by Cadence Grace

Created on: July 18, 2008

The smell of apple pie or freshly baked bread wafting from the oven may be an instant mood enhancer, conjuring up fond memories of home and happiness. Linked to memory and familiarity, smell can also have a large impact on emotions and a state of mind. Unsurprisingly, it has been found that smells are processed in the same part of the brain that is responsible for fear, good and bad emotions, anxiety, and stress (Powell). Aroma therapists, having learned this, have become trained in using specific scents to trigger and evoke certain emotions or feelings within those who chose to use them as a form of therapy. Helping to prove that smell can have an affect on emotional behavior, aromatherapy presents possibilities that can also have medicinal benefits.

Aromatherapy dates back to the early 20th-century, when a French chemist by the name of Gattefosse stumbled upon the medicinal affects of the essential oils by a mere accident (Siegel-Maier). After burning his arm while working with perfumes, he turned to the nearest cool liquid available, which was a vat of lavender oil. He poured the oil over his arm, which rewarded with immediate relief, a quick recovery and minimal scarring. It was with this that Gattefosse realized that though he worked with essential oils for perfumery, they could also perhaps be used as healing agents, or, as it has been named, aromatherapy.

The name aromatherapy comes from the therapeutic uses of these essential oils that have only become popular since Gattefosse's publishing of his book Aromatherapie in 1937 (Siegel-Maier). Relying on very concentrated oils, the scents used for aromatherapy are found in flowers, leaves, bark, branches, rind, or roots of plants (Brody). Each with supposed healing properties, and sometimes encompassing more than one property, each essential oil has its own unique purpose. Many can have antiseptic, antibacterial, tonifying, spasmolytic, sedative, and/or anti-viral qualities, among others (Schnaubelt). Lavender, a popular scent among aromatherapy products, "can reduce stress, induce relaxation or relieve anxiety, and thus may promote a sense of well-bring or counter insomnia," as stated by Jane Brody (Brody). Illustrating just one of the essential oils that aromatherapy encompasses in its realm, it is amazing that merely smelling such scents can truly help heal. Many products are available for at home use such as lotions, shampoos, soaps, body washes, candles, etc, which help to bring the same aroma therapeutic

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