Aromatherapy is the use of essential oils to aid wellbeing and treat ailments. True aromatherapy utilises nature-derived essences known as - essential oils.

 

Essential oils originate from parts of plants - it may be from the root, the bark, the leaves the fruit peel or the flower. Steam distillation is a popular method of obtaining the essential oil, although this is only one of many ways we have learned to capture and obtain the essence.

 

Essential oils get into the body via the nasal cavity, when we inhale them in and also through our lungs. When we breathe in -the scent first goes to our limbic sytem in the brain; our centre for controlling hormones, emotions and memory. When the vapours get into our lungs they then get to the blood stream via  our lung capillaries.

 

The other way oils get into our body in via our largest organ - our skin!

 

The effects of aromatherapy are physiological, pharmacautical and psychological. Aromatherapy can affect and influence our mood and behaviour.

 

Combined with massage the effects are heightened and its commonly used as a tool to balance and restore the systems that make up our body and relieve stress.

 

Still interested? Discover more by reading the story behind these images in my blog