What is aromatherapy?
Is aromatherapy a nice smelling aroma in your home, a relaxing massage, a delightful beauty therapy, or a serious health care modality? Aromatherapy continues to be one of the fastest growing complementary healthcare modalities of the 21st century and yet it continues to be one of the least understood. There is a need to educate not only the general public, but particularly health care practitioners, to involve the essential oils use in regular medical practice.
So, what is aromatherapy?
Aromatherapy is the holistic therapeutic application of genuine and authentic plant-derived essential oils for enhancing the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health of the individual.
Physical health
Aromatherapy is able to affect the physical body, since therapeutic activity of essential oils is extensive. There is vast array of therapeutical properties of essential oils (antiviral, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, antiseptic, etc.), so they can impact numerous health conditions such as viral, bacterial and fungal infections, allergies, indigestion, pains, skin issues and countless other health problems.
Mental and emotional health
Aromatherapy is able to affect the mental and emotional aspects of an individual via the power of touch as well as via olfaction. Olfaction is capable of affecting emotions and nervous system activity via its impact on the limbic system, the part of the brain where our emotions are stored. For this reason, essential oils can affect the mood, stress levels, emotions such as nervousness, anxiety, fear, sorrow and many other states of emotional imbalance.
Spiritual health and energy
Aromatherapy, through the energetic functions of individual essential oils, is able to support an individuals spiritual practices such as meditation and prayer, as well as to affect change on the subtle energetic level.
Stimulation and support the body’s own natural healing abilities
It is known that humans have an incredible ability and potential to facilitate self healing. Aromatherapy, as a complementary therapy to other professions, is able to support and enhance the bodies own natural healing abilities during acute and chronic stages of disease.
Prevention
Aromatherapy can be used to reduce the likelihood of occurrence and/or prevent the manifestation of chronic degenerative disease when integrated into a whole health lifestyle. The use of aromatherapy for preventative measures often involves the techniques for stress management, applications on emotional level, as well as strengthening the immune system.