Essential Oils:
The word aromatherapy means “treatment using scents”. It refers to a particular branch of herbal medicine that uses concentrated plant oils called essential oils to improve physical and emotional health, and to restore balance to the whole person.
Unlike the herbs used in herbal medicine, essential oils are not taken internally, but are inhaled or applied to the skin.
Each oil has its own natural fragrance, and a gentle healing action that makes aromatherapy one of the most pleasant and popular of all the available complementary therapies.
Essential oils are extracted from aromatic essences of certain plants, trees, fruit, flowers, herbs, and spices.
Over 150 essential oils have been extracted, each one with its own scent and unique healing properties.
The oils and their actions are extremely complex.
All the oils are antiseptic, but each one also has individual properties, for example, they may be analgesic, fungicidal, diuretic, or expectorant.
The collective components of each oil also work together to give the oil a dominant characteristic. It can be relaxing, as in the case of chamomile, refreshing, or stimulating.
