Beginner's guide to aromatherapy : How to use essential oils safely

 

Picture this. You're standing in your kitchen, it's a hot day outside, the sun is shining in through the window and you decide you would like a nice refreshing glass of lemon water. You grab your lemon from your fruit bowl, take out a knife and start to cut the lemon into thin slices. While cutting you begin to smell the energizing scent of lemon. 

 What you are smelling is the oils and juices from the lemon, invigorating your mood and delighting your senses. This is where essential oils come into place, in that lemon, specifically on the outside peel there are tiny fluid-filled pouches in the skin filled with oil. 

 Essential oils are the natural oils in different plants, such as lemon when you take the oils out of multiple lemons all at once through a method called distillation. There are various ways of distillation, for citrus fruits, it's usually a process called expression which is when a machine pierces and squeezes out the oils from the citrus peels.  However, it is different for each plant.

Because these oils are so potent you don't want to use them directly on the skin without some sort of carrier/base. There are many you can choose from, bubble baths, shower gel's or oils etc.

Again because these oils are so potent, you also don't want to take them internally.  

To give you a general idea of how potent these are if you were to drop one drop of peppermint essential oil into your water or tea or just pure into your mouth it is said to be equal to drinking up to 100 cups of peppermint tea all at once. That is a lot of peppermint tea! You can see how that would be overwhelming for the body to digest and filter. If you are continually doing this, you could be putting your body under more stress rather than helping it which is the whole meaning behind aromatherapy. 

This is where a professional aromatherapist can be a huge asset to you. They are trained in the use of safely using essential oils to help with stress management, overall relaxation, relief, quality of rest. You can even use essential oils for the skin, hair, body, emotions, mental wellbeing and more! There are so many different uses for Aromatherapy. 

One of the easiest ways to use essential oils is through diffusion, or by buying products that are made specifically for this. There are so many different places and people you can buy these oils and products from, but I urge you to please do your research. As much knowledge there is on the internet and in books and through word of mouth, there are also dangers in blindly trusting what others say. This isn't said to bash anyone or anything, it's more so to make sure you are safe and listening to your own voice and intuition when trying new products and ways to help you feel less stressed and more relaxed in day-to-day life. 

 Take everything with a grain of salt, explore and have fun with essential oils while also using them safely so you can get the most benefits from them.

With that being said, please feel free to check out the other posts I have in regards to how to use essential oils safely, recipes, product's and more!

Have fun and be safe!

Love & Peace

Christina