Aromatherapy for treating mental and physical health conditions

Aromatherapy is a holistic approach to therapy. That is, it works on the entire human or animal organism, including the mind, body, and spirit. Although it’s thousands of years old, aromatherapy is experiencing a revival amongst Westerners. In the twentieth century rush to replace nature’s solutions with man’s Frankenstein concoctions, the wonderful benefits of essential oils were forsaken for the promises of a carefree world of synthesized medicines, beauty aids, cleaners, insecticides, scents, and what have you. Essential oils perform many antibiotic, antiseptic, antiviral, and antifungal duties, along with performing other vital functions such as balancing systems, but in many ways, essential oils are more powerful than their synthetic counterparts. And, at the same time, they can be much safer (read the cautions below, though). Many essential oils are made by steam distillation of plant matter, but there are several other methods of manufacture. The most important thing is that the oils are real, being derived from nature, and carrying nature’s therapeutic energy patterns from the source flowers, fruits, herbs, and other plant constituents.
There are currently some 300 essential oils in general use. Obviously, you have to know which ones are good for what. The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy: Over 600 Natural, Non-Toxic and Fragrant Recipes to Create Health – Beauty – a Safe Home Environment, by Valerie Ann Worwood is a delightful book that tells what you need to know to treat a myriad of ailments, as well as how to use essential oils for things such as beautifying, cleaning, treating animals, improving the garden, and cooking. See the extensive list of topics covered in this superb book on aromatherapy. And, yes, the book does have an index.
Unfortunately, the quality of essential oils varies widely, and some are basically useless. The above book discusses this, and what to do about it.

Warning

Do not use essential oils (even diluted ones) in your eyes. Also, many essential oils should not be used for any purpose, and still more should not be used when pregnant. Just because an essential oil is sold in a health food store doesn’t make it safe. This is another reason to buy the book, or get it from your library, before using aromatherapy.
Although essential oils certainly can have a therapeutic effect on people through our olfactory nerves, the principal means of transfer is through either our skin, or through our lungs and into the bloodstream. The oils readily pass through the skin, and the most important mode of use is with massage oils. Additionally, oils can be applied through burning, diffusing, compresses, hair rinses, lotions and creams, and aromatic baths, among other means. The fact that the precious oils can be moved into the bloodstream without oral ingestion is significant, as many beneficial substances cannot survive the digestive process. It is also thought that essential oils exit the body without leaving any toxins behind.