The beginnings of aromatherapy –from ancient healing art to modern holistic health therapy.
Since the beginning of human history man has been using herbs for healing. The Rig Veda, one of the oldest human records, written more than 5000 years ago, talks of the healing power of herbs. Several follow up volumes comprise the textbooks of Ayur Veda, the most ancient healing art still in practice to day. These textbooks are full of herbal recipes. As it was in ancient times, so it is today: almost all medicinal plants are aromatic plants. Ayur Veda, like almost any healing art which has endured through the centuries, has been fascinated by the aromas of the plants and has developed procedures to extract the aromatic substances from the plants. The ancient Ayur Vedic texts describe sophisticated methods to concentrate the aromas. At an unknown time in history, the extraction method was perfected to the process of steam distillation.br]
Today the most concentrated, most potent aromatic plant substances, gained through steam distillation, are available to improve health, emotional well-being and beauty. They are called essential oils, indicating their ethereal, volatile nature and representing the most subtle, yet most characteristic aspect of the plant.
From a scientific point of view, essential oils had been researched since the beginning of this century. Maurice Gattefosse, a French chemist, analyzed the chemical composition of essential oils and wrote the first book on their pharmacology, which he called “Aromatherapy”. He described numerous properties of essential oils like the ability of Lavender oil to heal burns. Since that time, numerous studies, some of which we will discuss here in future editions, have confirmed the healing properties of essential oils. Only over the last 10 years aromatherapy has become mind – body medicine. The direct neural influence of the sense of smell on the limbic system makes aromatherapy an ideal tool to improve the emotional situation of the patient, elevate insomnia and many other stress-related imbalances. “
What is the difference between authentic, medicinally oriented aromatherapy and the large number of aromatherapy products currently found in the mainstream market?
It is important to note here that the term, “aromatherapy,” implies a health related therapy. The way Maurice Gattefosse understood the term, did not necessarily involve the sense of smell. Natural essential oils have pharmacological effects, like healing burns, killing bacteria etc. which is independent of their fragrance.The word aromatherapy” has been widely misused in advertising products which simply “smell”. There is a plethora of artificial, laboratory produced, and inferior fragrance products on the market, which do not have any therapeutic value whatsoever.
Only essential oils from plants grown and harvested with care, organic or wild where possible, and distilled under expert supervision maintain nature’s balance of chemical constituents. Very high quality essential oils have the balanced chemical profile which exactly matches nerve receptors in a human body, making it possible for the body to use the information for health and well-being.
