What is Aromatherapy?

Very simply, it is the study of scent. As Valerie Cooksley, R.N. and C.A. further defines it as the skilled and controlled use of essential oils for pysical and emotional health and well-being. For me, it is plant science made of chemical components for use in therapeutic and energetic healing. Plant chemistry is actually very clever....essential oils protect the plant from disease and infestation but also encourage pollination from bees and butterflies.

Essential Oils’s are the concentrated essence of the plant. Method of extraction depends on the plant part used, but predominantly, it is steam distillation. The plant material is put in a vat (kind of like a collander) and water is below it and is gently heated. As the water heats up, the glands of the plants rupture and the essentials are released into that water. As the oil floats on the top of the water, it is then removed and that concentrated essence is what is bottled. Other extraction methods include cold-pressed for citrus rinds such as lemon, lime, grapefruit, bergamot and orange. Delicate flower petals like rose and jasmine cannot withstand steam distillation and are solvent-extracted.

Essential oils are used in many ways, such as by rubbing them onto our skin in a carrier with proper dilution. We rub them into the skin which means the essentials go into the bloodstream. Another way is to smell them (i.e. diffusers) and they go into the brain thru the olfactory bulb. This works in the part of our brain which is related to emotions and memories.

This is a very broad overview of aromatherapy. For me it was finding an alternative to commercial cleaners that made my eyes water and skin itch; it was creating formulas to support my immune system, or finding ways to use less synthetics and more natural in the plant world. I look forward to sharing my knowledge and discoveries in future blogs!