What is Aromatherapy?
It was the French perfumer and chemist, Rene-Maurice Gattefosse, who coined the term "aromatherapie" in 1937 with his publication of a book "Gattefosse’s Aromatherapy" which contains the early clinical findings for utilising essential oils for a range of physiological ailments. As aromatherapy has developed over the years it has adopted a more holistic approach encompassing the body, the mind and the spirit (energy).
Aromatherapy which can also be called Essential Oil Therapy, encompasses the holistic application and use of essential oils to support the health and well-being of the individual.
Although aromatic plants have been utilised by humans for thousands of years, aromatherapy as we know it today is relatively young. Essential oils are highly concentrated aromatic extracts that are distilled or expressed from a variety of aromatic plant material, including flowers, flowering tops, fruits/zests, grasses, leaves, needles and twigs, resins, roots, seeds, and woods.
Essential oils are responsible for the aroma and part of the taste of many medicinal plants. While essential oils are in the plant, they are constantly changing their chemical composition, helping the plant to adapt to an ever-changing internal and external environment.
Aromatherapy is amazing and dynamic because it can be utilised for so many things, from essential oil blends to therapeutic inhalers to beautiful plant-based skin care products that will nourish and support the body to support the body’s own healing processes. One of the most important aspects of aromatherapy is that essential oils are only applied by external means.
I have trouble getting deep sleep, but the Sleep Well is very effective, I can go back to sleep really quickly even if I wake up in the middle of the night. I love the scent, too! The Bliss also has a relaxing effect most especially when I am using at night time in the shower. The Soothe blend has calming effect and helped me with my abdominal cramps during my monthly period and my daughter when she's experiencing tummy ache. Thanks Linda for these essential oils, they are indeed 'essential' to me!
In Chinese terms, essential oils are medicines for the Shen, the spiritual essence that resides in the heart and governs consciousness. In Ayurvedic terms, they enhance the flow of prana (life force), nourish ojas (nutritional/immunological essence), and brighten tejas (mental luminosity). – David Crow
Just as we have our own individual personality, so does each species of plant have its own personality or set of properties. Extracting the essence of a plant is one of the ways of isolating this personality, but it is a delicate process - Robert Tisserand.
Mother nature created a life force in each plant that can help to work in harmony with our bodies to help restore, renew and balance us with their various properties. Each wonderful plant has a unique personality which can work both on our physical ailment and emotionally, an amazing, powerful gift from nature.
