What are essential oils? They’re the basis for one of the most popular, intriguing and, for many, beneficial holistic health practices around today: aromatherapy.
Essential oils, also called “volatile oils”, are the basic essences of plants that have been extracted from the vegetation used one of several methods. They’ve been used for thousands of years, back even to the time of the Egyptians, whose newly opened tombs often still smell of these highly concentrated plant essences.
Aromatherapy historians surmise that the early Chinese civilization was one of the first to use aromatic plants for wellbeing, such as burning incense to promote harmony and balance. The ancient Egyptians also were known for their use of such plant substances as cinnamon, nutmeg, clove, myrrh and cedar wood for embalming. But it wasn’t until the 11th century C. E. That a Persian inventor, Avicenna, devised a coiled cooling pipe to distill volatile plant essences.
Avicenna’s invention inspired alchemists and others to study the creation and benefits of plant distillations. For example, the well-known German mystic, Hildegard of Bingen, grew lavender and distilled it for medical purposes. By the 15th century, apothecaries, monks and medical doctors distilled plant essences from rose, sage, juniper and rosemary.
Today aromatherapy has become widely used as a holistic health practice. While the distilling and mixing of essential oils remains something of an art, scientific evidence now supports the use of intense aromas for relaxation and relief from certain illnesses such as colds and chest congestion. A credible aromatherapist studies long and hard to determine which plant essence offers the best application for a client’s goal.
Consumers also should be careful when purchasing products containing plant essences allegedly useful for aromatherapy. That’s because such products often are not regulated, and may simply be a sweet-smelling concoction made with chemical agents. Aromatherapy practitioners often give their clients a “recipe” for creating their own mixture of essential oil to avoid chemical interference.
A final word of caution: many countries don’t regulate the production of aromatherapy products, so buyers who want to follow a completely holistic regimen should read labels carefully for synthetic ingredients. Many fragrances used in bath and beauty products are not true plant essences, but are perfumes containing chemicals that don’t provide the same health benefits as true essential oils.
To learn more, you’ll find much more at anandaapothecary.com/weblog, or a review of each individual oils at http://www.anandaapothecary.com/essential-oils.html.