Your Aromatherapy Guide

If you want to harness the power of aromatherapy, this aromatherapy guide is just what you've been looking for!

Aromatherapy works by stimulating your sense of smell using pure, essential aromatic oils. As these oils are absorbed into your bloodstream they affect the limbic system (in your brain), which controls your emotions, moods and memory.

My easy-to-read aromatherapy guide gives you simple instructions on using aromatherapy essential oils to benefit your mind and body.

What can aromatherapy do?

Depending on which essential oil/s you use, the effect can vary quite a bit and many, many illnesses and conditions can be impacted positively by using aromatherapy.

The benefits of aromatherapy include -

• Strengthening your immune system


• Killing bacteria/viruses


• Promoting cell growth


• Improving blood circulation


• A whole host of mood-enhancing effects, such as increasing alertness, promoting relaxation, reducing anxiety, lifting depression and more.

Aromatherapy Methods

The aromatherapy guide below describes these in more detail.

• Taking a aromatherapy bath
  Adding essential oil/s to your bath is a very simple way to enjoy the effects of aromatherapy. At the end of a long day, enjoying the relaxing properties of chamomile, lavendar or sandalwood and a tub or warm water, are a wonderfully soothing way to unwind and get ready for sleep.

  Add 4-6 drops of your chosen oil to your bathwater, agitate well to mix, and then relax in the tub for 15 minutes. You can add more than one oil, but don't exceed 8 drops of oil total. A footbath is a quick alternative to a soak in the tub. Use 3-4 drops maximum in this application.

  Children can benefit from a relaxing aromatherapy bath too, but it's important to be careful as these oils are powerful. For children 2 years or over, who weigh over 32lbs, 2-3 drops of oil should be used in a regular tub of water. For children between 6 months and 2 years, 1-2 drops is enough. Never use aromatherapy oils on a tiny baby or newborn.



• Massage
  No aromatherapy guide would be complete without discussing aromatherapy massage. This method involves the absorption of the essential oil/s through your skin. The added therapeutic benefits of massage are just a bonus! It's important never to use undiluted ('neat') essential oils directly on your skin. You need to blend them with a carrier oil first.

  Aromatherapy oils are too strong to be applied directly to your skin, so they need to be blended with milder oils such as Almond, Peach, Apricot, Jojoba or Wheatgrass. Many of the common carrier oils are nut-based, so if you're worried about the possibility of nut allergies, try sunflower or grape-seed oil instead.

  Although the essential oils are generally considered the 'important or active' part of the aromatherapy treatment, the carrier oils have their own special properties and benefits too. They contain vitamins and minerals, and are excellent moisturizing agents.

  To make an aromatherapy massage oil, you add 5 drops of essential oil with 10ml of a carrier oil, and shake well to blend. For children aged 3-7 years old, use 2 drops per 10ml, for those aged between 1 and 3 years, 1 drop per 25ml is enough. Again, don't use on a tiny or newborn baby. Lavendar, Ylang Ylang, Melissa or Rose are all good choices to make when planning a relaxing massage.



• Inhalation
  This is the very basis of aromatherapy, and the benefits of essential oils can be clearly seen when you use the inhalation method. It's the simplest and most versatile aromatherapy technique, and there are several options such as an aromatherapy diffuser, candles, steam inhalation, a vaporizer, oil burner and more.

You can 'mix and match' whichever oil/s and method/s until you get the results you're looking for.

So.....

It's not an expensive option, and you can try one, several (or even all) of the above methods, and experiment until you find what works best for you.

Feeling relaxed and getting a good nights sleep may be just a few drops away!

Page/Article Links: