Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy is all about self-healing. When we actively seek ways and means of looking after ourselves, we become confident and empowered in our lives. Confident and empowered, sounds like a magickal existence indeed. From helping to lift your mood, better sleep, anxiety relief, aromatherapy and essential oils could be the relief you are looking for. aromatherapy at it’s foundation is using the volatile oils from plants like mint, rosemary and lavender by inhaling them either directly from the bottle, by rubbing a couple of drops on the palms of your hands and inhaling, using a diffuser, even adding a couple of drops to a bowl of hot water and covering your head and bowl with a towel and inhale deeply and slowly. Do you love the way it smells when you are peeling an orange and does it seem to brighten your day? For you coffee drinkers, when that fresh pot is brewing in the morning, or pulling open a Starbucks door, does the smell just perk you right up? So many other smells, Grandma’s sugar cookies, the desert after the rain, the smell of the ocean breeze, or a forest floor this is aromatherapy in its most simple and basic form. Smell activates the limbic system — your brains center of emotion and memory, generally in a pleasant way. Essential oils can inspire a positive emotional state, enhance your physical well being, even help to create a deep spiritual awareness. Little drops of magickal goodness!
Let’s take a deeper dive!
Essential oils are complex natural mixtures of volatile secondary metabolites, isolated from plants by hydro- or steam distillation and by expression (citrus peel oils). The main constituents of essential oils – mono-and sesquiterpenes including carbohydrates, alcohols, ethers, aldehydes and ketones – are responsible for the fragrant and biological properties of aromatic and medicinal plants. Due to these properties, since ancient times spices and herbs have been added to food, not only as flavouring agents but also as preservatives. For centuries essential oils have been isolated from different parts of plants and also are used for similar purposes. Essential oils cover a broad spectrum of activities.
Various essential oils produce pharmacological effects, demonstrating anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anticancerogenic properties. Others are biocides against a broad range of organisms such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, protozoa, insects and plants.
Essential oils have already found a considerable range of applications. The majority of them are used as fragrances in perfumery as well as in food and beverages industry. Recent years have also witnessed a revival of traditional natural products in medicine and in food and cosmetics preservation. Despite the development of antibiotics, bacterial and fungal infections are still a major issue in medicine, and the presence of numerous drug-resistant strains poses a new challenge. Herbal drugs have been extensively used in this field for many centuries. Recently, there has been a growing interest in natural products due to their availability, fewer side effects or toxicity as well as better biodegrability as compared to the available antibiotics and preservatives.