AROMATHERAPY: SMELL YOUR WAY TO BETTER HEALTH!

AROMATHERAPY: SMELL YOUR WAY TO BETTER HEALTH! rnWhat are therapeutic grade oils and how are they different from 100% pure essential oil? Mankind’s first medicines over 5000 years ago were herbs and essential oils. While the Egyptians were masters at using essential oils for embalming, beauty and rituals, there are over 200 biblical references to anointing with essential oils and their healing and curative properties. Throughout world history, fragrant oils and spices have played a prominent role in everyday life. One of the factors that determine the purity of oil is its chemical constituents. These constituents can be affected by many variables: parts of the plant from which the oil is produced, soil and environment conditions, cultivation methods, harvesting methods and distillation process. The primary constituents within an essential oil have to occur in certain percentages in order for the oil to have predictable therapeutic results. The key to producing a therapeutic grade essential oil is to preserve as many aromatic compounds within the essential oil as possible. The most critical difference between pure oil and a therapeutic grade one is that the therapeutic grade one has all the chemical constituents of the plant intact which works therapeutically at exponential levels compared to that herb or plant. For example, you may have been asked to drink peppermint tea to aid digestion, but one drop of peppermint essential oil is equivalent to 27 cups of peppermint tea! Every batch of essential oil needs to be screened to ensure their therapeutic standards. A high-resolution gas chromatography column is used to determine the percentage of chemical constituents. Spot testing, or simply relying on a vendor’s word is not good enough. It verifies not only that the oil is 100% natural but also that it is distilled from the correct botanical species, subspecies and chemotype. All essential oils are antiviral, antibacterial, antifungal, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and some are anti-parasitic. These properties are there to protect the plant from exposure to its environment. The molecules of these essential oils are very close to our own body tissues – and therefore it very rapidly diffuses right through our body tissues – if you were to apply peppermint to your feet, then it will diffuse through to the top of your head in less than 30 seconds! If you are sensitive enough, you may even taste it in your mouth! The nose is the only sense organ that is directly connected to the brain – the pineal gland. So when you smell, it goes to your limbic system of the brain (the seat of emotions) and you actually have an emotional response before you even have a physical response. So it works at a subconscious level – deals with buried emotions, mental and physical levels – taking care of body, mind and spirit. They bring oxygen to the blood and have acid binding properties – making them natural detoxification agents. They bind to all types of toxins in the body, maintaining a healthy inner terrain in your body. You cannot be allergic to essential oils – even if you are allergic to that particular plant, as our body only reacts to proteins – and essential oils are devoid of any large molecules like carbohydrates, proteins or fats. (they are not fatty oils) If you do have a “reaction” to any oil that you have applied, it is because your body is acidic and the oil is rapidly detoxifying your body, and the quickest way out is through the skin. Some people may get a headache or generally feel unwell the first time they have applied therapeutic oils – simply because the body is trying to get rid of latent toxins. Some of the essential oils that have been used for meditation and spiritual practices like frankincense, sandalwood, myrrh, cedarwood etc. have been found to have compounds that are small enough to penetrate the blood-brain barrier, without harming our own body tissues - something pharmaceutical companies are spending billions trying to get a drug to do. These essential oils have been found to oxygenate the brain and create alpha waves – which create healing and a sense of wellbeing. All things have a certain electro frequency – our own human bodies have a frequency of 60-66 MHz Each essential oil has its own signature frequency – the higher the frequency, the greater your health status. So just smelling these oils can improve your health, quite literally, by raising your own body frequency. These therapeutic grade essential oils are now being used to treat cancer, modulate the immune system, balance hormones, treat viral and microbial infections including MRSA, manage ADHD/Autism and in spiritual upliftment.They are being successfully combined with acupressure, acupuncture, kinesiology and other alternative modalities. It seems to create a synergistic effect with the therapy to create quicker and greater healing. These essential oils create therapy in their aroma – so smell your way to better health.