Aromatherapy and Healing
When was the last time that your doctor told you to take an aromatherapy bath or to enjoy a scented massage? If you’ve spent time sniffling or coughing in a few doctors’ offices, you know that often you walk out with nothing more than a scribbled prescription and advice to come back in a few weeks.
But Hippocrates, the father of medicine itself, would have prescribed an aromatic bath and massage for your ailments – every day! That’s because even thousands of years ago, he understood aromatherapy’s ability to correct imbalances and illnesses within the body.
What Hippocrates knew back then still holds true for us today. Essential oils not only have a beautiful scent, but very powerful therapeutic applications. In fact, the antiseptic properties of many essential oils are legendary. They’re also known to be antiviral, antidepressant, antifungal, and much more!
Today, interest in aromatherapy is flourishing as people seek out more natural, safe, and noninvasive alternatives – or complements – to conventional Western medicine. For instance, they’re discovering that eucalyptus can clear a cough, geranium eases the symptoms of menopause, and lavender is effective at healing burns. As people explore more holistic approaches to healthcare, they’re realizing that aromatherapy meets many of their common needs.
Science has proven that essential oils have valuable medicinal properties, and unlike synthetic drugs used in conventional Western medicine, they don’t encourage the body to build up a resistance to treatment.
Essential oils also do not linger in the body or leave behind toxins. If you are generally in good health, they will clear your system within three to six hours, making a clean exit through exhalation, perspiration, or urine. For instance, the essential oil of geranium leaves the body through sweat, sandalwood and juniper through the urine, and garlic – rather unfortunately – always exits via the breath.
The great thing about aromatherapy is that it’s noninvasive. In fact, it is most powerful when used externally through methods like massage, aromatic baths, and steam inhalation. In contrast, conventional drugs are often taken orally and come with user manuals detailing countless side effects. But as long as you use aromatherapy responsibly and purchase high quality essential oil – not cheap or synthetic derivatives – you can avoid any unpleasant side effects.
Essential oils are also incredibly versatile. Each has over one hundred chemical components that can affect the body on a very deep level. For example, to soothe a headache, you might call upon lavender, peppermint, rosemary, or even chamomile. Conversely, a single essential oil can have dozens of uses: lavender can heal burns and stave off scarring, relieve headaches, and deter mosquitoes and moths.
In some cases, aromatherapy oils can be more potent than their modern-day commercial counterparts! For instance, the essential oil of oregano is over twenty times more effective an antiseptic than the active ingredient in commercial cleaning products, phenol.
Aromatherapy is a holistic approach to health and wellness, and it works with the whole person – not just isolated ailments. Paired with healthy lifestyle habits and a dose of common sense, aromatherapy can work wonders for body and soul. We invite you to explore our website and discover essential oils and aromatherapy products that both boost wellbeing and are a pleasure to use. Here’s to your health!