Plant-based Treatments: Aromatherapy

What is Aromatherapy?
Aromatherapy is a thousands-of-years-old process of using scented plants and oils for healing. Used as perfumes, incense, drugs, and cosmetics, plant essential oils were highly valued in most ancient cultures. Perhaps the Egyptians are best known for their love of fine perfumes and for using plants and oils, like cedar and myrrh, for making mummies.

We owe the rebirth of aromatherapy to lavender! According to the International Federation of Aromatherapy, the term 'Aromatherapie' was first used 65 years ago by a French perfume chemist named Gattefossé. Working in the lab, Gattefossé burned his hand badly and plunged it into a nearby vat of lavender essential oil. When his burn healed quickly without blisters, Gattefossé began a life-long study of the healing effects of plant oils.

Essential oils are rich in healing properties, and some can help calm our nerves. Applied to the skin or breathed in, essential oils can subtly shift your chemistry to create balance in your body. They are a comforting way to treat anxiety or other strong feelings.

Caution: Essential oils are for external (outside the body) use only. Dilute them in a lotion or other oil before you apply them to your skin, or they can cause a rash.