I always had a certain amount of attraction towards the health benefits of essential oils. Maybe because they come in very small bottles that seem to represent the pure essence of something or the cure to something else. The point is that essential oils do have multiple benefits. You just have to believe!
As we all know, aromatherapy has become one of the natural healing methods with the widest range of spreading around the world. The art of aromatherapy uses pure essential oils, extracted from different parts of plants and trees. These liquid, perfumed natural substances, usually considered “the soul” of plants, have a multitude of health benefits and therapeutic properties.
There are plenty of methods in order to obtain the perfumed substances from plants and trees. The essential oils, however, are those obtained through distillation or pressure.
- Distillation
It’s the most common and cheapest method to extract oils. Some plants are distilled right after they have been harvested while others are left for days or can even be dried before extraction. Usually, the best quality is obtained at the first distillation.
- Pressure
This method is exclusively reserved to the members of the citrus families, such as bergamot, grapefruit, lemon, lime, tangerine and orange. The essence is found in small bags located just beneath the cover/crust. This process was first made by just pressing with the hand.
Ways To Use Essential Oils
There are tons of ways the essential oils can be used. Here are some of the most simple, common and most efficient techniques, but feel free to experiment other ones (be sure to do some research before, though!). You can create a lovely atmosphere at home, admonishing and healing at the same time frequent diseases.
External use only
- Baths – essential oils are simple to use when bathing. Because they are not soluble in water, just add a few drops after you’re done filling the tub with warm water and be sure to spread it.
- Massage – even without essential oils, it’s a therapy with strong results. By adding some drops of essential oils, the result is even stronger. Don’t miss it!
- Candles – you can add a few drops in the hot wax of a candle. Be careful not to add them in the fuse: they are flammable!
- Ointments and creams – with a little creativity here, you can create your own face, hand or body creams. Essential oils help you heal dry skin, redness and irritation, infections and so on.
Internal use
All essential oils are absorbed by the organism through ingestion. If they are used internally, then the oils should only be pure oils of the highest quality, in order to avoid any other adjective effects. It is recommended that we only use oils obtained through distillation or pressure. Also, it’s very important to use small and exact doses!
A dose that is just right and presents no harm is that of 2-3 drops/ 3 times a day. Due to their strong taste and the fact that they can irritate the stomach, essential oils must be ingested with red wine, honey, olive oil or sugar.
Health Benefits Of Essential Oils
Pure essential oils are very concentrated and shouldn’t be used directly on our skin. They need a natural environment such as a vegetable oil. For maximum therapeutical benefits, both vegetable and essential oil should be of superior quality. The vegetable oil must be cold pressed in order not to diminish its natural properties.
Types of vegetable oil: olive, avocado, almond, coconut, jojoba, calendula, wheat germ, carrot, apricot/peach/grapes seeds, benne.
As I said before, essential oils have a lot of health benefits and contribute greatly to the mind, body and spirit. Check here the most important 25 health benefits of essential oils:
You might have figured it out by now, but there are more than 25 health benefits of essential oils. Aromatherapists do not prescribe the essential oils for an internal use. Why? They say this method does not present certainty. Still, many of them have used this method efficiently, without any side effects, for quite a long time.
INTERESTED IN EVEN MORE HEALTH BENEFITS? CHECK OUT THE MATCHA GREEN TEA MULTIPLE BENEFITS!
Conclusion
As Wikipedia puts it, “an essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetherolea, or simply as the “oil of” the plant from which they were extracted, such as oil of clove. An oil is “essential” in the sense that it contains the “essence of” the plant’s fragrance—the characteristic fragrance of the plant from which it is derived.”
I am sure that once you have studied and entered the world of essential oils, your life will change completely. If you are interested and believe in this therapy and the health benefits of essential oils, then you should let it become part of your life and learn every day new things about them.
These things will help you gain your balance of mind, body and spirit.
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