More Complementary & Integrative Healthcare Articles
Aromatherapy
Smell is defined by Webster's Dictionary, “to perceive the odor or scent through the nose by means of the olfactory nerves; inhale the odor.” Therefore, aromatherapy can benefit almost everyone perhaps except for people affected by the loss of smell, or anosmia.
In her book, Healing Foods A Practical Guide to Key Foods for Good Health, Miriam Polunin attributes the healing effect of the smell of the active ingredients of onion and garlic. However, she adds that once cooked these benefits are reduced or lost.
The focus of aromatherapy is the healing effect of scented essential oils. The French chemist Ren Maurice Gattefoss is credited for coining the term “aromatherapy” as a branch of herbal treatment.
Essential oils are not taken internally but they are inhaled. As the first half of the word implies, aroma is important. C. Norman Shealy, MD, PhD explains that there is a theory that smells are converted into electrical impulses that are transmitted to the limbic system of the brain. Therefore, the aromas have an effect on the mind. Affected are our moods and emotions. We also improve in our mental alertness and concentration. Dr. Shealy warns to keep oils away from children and that aromatherapy is not recommended as a cure for any disease.
Lavender essential oil is popular in aromatherapy. In his course on healing emotions, Marcus Shumway, ND often recommended lavender. During reflexology sessions lavender can be added to the foot water for soaking the client's feet. Lavender essential oil sprinkled on your pillow when having a restless night may also be beneficial.
Another benefit of lavender essential oil occurred this past winter. A client complained that her school aged grandson could not settle down at night. She added that her daughter had tried almost everything.
Two to three drops of lavender essential oil in steaming water in her grandson's room a few minutes before bedtime helped her grandson be calmer at night and helped him to fall asleep.
Using lavender essential oil in a warm bath is another recommendation in The Encyclopedia of Herbs and Spices. The book also adds, “Lavender oil is the most useful of all the essential oils and perhaps the safest.”
