What You Need to Know About Aromatherapy?

As a kid, the strongest memory I have of dealing with common cold whenever I contracted it (at home and not during my hostel life) is the steam inhalation of vapours with eucalyptus oil drops added in water. It was a better option than popping pills and I would soon feel better, relaxed and sleep off. Little did I know anything about the power of plants and herbs then.

A couple of years back when I started using aromatic candles more frequently, my understanding of how smell plays such an important role in our moods started getting clear. Smells can evoke emotions and trigger memories. It happens on a subconscious level of our mind. It has the power to leave us feeling uncomfortable and flustered or sometimes even calm us down.

Anytime that you smell something nice, such as an appealing perfume, or a tasty dish being cooked in the kitchen or fresh cut roses in a vase full of good water, don’t you get like a good feeling inside? These good feelings created by pleasing aromas are the basis for the art of aromatherapy.

Lighting a candle, smelling flowers or even baking at the end of the day is a type of aromatherapy that people use to relieve stress. It’s not for no reason that poets and writers associate fragrances with emotions.

About Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy is the natural way of healing a person’s mind, body, and soul with the help of aroma. This healing method uses natural plant extracts to enhance our psychological and physical well-being and improve a person’s health, mood, energy, and overall wellness.

It is commonly believed that the scents that a person smells can induce the body to stimulate its ability to heal itself.  Depending on the kind of scent or combination of scents that was inhaled or absorbed through the skin, the scent activates the immune system of the body, making it more capable of fighting invading microorganisms that cause disease and boosting its strength.

What are Essential Oils?

Some plants contain specific beneficial chemicals to protect themselves from warding away rodents and insects and fighting against bacteria or viruses. The cells that give a plant its fragrant smell are its “essence.” Upon extracting this essence from different plant parts such as flowers, fruit, leaves, stems, and roots by steam distillation or cold press, essential oil is obtained.

Essential oils are very volatile – they evaporate easily and they are easily absorbed into the skin.  Practitioners of aromatherapy, however, never use essential oils undiluted because these oils are highly concentrated.  They can burn and irritate the skin if they come into direct contact with it.

Essential oils are always mixed with what are called carrier oils before they are used.  What, now, are carrier oils?  Simply put, they are vegetable oils, extracted from certain kinds of fruits, nuts and vegetables.  They are called carrier oils because they literally carry the essential oil when mixed and applied onto the skin.

How Do Essential Oils Work?

When the aromatic molecules of these oils are inhaled, they travel through the olfactory system and finally reach the limbic system which is the seat of emotions and feelings and the hippocampus where memories are processed.  When the brain get these signals, it  release neurotransmitter like endorphin, serotonin, etc. These neurotransmitters link our nervous and other body systems to produce the desired change and to provide a feeling of relief. Endorphin, Serotonin, and noradrenalin are release to produced euphoric, calming, and stimulating effects on the mind and body.

There are broadly three ways that essential oils enter the body –

• Through the skin (Dermal Absorption)
  • Add to a warm bath
  • Add to a cold compress and place on the skin
  • Gently rub on acupressure points on the body
• Through Inhaling (Inhalation)
  • Add drops of oil in a diffuser to place in your room
  • Taking in through vapours by steaming water mixed with oil  
  • Place in a spray bottle and diffuse into the air around you by spraying
• Through oral intake (Oral Ingestion) – Only to be done under medical supervision