Aromatherapy Chat

“If the day and night are such that you greet them with joy and life emits a fragrance like flowers and sweet scented herbs - that is your success. All nature is your congratulations.” Henry David Thoreaux

Potpourri is easy to make with quality plants and essential oils. When you make it yourself you can add any combination of scents, textures and colors. Just dry flowers and green plants at room temperature, away from the sunlight, until they are very dry. Then arrange them in a container, add your favourite scents and enjoy. A potpourri also makes a wonderful gift.

Facial Steam : Giving your self a steam facial is a fantastic way to reap the benefits of essential oils. Steam facials stimulate the circulation, unclog pores and soften the skin. They are easy and very relaxing. Use the same method as for inhalations. Combine 1 or 2 drops of two or three oils. There are many to choose from so try not to stick with the same oils all the time. Experiment, have fun and decide what works best for you.

The above suggestion is given by Leah Morgan in her book Aromatherapy Guide.  This book is an excellent guide and reference book for anyone interested in learning more about aromatherapy and using essential oils.

Glass diffusers work well if you want to continually puff an essential oil scent into the air. This method uses a pump similar to a fish tank pump. An advantage to this method is that no heat is used so the aroma is more pure. A disadvantage is that the pump can be noisy and of course it is breakable. They also need cleaning when changing a scent or the scents will mix together.

Ceramic diffusers work well also. There is a candle under the area where the essential oil is placed. The heat from the candle can distort the scent.

An easy method for spreading scent into the room is with steam. Place a few drops into the hot water and the scent quickly gets dispersed into the room.

You can make do-it-yourself sprays by using water or a carrier oil with some essential oils added, place in a spray bottle and spray the mist when you need it.

An easy way to fill up your room with your favorite scent is with the use of a diffuser. An aromatherapy diffuser is a device that sits on a table, desk or shelf that emits or diffuses the scent into the air. An electric diffuser works well because it provides a continuous scent for several hours. Just put it somewhere out of the way and let it do it’s work.

Some electric diffusers heat the oil as it is being dissipated into the surrounding area. A disadvantage of heating the oil is that it can take away some of the purity of the oil and can therefore alter the scent. A diffuser that does not heat the oil is the type that diffuses the oil from an absorbent pad on which some drops of essential oils have been placed. The absorbent pads are then placed into the unit, a fan is turned on, and the scent is blown into the air.

An ultrasonic diffuser is now available that converts essential oils and into a cool mist. Because this unit does not heat the oils it enables you to benefit the most from the healing properties of the essential oils. While they are more expensive to buy, these units have the advantages of a controlled auto shut off feature and it is preprogrammed for time and dispersion levels.

The next blog entry will include suggestions for other methods of essential oil dispersion.

This is a suggested recipe for a bath that will help as a meditation aid. Just add these ingredients into the bath water and enjoy.

• One tablespoon milk

• Four drops of sandalwood essential oil

• two drops of rose essential oil 

• two drops of frankincense essential oil 

“A perfumed bath and a scented massage everyday is a way to good health” Hypocrites (460-377 BCE)

A therapeutic bath can be one of the easiest ways to enjoy the use of essential oils. Just add 3-10 drops of an essential oil blend to a full tub of water. It can be stimulating, relaxing, cooling or warming depending on the blend you choose. Tired, sore, and stiff muscles began to relax and heal during the bath and continue on after the bath. Other physical conditions and even emotions began to balance. How? The combination of hot water and steam opens the pores for easy absorption into the body. Added benefits can be achieved through inhalation as the oils sooth the respiratory system and enter the body through the blood stream.

Almost everyone knows how great it feels to be given a massage. It is a relaxing experience while benefiting the body, mind and spirit. Adding essential oils and aromatherapy products can heighten the massage experience tenfold. The experience can be invigorating or relaxing depending on the oils used. Essential Oil blends and body and bath oils have already been formulated by aromatherapy experts to get the desired results and can be purchase from them. “Healingscents” is one such company.

You can do a lot for yourself without a professional massage expert. For example, you can massage your own face, neck, hands and any other part of your body you can reach. Or simply ask a loved to do a light massage where you can’t reach. How therapeutic is that!

Storing essential oils for any length of time requires some thought and care.

First, it is important to recognize that an aromatherapy product is a product such as a body cream or hair rinse that contains essential oils , while an essential oil is just that - a pure oil. An essential oil will break down (oxidize) more quickly if it is exposed to sunlight or heat, or if the lid is left open. To ensure that the oil quality will last it is important to keep the lid on tightly when not in use, store the essential oils in an amber or blue glass, keep clear bottles in the cupboard (it’s better not to use clear bottles) to keep away from direct sunlight.

Aromatherapy products should also be in glass containers but it is not always convenient. For example, a plastic bottle would work better when traveling. A lot of products come only in plastic, and it wouldn’t be convenient to immediately tranfer the ingredients into a glass bottle.

When you are smelling a finished aromatherapy product such as body oils, body creams, or soaps made with essential oils you can smell directly from the product because there is only a small amount of the essential oil in the product. However, when smelling an undiluted essential oil, it is a good idea to take another approach. Because the undiluted oil is so potent you probably will not get a true idea of the quality of the oil.

The first thing to do is to clear your nose. This can be done by deeply inhaling outside fresh air. Sniffing coffee beans, breathing through a woolen material, or putting a few grains of salt on the tip of your tongue can also be done.

After clearing the olfactory sense you can then do the following:

• Sniff from the bottle cap instead of directly from the bottle.

• Hold the bottle cap about ten inches from you nose.

• Move the bottle cap back and forth to dilute the strength of the oil. This will disperse the molecules into the air.

1. Check the reputation of the supplier.

2. A reputable supplier will provide the botanical name of the essential oil. e.g. Basil: Ocimum basilicum.

3. How are the plants grown? Look for organically grown plants.

4. Are the Essential oils pure? There should be no blatantly synthetic essential oils such as lilac, cucumber, or strawberry. A good way to test for purity is to put a drop of the essential oil on a piece of paper. When it evaporates there should be no oily mark left on the paper.

5. Purchase a small amount from a company that you are unsure about to check for quality.

   
   

In vertebrates, smells get processed through the olfactory sensory neurons in the olfactory epithelium.  The difference between the olfactory epithelium and the respiratory epithelium is a quantifiable distinction that shows how well one animal can smell in comparison with another.  Therapeutic essential oils are an indication of the function of smell in human beings. 

Dogs, for example, have an olfactory epithelium that is considerably more densely innervated with a hundred times more receptors per square centimeter.  They have a greatly more advanced sense of smell than does a human being.  Insects smell using olfactory sensory neurons in their sensilla, the difference being that they do not have internal organs that allow them to smell.  Their ability to smell is located in their antenna, palps and tarsa, as well as other parts of the insect’s body.