Aromatherapy How It Works

Aromatherapy
Connecting the Mind, Body and Spirit
By: WhiteOak

What is aromatherapy? The Oxford dictionary explains, "It is the use of plant extracts and essential oils in massage". Ok, this is true however; aromatherapy is also used without massage. I will be explaining some of the other ways but I want to take this topic deeper.

When you are working with herbs or the extracts of plants, one of the most important things to remember is; you must learn to connect to the essence of the plant I can sense those eyebrows rising; do not give up on me yet, I promise I am going some where with that comment.

Many moons ago when I first started working with herbs and plant extracts, I wanted to grow every herb and flower I could find. I purchased many different and learned I was really trying to be over ambitious. I grew plants that I knew nothing about, planted them in the wrong kind of soil, and did not know how to take care of them properly. In turn, many of the plants withered and died. I felt like my gardening days had come to an end.

One morning I decided to meditate in between two rows of the herbs and this is what happened. "I could almost hear this soft gentle voice speaking to me and it asked me the true reason why I wanted to grow all of these herbs". I was putting all of my concentration and energy in just having an herb garden; I was not listening to the Spirit or the True Essence of the plant. Listening to the herbs and attuning yourself to their essence, will be your greatest teacher. If you open up and ask them to be your teacher, and you are willing to become their student you will be able to learn a lot from them.

Ever since that day many moons ago, I am still a student of the herb/plant world. I consider them to still be my teacher. Working with plant extracts and herbs, is a slow process but very rewarding if you are patient enough to work with them and be willing to do a lot of research.
When you are working with aromatherapy, you are working with your "smelling sense". Aromas evoke different emotions and memories and often the two connect. One of the herbs that I work with is the "Mint Family". I dedicated my mint garden to my grandmother who I loved more than life. When I was a child, my grandmother's kitchen (which was the heart of her home) always smelled like mint. She had a small area in the back where she grew mints and a few other Italian herbs in containers. The second she opened the back door, the kitchen filled with the most wonderful aromas. You see emotions and memories both connected to each other for me because of the smell of mint.

Different aromas stimulate different parts of our mind, body and spirit. As an example, Lavender and Jasmine both relax you, calm you and can make you feel like you are floating in a cloud of comfort. Lavender and Jasmine both are also used as natural aphrodisiacs. The essence of these two fragrances make you feel relaxed, sensual, calm and very good.

Plant extracts have a powerful energy of their own. Aromatherapy has been the vehicle for many spiritual journeys for centuries. Aromatherapy dates so far back that I cannot tell you how old it is. In the Victorian days, women used essence of lavender in the water to calm their crying babies, different oils were used in the Bible for purification, and Native Americans used different herbal scents before rituals and ceremonies.
Everything around us affects our energy in one way or another; colors, music, sounds and smell, the list endless. The energy from colors, music, sounds, smell, and etc. need to go somewhere and often will attach to our chakras. We have seven main chakras (energy areas) Crown, Brow, Throat, Heart, Solar plexus, Sacral and Base and each chakra is represented by a different color. You can read about chakras on my lens: /www.squidoo.com/whiteoakartdesignschakra">Chakras-Seven Major Energy Points (We also have twenty-one minor chakras but I do not know enough about them to go into detail).

The color that represents each chakra is as follows: the Crown=White/Lavender, the Brow=Indigo, the Throat=Blue, the Heart=Green, the Solar plexus=Yellow, the Sacral=Orange and the Base=Red. Not only do these things connect to aromatherapy but also to the mind, body, spirit.

For example, the energy from Stress, Tension and Depression are stored in the head area also known as the Crown Chakra. If you are dealing with stress, tension and depression, try using some Neroli, rose or frankincense essential oil in a diffuser. The aromas from these scents are used for relaxing and calming the energy.

If you have a Respiratory problem you could use, ylang-ylang, jasmine, geranium or lavender in a diffuser. The aroma from these plants could aide in relaxing the energy in the Heart Chakra. Remember we are trying to get rid of the trapped energy in order to allow the plants essence to come in and heal. When energy is trapped, it causes dis-ease and in turn we get sick. The best way to understand how aromatherapy works is to envision these little fragrant molecules rushing to the area of our body that needs healed the most.

Aromatherapy sounds more complicated than it really is. I have always viewed aromatherapy as another alternative method of healing, by using another one of our senses. I have known people whose smelling abilities were not good and I have known other people who could only smell real strong scents. However, they were still able to experience the sensations from aromatherapy, sounds odd doesn't it? I have always believed just because the physical nose may not be able to work normally, the spiritual "smeller" knows exactly what it is doing!

Connecting the mind, body and spirit of our being can be accomplished by aromatherapy. You can begin with one or two essential oils and slowly begin to formulate your own combinations. One of my all time favorite combinations is amber, myrrh, sandalwood and frankincense. This combination is very powerful and spiritual. It promotes harmony, balance, visions, enlightenment, acceptance and unity. All of these effects help with emotional healing. On a physical level, this combination is a calmative, expectorant, antidepressant, decongestant and antiseptic. I have mixed these oils with a carrier oil such as olive, sunflower or almond oil and used it as massage oil and body oil. I have also mixed a small amount of this oil combination with my shampoo and I have rubbed it on candles before burning them. One of my favorite things to do with this scent was make homemade soap.

You are the only one who limits yourself as to how to use aromatherapy in your daily life. You do not want to ingest essential oils, because many are toxic. Be sure if you do decide to use essential oils as a massage or body oil that you mix it with a carrier oil because some essentials could burn your skin because they are really strong.

I am a firm believer that many times when we are sick or not feeling good, we need to go deep within and see if something is bothering us that we may not be aware of. Maybe we are more stressed than usual, maybe we have a migraine headache or we are very short with people because we are in a bad mood. If we allow our self to sit silently and listen closely we can find the reason why we are feeling this way. Aromatherapy is very magickal and is very effect with its own abilities.

There may be many times when you do not have the money to spend on essential oils or carrier oils. In those times, you can use a single flower in a glass of water. Maybe all you can afford is to purchase one small mint plant. You can nurture and take care of that plant and still get the benefits from its aroma. I personally love to plant seeds. It helps me to relax while planting the seeds and although I may get a little impatient waiting for the little babies to grow; the reward afterwards is well worth the wait. All it takes to get started with aromatherapy is one essential oil or one flower. If you have the desire to begin, you can use your creativity and come up with a starting point.

You can purchase these oils directly at my web site:
WhiteOak eCrater

Amber-Love, Comfort and Happiness
Apple-Happiness and Loved
Anise Seed-Divination, Protection and Purification

Basil-Love, Wealth, Protection
Bergamot-Attracts money and uplifts the spirit
Birch-Protection and Purification
Bayberry-Protection and control

Carnation-Protection, healing and Love
Coconut-Purification,Protection and chastity
Citronella-Cleansing and warding
Cinnamon-purifying, stimulating and money
Cucumber-Chastity, healing and fertility

Dragons Blood-Potency and Protection

Evergreen-Grounding, strength and cleansing
Eucalyptus-Healing and Protection

FrangiPani-Attact trust and confidences
Frankincense-Astral Strength and Protection

Gardenia-Love, Peace, Healing and Spirituality
Geranium (Rose)-Fertility, Health, Love and Protection

Heather-Protection, Rain-Making and Luck
(carrying heather is a guard against attacks)
Heliotrope-Healing, Money, Spirituality, Psychic Dreams and Awareness.
Honeysuckle-Protection, Money and Healing

Jasmine-Love, Relaxing, Dreams and Money

Lavender-Cleansing, Purification, Love and Healing
Lilac-Warding off and Soothing
Lilly of the Valley-Inner Peace and Memory
Lemon Balm-Purification and Love
Lemon-Purification, Love and Friendship

Myrrh-Hex Breaking, Meditation and Healing

Orange-Prosperity, Purification and Divination

Peach-Love,Longevity, Fertility and Wishes
Patchouli-Mastery, Growth and Love

Rosemary-Protection, Love, Mental Powers,Purification, Sleep, Healing
Rose-Love, House Blessings and Fertility

Sunflower-Fertility, Wishes, Health, Wisdowm
Sandalwood-Spirituality, Protection, Wishes and Healing
Strawberry-Love and Luck

Thyme-Courage, Healing and Love

Vetivert-Money, peace, love and hex breaking
Violet-Healing, Love and Protection
Vanilla-Love and Mental Powers
Wisteria-Spirituality and Protection

Planting Basil Seed:

I adore this herb. It is especially good for people who, through life's emotional circumstances have become numb too the "wholeness" of one's existence. For those who have lost their self by others always taking from them. Basil offers an opening of the heart chakra and Its aroma is like aniseed, rich, warm, slight peppery. Emotionally speaking basil can aid with concentration, trust, enthusiasm, strength and clarity.

I have grown a lot of basil and I just cannot get enough of it. I would advise everyone to grow at least one pot full. You can get a pack of seed for a dollar (or cheaper) and you will get benefits back a hundred fold. You can use it for cooking, making pesto and aromatherapy. Use your imagination! Basil's powers are love, wealth, protection. Using basil for aromatherapy: you can make a strong tea and add it to your bath water and envelope yourself in its essence.

Jasmine: I adore this herb also. Jasmine has a rich, sweet, floral aroma. It encourages your spirit to be uplifted, promotes joy and inspiration, harmony and sensitivity. Jasmine has the ability to call the angelic realm closer to you. It taste wonderful as a tea, you can scent your rice with it, again use your imagination!

Orange: Next time you have an orange at hand, notice how fresh, fruity and sweet its scent is. How do you feel when you close your eyes and inhale its aroma? Physically oranges act as a calmative and sedative. Emotionally the same orange encourages joy, creativity and self-confidence. Wash your orange peels really good, use a small knife and cut as much as the white pulp off as you can. Put all of the peels into a brown bag until they dry completely, store in a glass jar.

So how do you use them? Put them in herbal teas, soak them in water to soften them up and use them for cooking. The list of things you can do with herbs is endless, just use your imagination and creativity!