Aromatherapy, simply stated, is the science of using oils that are vaporizable at a relatively low temperatures for a persons psychological and physical well-being. These oils include plant and tree oils, essential oils and natural herbs which enhance a person’s health and beauty. Aromatherapy is a natural, practical, safe and inexpensive alternative to better personal health.
So what are essential oils?
They are the pure essence of a plant, that through scientific research and common usage have been shown to provide not only psychological but also demonstrable physical benefits when they are used correctly and safely.
In addition to using essential oils, aromatherapy practice also suggests using other complementary natural ingredients which include cold pressed vegetable oils, jojoba (which is a liquid wax), hydrosols, certain herbs, milk powders, sea salts, some sugars (as an exfoliant) and even clays and muds.
Aromatherapy is fast becoming prominent because many people are looking for better solutions to todays new crop of emerging diseases and the stresses of todays lifestyles. It is seen as an alternative to the existing system of manufactured medicines.
In strict holistic aromatherapy almost all products that contain synthetic or man made ingredients are not taken seriously and are looked down upon. Many perfume oils are often called fragrance oils (they usually have listed the term “fragrance” as an ingredient on their labels) and are not the same thing as essential oils.
These perfumed oils and fragrance oils almost always contain synthetic chemical ingredients and although they my smell nice, they do not give you the therapeutic benefits of essential oils. This is an important distinction to remember when shopping for true essential oils to meet your needs.
How Did Aromatherapy Start?
No one can actually determine when the practice of using plant oils to treat various illnesses began. Certainly our cavemen ancestors, being hunters and gatherers, knew some curative benefits of the plants they ate. Herbs and essential oils have been found in ancient Egyptian tombs that were used to purify the body for life after death over 3,500 years ago.
The Ayurveda is an ancient Hindu treatise on the art of natural healing and prolonging life naturally. In India it is actually the traditional form of alternative medicine. It preceded by centuries the development of western medicine as we know it and it evolved totally independently.
The Ayurveda strives to integrate the body and mind, as well as the spirit and use a comprehensive holistic approach in treatment. It especially emphasizes diet, natural herbal remedies, physical exercise, deep meditation, structured breathing, and physical therapy to effect a persons health and wellness.
However, the origin of the modern term “Aromatherapy” can most likely be given to a French chemist by the name of Rene-Maurice Gattefosse. And he found it accidentally in 1920. It seems that Rene, while working in his lab one day, severely burnt his body and especially his hands. His hands began developing gas gangrene which, at the time, the popular cure was amputation.
He had been studing the curative effects of certain oils for his fathers perfume manufacturing business so he tried the jack-of-all-trades essential oil lavender on his hands. In his subsequent book called Aromatherapy, he wrote that one rinse with lavender oil essence stopped gasification of the tissue on his hands.
This dedicated French chemist found this so fascinating that he devoted the rest of his life exploring the healing power of natural essential oils and the medicinal values of natural herbs.
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Nice post – I love using essential oils for relaxation but have never actually used them therapeutically.
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