and slip it in your shirt pocket or bra.
Fight Nausea: Peppermint is great for digestion, so if you are feeling
a bit queasy, put one or two drops of peppermint essential oil on a sugar cube
and suck on it, says Cooksley.
Fight Colds and Flu: Mix several drops of eucalyptus oil with sea salt
or rock salt and keep it in a little bottle. Use it like smelling salts when
around people.
The experts note that aromatherapy’s hot, new applications include:
Home Sweet Home: For the living and family rooms, Melanie McMillan finds
that the most requested scents are citrus blends (uplifting), and smokier, sultrier
scents for the bedroom (including sandalwood, patchouli and jasmine).
Water, Water Everywhere: Valerie Cooksley says the future includes greater
use of hydrosols (the water left over after essential oil is produced). The
water is being used in misting the face and air, and in compresses or added
to tea.
Belly Up to Your Buddy: Alyce Sorokie, a massage therapist created “The
Belly Buddy” a firm pillow filled with oils and grains scented in lavender,
vanilla or plain. Heat in a microwave for 2-3 minutes and place on your tummy
for comfort, menstrual cramps and digestive problems. To order, go to gutwisdom@aol.com.
Clinical: Valerie Cooksley sees increases in nursing homes and hospices
for pain relief (lavender, sweet marjoram, chamomile), cancer support (peppermint
and ginger), infections (eucalyptus) and Alzheimer’s (lavender, marjoram, ylang
ylang), and dying (myrhh, frankincense and florals like rose and helichrysm).
Homegrown Homeopathy: A pioneering few are making homeopathic remedies
by combining the essential oils with alcohol and distilled water says Cooksley.
Oils On the Horizon: New oils entering the market, says Cooksley, include
rosalina, mint bush, Australian blue cypress, kanuka, manuka and lemon myrtle.