by Lee

Created on: June 21, 2009

In recent years, the healing art of aromatherapy, as it's now known, has become wildly popular. It's based on the inhalation of the fragrances produced by various essential oils. These oils are made from the very concentrated extracts of herbs, flowers, grasses, shrubs, and trees and are designed to balance, relax, and revitalize the body, spirit, and mind. You can enjoy the benefits of the essential oils by inhaling their fragrances, applying the oils to your body via massage, adding them to your bathwater, or, in some cases, even ingesting them in the form of tea. But using just any old fragrant oil won't do. The oils must come from specific plants and be taken from the plants via one of three processes: steam distillation, peel pressure, or solvent extraction. The essential oils that result are very concentrated, aromatic, and full of various organic compounds that affect the human mind, body, or spirit. (There's a competing discipline called aromacology that believes that manufactured artificial aromas are just as effective, but die-hard aromatherapy fans beg to differ.)

Essential oils have certain undisputed effects on the body. Some have antimicrobial, antifungal, or antiseptic abilities; others have congestion-clearing or wound-healing properties that function as anti-inflammatories. Certain oils can also help increase circulation or raise or lower the blood pressure. Some of the best-known results brought about by essential oils have to do with psychological states of mind. They can produce a sense of calmness, sedation, euphoria, or excitement.

Only the highest-quality essential oils should be used for aromatherapy, as many of the lesser quality oils are adulterated with chemicals or synthetic additives. Make sure you purchase your oils from a reputable source (e.g., an accredited aroma therapist). You may find it expensive, especially if you're interested in using several oils, but because you'll only use a couple of drops at a time, a bottle should last for quite awhile.

It's easy to use essential oils. Bring a pot of water to a boil; cool it slightly, then add a few drops of the oil to the water. When the steam has cooled at bit, put a towel over your head and the pot and inhale the aroma as it rises with the steam. The oils can be added to your bath or a put into a humidifier to distribute the aroma throughout an entire room. The same effect can be achieved with an aromatic diffuser. If that sounds like too much trouble, one of the simplest ways of inhaling aromas is to buy a natural products aroma inhaler. It looks something like a tube of lipstick; you pull off the cover and inhale the aroma that wafts out of the inner cylinder. No preparation is necessary.

My favorite way of receiving aromatherapy is via massage. Essential oils are never applied directly to the skin (they are too irritating) but are mixed into a larger amount of a carrier oil such as soybean or sesame oil. Then, this combination of oils is applied to the therapist's palms and transferred to your skin during massage. You lie on the massage table as the tension is kneaded out of your muscles, and you simultaneously inhale the relaxing, sedating aroma of, say, lavender.

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