What is aromatherapy?
Aromatherapy is any scent that is used to affect the body or mind. The sense of smell is the sense that is most basic to humans and most animals.
In general, when we speak of aromatherapy, we are talking about essential oils. These oils are taken from various trees and plants, and have direct effects on our body. For example, a blend of grapefruit, orange, and clary sage is used for insomnia and can put the individual to sleep very quickly.
Are we talking about candles, or what?
Candles are just one way of using aromatherapy. The most usual method is to inhale the essential oil or blends directly, but the oils used in other ways as well. Place a cotton ball with a couple of drops of peppermint oil in your automobile's air conditioner vent on your next road trip to keep you awake and alert. Add a few drops of a cold and sinus blend to hot water in your bathroom sink and inhale the steam to clear up your sinuses and nasal passages. You can inhale a stress blend directly, but add a few drops to a carrier oil such as almond oil and find someone to give you a massage!
How does aromatherapy work?
Think about the last time you walked into a room and smelled something that immediately took you back to your childhood! Sometimes we may not even know what the scent is, but we know the association. This association can be positive or negative. Because of this, aromatherapy uses blends that can be modified for the individual. For example, if a scent used in a particular blend evokes a strong negative association, we can easily replace that with another with the same or similar properties.
In addition to the emotional responses, the sense of smell is thousands of times more powerful than that of taste, yet it is our most neglected sense. The olfactory nerve is a direct extension of the brain. The aromas have different effects on our bodies, from clearing sinuses, chasing away headaches, helping us to concentrate, waking us and giving us energy, relieving asthma and allergies.
Essential oils can be used as a pleasant and effective way of calming children.
Many people are very sensitive to aromas, and aromatherapy has its uses for these people as well. We can develop cleaning products that do not have the chemical scents of commercial products. We can eliminate unpleasant odors in rooms.
Unfortunately, many people discover how aromas affect us in an unpleasant way. How many times have we had a headache after sleeping in a newly painted room? Or wondered why we have daily headaches after buying a new car (it's usually the carpet).