What is Aromatherapy?
What is Aromatherapy
As essential oils have become more widely available and continue to grow in popularity, you may be wondering what is aromatherapy? As this natural health practice becomes more commonplace, it is worth the time to learn about aromatherapy and its purpose.
In this article, you will learn:
- What is Aromatherapy
- How long Has Aromatherapy Been Around
- How Does Aromatherapy Work
- What Are the Benefits of Aromatherapy
- How Do I Get Started with Aromatherapy and Essential Oils
Now you can begin exploring aromatherapy to benefit your own health and well-being.
“Aromatherapy is a caring, hands-on therapy which seeks to induce relaxation, to increase energy, to reduce the effects of stress and to restore lost balance to mind, body and soul.”
~ Robert Tisserand
What is Aromatherapy?
Aromatherapy is a holistic, natural healing practice or treatment that uses aromatic essential oils for therapeutic benefit. These essential oils, or natural plant extracts, are the highly concentrated compounds or essences of plants. You can learn more about essential oils here.
Clinical aromatherapy is provided by an Aromatherapist, which is someone who is trained in the holistic modality of Aromatherapy.
This holistic healing practice is known to improve the health of body, mind and spirit.
It can enhance cognition, focus, sleep, respiratory function and energy levels. Aromatherapy can alleviate a large variety of symptoms, repair skin conditions and elevate emotional well-being and spiritual balance.
How Long Has Aromatherapy Been Around?
Aromatherapy has been used throughout history, for many centuries in various forms. Aromatic plants were used for their benefits by humankind dating back on record many thousands of years.
Many ancient texts describe various procedures and rituals involved in the making of healing ointments, medicated oils, poultices and healing perfumes and many aromatic and medicinal plants have been found in ancient burial grounds.
One of the oldest books on the use of plants for aromatherapy and medical therapy is dated to 2000 B.C.
It is safe to say aromatherapy is as old as civilization itself.
How Does Aromatherapy Work?
When inhaled, the scent molecules in essential oils travel from the olfactory nerves directly to the brain and especially impact the amygdala, the emotional center of our brains. Essential oils can also be absorbed through our skin.
Our olfactory system includes all cells and organs relating to and contributing to our sense of smell. When we inhale essential oils through our nose, the airborne molecules interact with our olfactory organs and immediately affect the brain.
These inhaled molecules are also carried to our lungs where they interact with our respiratory system. The inhalation of essential oils affects our bodies through several pathways and systems.
One of the systems affected by inhaling essential oils is our limbic system. During inhalation, odor molecules travel through our noses and affect our brains through a variety of receptor sites, one of which is this limbic system, also known as our emotional brain.
Our limbic system is directly connected to parts of our brain that control our blood pressure, heart rate,memory, breathing, hormone balance and stress levels. This is the reason that smell often triggers emotional reactions.
This is why the inhalation of essential oils has such a profound psychological and physiological effect on us.
These inhaled molecules are also carried to our lungs where they interact with our respiratory system. The inhalation of essential oils affects our bodies through several pathways and systems.
One of the systems affected by inhaling essential oils is our limbic system. During inhalation, odor molecules travel through our noses and affect our brains through a variety of receptor sites, one of which is this limbic system, also known as our emotional brain.
Our limbic system is directly connected to parts of our brain that control our blood pressure, heart rate,memory, breathing, hormone balance and stress levels. This is the reason that smell often triggers emotional reactions.
This is why the inhalation of essential oils has such a profound psychological and physiological effect on us.
What are the Benefits of Aromatherapy?
The benefits of aromatherapy are extensive and encompass an entire field of study, so we will just briefly depict the overall benefits of this holistic practice.
Each essential oil has a different benefit and effect. As an example, Lavender Essential Oil is used to promote relaxation and sleep as well as an extensive list of other uses. Essential oils can also be blended and mixed for specific benefits.
Here is a small general list of common benefits of aromatherapy, each individual oil would have its own specific benefits:
- Stress reduction
- Sleep enhancement
- Reduce headaches
- Relieve anxiety symptoms
- Relieve congestion
- Enhance respiratory function
- Treat nausea
- Relieve insomnia
- Relieve joint pain
- Relieve muscle pain
- Promote relaxation
- Enhance cognitive function
- Increase feelings of happiness
- Enhance mood
How Do I Get Started with Aromatherapy and Essential Oils?
There are a lot of essential oils, and a lot of information that can make it seem overwhelming to get started using essential oils. Fortunately, there are some very easy, simple and doable ways that we have identified that will help you to get started quickly.
We have found that it is best to begin with the top, most popular essential oils and build up from there. Lavender is the one we most recommend as a starting point. Eucalyptus, Peppermint, Lemongrass, Tea Tree and either Orange or Frankincense are the top six oils we believe are best to begin with as they are easy to use and have so many benefits.
To easily learn more about the top essential oils, how to specifically use them and what to use them for, we have put together The Beginner’s Guide to Getting Started with Essential Oils Ebook to help eliminate the overwhelm.
Conclusion
Aromatherapy is the therapeutic, holistic use of essential oils for medicinal purposes. Essential oils are highly concentrated aromatic compounds of plants. Aromatherapy has been used throughout the history of civilization to enhance health.
Aromatherapy affects our physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being.
By inhaling essential oils through the nose or absorbing them through the skin, essential oils travel specific pathways inside our bodies that affect the brain and our emotional center. It can be used to enhance functions and alleviate symptoms and stress.
Each essential oil has specific properties that work on different issues so it is important to know what oil to use for what goal you are trying to achieve. There are many benefits that you can enjoy from aromatherapy.
While it may seem overwhelming to get started due to the vast amount of essential oils, their individual and synergistic properties and volume of information, we have provided a simple and easy to understand Ebook called The Beginner’s Guide to Getting Started with Essential Oils.
This Ebook will help you get started today, with focus on the top 6 essential oils, what they do and how to use them to enjoy their health promoting benefits.
We have even included a special discount code so you can save on your first essential oil.
It is important to purchase essential oils that are high quality and not cut with carrier oils and cheaper ingredients. For therapeutic use, you want to buy the pure, concentrated essential oils.
Natural Zen Home Fragrance Studio has high quality essential oils for aromatherapy that are affordable and sustainably sourced. Your discount code can be found inside the Ebook here.
We hope you decide to take the step to get started with aromatherapy. It can enhance and benefit your well-being and health in so many ways. We invite you to stay connected with us and our Natural Zen community on Facebook and Instagram.
Let us know in the comments below if you are going to get started with aromatherapy, and what your first oil will be!
In Zen,
Carmel & Brett
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