Aromatherapy Candle

There are many different benefits of aromatherapy that help people find health and wellbeing. Perhaps the most important are the completely natural qualities of aromatherapy, the emphasis on preventative measures and on clients learning to take responsibility for their own health care.

Essential oils are a precious gift from nature, derived with only minimal human intervention, as you will discover in the following section. The vegetable base oils used to dilute essential oils before massage are also natural. Both base and essential oils work in harmony with the human body, minimizing any risk of adverse reactions.

In the modern world there are many chemicals and synthetics in common use, to which increasing numbers of people suffer allergic reactions, such as asthma, skin rashes, digestive upsets, and so on. Aromatherapy’s natural qualities help to redress the problems caused by excessive use of these unnatural substances.

Focus on prevention

The emphasis of aromatherapy can be summed up as ‘Prevention is better than cure’. In practical terms, this means that an aromatherapist will look at a client’s lifestyle holistically and suggest simple changes that can prevent illness or dis-ease arising in the first place.

For example, one of the mist common problems that clients present is backache. Aromatherapy massage reduces pain and dispels the stress and tension that are a major cause of back pain. However, there are many other potential causes of backache. The aromatherapist will go through these with the client to see if physical causes such as uncomfortable work chair, a sagging mattress or an unsupportive car seat might be contributing to the problem. Redressing such causes will alleviate some, if not all, of the problem.

Prevention leads naturally into the arena of self-responsibility. The aromatherapist will encourage clients to look after themselves, to be involved in, and take responsibility their own health care. In this way clients can actively seek their own health and wellbeing, with assistance from the aromatherapist.

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Natural Healing

The principle behind allopathic, or orthodox, medicine is that illness is seen as something to be treated by suppression of the symptomps, often using quite harsh, synthetic drugs. This in stark contrast to the holistic apporach used in aromatherapy, which aims to treat the whole person : mind, body and soul (or spirit).

Symptoms of illness – or ‘dis-ease’ – are seen as an imbalance of energies, and treatment with essential oils works in conjunction with the body attempting to heal itself.

This holistic framework involves the aromatherapist doing far more than simply choosing essential oils from the narrow perspective of treating symptoms. The essential oils themselves are complex, with many different qualities. So part of the skill of the therapist lies in selecting the right combination of essential oils to help the client regain mental, physical and spiritual health and balance.

What a treatment includes

A full aromatherapy treatment involves far more than simply giving massage. The therapist will also make suggestions to assist the client to help himself or herself. Advice on lifestyle issues, diet, exercise and so on all form part of an holistic aromatherapy session.

For example, if a client presents with symptoms of insomnia, instead of simply giving a panacea (like a doctor prescribing sleeping pills), the therapist will treat the client holistically. This includes giving advice on reducing caffeine intake, checking whether the client’s bedroom is sufficiently dark and quiet to promote sleep, and asking if there is some emotional problem troubling the client – all before selecting the essential oils for the aromatherapy treatment.

In this way, the holistic approach seeks to address the causes of the dis-ease, and not simply suppress the symptoms. By removing the causes, the desired effect of health and wellbeing is brought about as naturally as possible. Of course there are times when allopathic medicine is invaluable and life-saving. A truly holistic approach to health care means using all medical systems, and complementary therapies as and when they are appropriate.

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Gattefosse’s research into essential oils was taken up by Frenchman, Dr Jean Valnet, who used essential oils to heal soldier’s burns and wounds during the First World War. He then successfully treated psychiatric patients with essential oils, demonstrating their emotional and psychological healing qualities. Marquerite Maury subsequently pioneered their use in beauty and revitalization therapy, thereby establishing another aspect of the healing powers of essential oils.

Combining essential oils with intuitive and Swedish massage tehcniques in the 1960s led to the contemporary practice of aromatherapy as a healing art. Aromatherapy is an holistic, complementary health-care discipline. The main treatment is full body massage, using essential oils diluted in a base of vegetable oil. When you visit a qualified aromatherapist, she or he will take a detailed case history covering your medical history, lifestyle, and emotional wellbeing, before selecting appropriate essential oils for you.

The Healing Power of Touch

Although there are other important uses of essential oils, it is human touch and essential oils that old the essence of the healing art or aromatherapy. The healing power of touch is instinctive in human nature : we express affection, sexuality and other forms of non verbal communication using touch. We naturally rub our body for pain relief when we hurt ourselves. And when we formalize that instinctive touch into massage, it becomes a powerful healing tool.

One of the most important aspects of aromatherapy is that essential oils are only applied by external means. It is illegal for a qualified aromatherapist to suggest that a client ingest essential oils by mount. Although in France some medical doctors are trained to prescribe the internal use of essential oils, this is highly specialize aspect of aromatherapy.

It has been scientifically demonstrated that external use of essential oils is in most cases more effective and considerably safer, than taking them internally. Thus the healing art of aromatherapy lies in the hands of the therapist working in synchronicity with the judicious choice of essential oils.

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However, aromatherapy has come along way from that starting point. Interest has been increasing in this area of holistic healing with many users claiming that aromatherapy encourages stress relief and self-healing. One, therefore wonders, how does aromatherapy works and how far can it realistically go with self-healing and emotional/mental uplifting.

Basically, with aromatherapy, aroma-rich oils are extracted from specific plants. These oils are mixed with other materials like alcohol, oils, lotions etc to give the desired effects on the body. These formulated oils are then applied to the body by either massaging them into the skin, inhaling though air disbursement or pouring into bath water for a soothing and calming effect on the body. When massaged to the skin, it is believed that the oils are absorbed into the body through the pores on the skin and then directly into the blood stream. The oils are believed to be lipophilic in nature, making it easy to gain entrance into body cells to exert their healing effects. Oils in the bath water seem to follow this pattern too, except that the effect of the oil water mixture tend to add an extra soothing and relaxing feeling to the body. This would be understood better if you think about what a cool shower does to a tired body on a hot afternoon. When inhaled, the aroma of the oils is believed to activate cells in the nose, sending sensory signals to the limbic system of the brain. This is the part of the brain that takes care of higher sensory functions like emotion, thinking and intelligence. This would give you a clue into how aromatherapy works. It is believed by practitioners that it can be used emotionally to invigorate, calm and relieve stress and physically to help treat or alleviate certain conditions by stimulating the body’s immune system, the nervous system or the circulatory system.

Although, not much scientific evidence is available to support the claims, aromatherapy practitioners believe that aromatherapy can be applied to a wide array of therapeutic treatments including physical and mental conditions, burns, infections, depression, sleep deprivation and high blood pressure. The best advice is that, aromatherapy should be seen as an adjunct to the normal body healing system. It should be used to complement the body’s immune function, but not as a replacement for professional medical attention especially in people with evident signs and symptoms of a medical condition. Aromatherapy could be well effective in uplifting moods, relieving stress and perhaps invigorating the mind, but the therapeutic powers of these plant oils should probably not be over stretched beyond these limits.

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