Aromatherapy and Essential Oil Therapy
Aromatherapy describes a treatment which utilizes essential oils from plants to help the body balance itself. This promotes improved health and well-being. Essential oils are very powerful and potent, and most should not be used unless you have undertaken some kind of training. Some oils however, are very gentle and safe to be used by most people at home. Aromatherapy works primarily through your sense of smell. You inhale a scent which stimulates the olfactory pathways in the brain. The essential oil blends can be applied to the skin using a dermal application. Within an hour or so, the blends are in the blood stream relieving stress and promoting healing in the body. They will exit the body many hours later through perspiration or bodily fluids. Many of the essential oils are used to relieve physical stress, enhance mood, reduce pain, increase mental clarity and focus, calm the mind and enhance immune system function.
How do you use essential oils? Essential oils are blended with a carrier oil (an oil that is used as a base for an essential oil to prevent skin irritation) and applied to the skin. Blends can also be used in bath water, on compresses (both hot and cold), in facial steamers, in facial treatments, massage oils, body wraps, and in diffusers. The practice of aromatherapy is being utilized in hospitals and facilities that research and practice integrative medicine and therapies.
Aromatherapy is especially beneficial for: