Aromatherapy
The use of natural and pure essential oils to improve health and balance of body and mind.
Origin of the word:
Aroma - fragrance
Therapy - healing
Treatment with essential oils developed in ancient cultures throughout the world, in the area of beauty care and ritual, and thus, current treatment methods evolved. We find evidence of this 6,000 years ago in the Bible and in archaeological finds:
Hyssop essential oil - Psalms 51:9 :"Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow."
Lavender essential oil - This was discovered in 1929 by the French chemist Gautfost incidentally as an oil to treat burns.
Cedar essential oil - The ancient Egyptians used this oil for embalming and cedar wood to make coffins.
Myrrh essential oil - This oil is mentioned in the Scroll of Esther, 2:12: "Now, when every girl's turn was come to go in to king Ahashverosh, after she had been twelve months under the regulations for the women, (for so were the days of their anointing, namely, six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odors, and with other ointments of the women"
Essential Oils (Aromatic Oils)
These are volatile materials produced from various parts of plants, e.g., leaves, fruit, flowers, seeds and roots.
Sandalwood and cedar essential oil, for example, are produced from tree bark while rose essential oil is made from rose petals.
Every oil comprises a particular chemical content that makes it therapeutically effective (both physically and mentally). The chemical components such as phenols, aldehydes, theraphines (???), ketones, flavonoids, comarans (???), and others are being isolated and constantly studied today. Aromatherapists, naturopaths and physicians believe more and more that it is the combination of chemical ingredients in the essential oil that makes it harmoniously effective in the human body rather than the use of each chemical compound on its own.
Essential oils have a higher rate of therapeutic effectiveness when several essential oils are used together due to the synergetic effect among them and the balance of fragrances.
The active ingredients in essential oils penetrate our bodies in three ways:
Via fragrance - The essential oil penetrates to the brain via the olfactory nerves [the limbic system] and affects the other body systems.
Via the skin - The essential oil enters the circulatory and lymph systems via the pores of the skin and is thereby transported to the other organs in the body.
Orally - The essential oil enters the digestive system via the esophagus, and from there the circulatory and lymphatic systems which transport it to the other systems in the body.
Due to the concentration of active ingredients in essential oils, it is necessary to blend them in oil bases, honey or water in order to dilute them.
Base Oils
These are produced from pits, kernels, seeds etc. The oils contain essential fatty acids, vitamins and minerals.
Base oils nourish the skin and serve as carriers for the essential oils.