Welcome to day one in the #AtoZChallenge, in which I talk about aromatherapy and essential oils. Today, I’ll share a brief introduction to what aromatherapy is. In future posts, I’ll go deeper into the different uses of aromatherapy and essential oils.
Aromatherapy is a form of complementary or alternative medicine in which essential oils and other plant compounds are used in the promotion of health and wellness. Essential oils are natural oils typically extracted by distillation and having the characteristic odor of the plant. They are therefore also known as aromatic oils. They are, for clarity’s sake, not the same as fragrance or perfume oils. Though perfume oils are also often created from partly natural ingredients, they don’t offer the therapeutic benefits of essential oils.
Aromatherapy has probably been practisedforever. Hippocrates, the “father of modern medicine”, promoted it some 2,500 years ago.
However, according to the National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy (NAHA), the term “aromatherapy” (or “aromathérapie” in French) wasn’t introduced till 1937. It was first used by the French chemist René-Maurice Gattefossé. According to the NAHA, Gattefossé is most well-known (within the field of aromatherapy, I suppose) for an incident in which he burned his hand and then put it in a vat of lavender, which prevented the otherwise inevitible scarring.
Essential oils are the most commonly used component of a plant in aromatherapy. However, aromatherapists also use carrier oils (which are used to dilute essential oils), hydrosols (or floral waters) and other parts of the plant. I will get to these later in this series.
In this series, I will also be discussing the various essential oils I know about. Please note that not all essential oils are equal. Quality may be an issue, which I’ll get to later. However, as the author of AromaWeb says, there are many different oils grouped together that may come from different plants. For example, both eucalyptus globulus and eucalyptus radiata are often referred to as “eucalyptus”. Same for Atlas cedarwood and Virginia cedarwood, which are actually very different plants. In this series, I will group together various oils that have related properties and constituents. After all, if I were to describe each oil individually, I could have half a dozen A to Z Challenges filled up.
A Multitude of Musings 
Just dropping in from the #A-Z Blogging Challenge. I have been wanting to learn more about this topic. Will definitely be back for more information. Best of luck to you.
Cheers,
Crackerberries
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Thanks for visiting. I am so glad you’re interested in learning more.
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What a very interesting theme again this year! Great post.
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Thank you so much! 💜
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I have been looking into essential oils. I am looking into Young Living. I am also looking for tips on how to best handle oils when measuring as I know a few drops can be very strong. I being visually impaired have been a bit hesitant to use them. I look forward to the next posts.
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I definitely get you on the measuring aspect, as I am blind. I unfortunately haven’t found a surefire solution to this problem other than asking for sighted assistance, as in my experience even with the same brand, some oils tend to come out of the bottles quicker than others. I’m sorry I can’t be of much help here. Anyway, thank you for stopping by.
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This sounds like an interesting series. Essential oils are more complicated than I thought. I’m looking forward to learning some more from you this month!
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Thanks for stopping by. Yes, I initially thought aromatherapy was pretty straightforward too, but it really isn’t.
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This is a great theme! I am new to aromatherapy and want to know more about blends. I got a few essential oil blends with my diffuser, but I know there are more out there — so hoping you will elucidate. Good luck with A to Z!
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Thanks for your interest. I mostly create my own blends and will definitely be sharing about them. Tomorrow’s post will cover the reasons for using blends rather than single oils. Hope you’ll have fun learning from me.
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There are so many essential oils and they are all intereting with so many diverse applications!
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Agree, there are. Aromatherapy is such a wide field.
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I love using essential oils in the house, but am really ignorant when it comes to what they can do for us. I’ve so far relied on “pretty smells” but would love to be more knowledgeable. Looking forward to what is to come.
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Thanks. I used to rely on what smells good too and honestly, if you don’t like a smell, the EO might be beneficial but you won’t really care, I think.
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Looks like a good series!
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Thank you!
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I look forward to be learning more about this. I get the sense that this is a very complex field, perhaps a bit like wines? So many variations, no straight forward answer or solution. I can find myself in a shop in front of the shelf with small bottles, but I really have no idea what I would/should buy, or why, or even how best to use it.
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Yes, that probably makes sense. I have never had a wine tasting experience, so have no idea what it’s like to compare wines. However, aromatherapy is certainly more complicated than I initially thought.
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This is gonna be a series I need to follow, I love essential oils but don’t know much about them actually
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Glad you found my AtoZ then and thanks so much for commenting.
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