What is Aromatherapy?
Aromatherapy involves using the natural powers of essential oils extracted from plants to improve physical and emotional wellbeing. It also helps to promote health and vitality by stimulating the body to heal itself and by reducing stress, which can be the cause of many ailments.
Aromatherapy roots can be traced back to the early Egyptian people 5,000 years ago. The term aromatherapy was first coined by a French perfumer and chemist Rene-Maurice Gattefosse in 1937. Today, the use of aromatherapy has become increasingly more popular as people realise the benefits that the oils can have on our wellbeing.
What are essential oils?
Essential oils are the life of the plant, highly volatile fragrant chemical compounds. Essential oils are extracted from different parts of the plant such as from the petals, leaves, roots, seeds, barks and resins. Essential oils are made up of as many as 100 individual chemical constituents which provide the oil with its unique therapeutic, psychological and physiological properties.
How does aromatherapy work?
Essential oils have three distinct modes of action regarding how they inter-relate with the human body: pharmacological, physiological and psychological. The pharmacological effect is the chemical changes which take place when an essential oil enters the body and reacts with hormones and enzymes etc. The physiological effect is how the essential oils affect the systems of the body such as being sedated or stimulated. Whereas the psychological effect takes place when the essence is inhaled and is how the individual responds to its odour.
The power of our sense of smell
Our sense of smell is linked to some of the oldest and deepest parts of our brain and mind. When we inhale certain aromas, it can recall memories of certain places, people or events and trigger our emotions and physical responses.
When we breathe in the aroma, the aromatic molecules travel to the top of our noses where the olfactory nerve cells are. These nerves are the only nerves in all our senses which are directly connected to the brain. The olfactory nerve sends impulse messages to the limbic system, the part of the brain which is responsible for our emotions, instincts and survival.
So, before we have registered the scent in our conscious brain, we have breathed in the aroma causing our body to react by releasing endorphins to boost our mood.
The smell of freshly cut grass reminds me of happy childhood memories playing in the garden with my brother during the summer months.
Hollie
Chemical constituents
The molecules of essential oil are small enough to easily penetrate through our skin into the blood vessels allowing them to circulate around our bodies to travel where they are most beneficial. Each essential oil is made up of as many as 100 individual chemical constituents which shape their properties such as being anti-inflammatory, antiviral, sedative and cicatrisant.
For example, the main chemical constituent found in Lavandula angustifolia (True Lavender) is linalyl acetate, up to 40%. Linalyl acetate’s therapeutic properties are anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and anti-hypertensive. Therefore, this essential oil can be used to help a range of conditions such as burns, eczema, menstrual pain, lowering heart rate and blood pressure.