Natural oils have been used for centuries in healing, especially in conjunction with Aromatheraphy. Not only can specific oils help with the elimination of warts, headaches, stress and other ailments but they can help you to live a more relaxed and balanced lifestyle. Even Shakespeare’s character Ophelia knows the value that natural aromas can add to our lives: “There’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance” (Hamlet).
The use of natural oils spans the world with healers in Egypt, Greece and Arabia all making use of them. The word Aromatherapy was first used in the late thirties by French chemist Rene Maurice Gattefosse. After he burnt his hand badly he treated it with rosemary oil which helped heal the skin and alleviate the pain. Gattefosse was interested in the way the oils interacted with the chemistry of the human body, and it was as a result of his experiments that Dr Jean Valet was able to use oils to treat soldiers injured during the Second World War. Aromatherapy was born and it quickly became a popular alternative to the main stream health system.
It is important to recognise that it is always better to use organic natural oils because then you can be sure that all the goodness is still in the plant before it is turned into oil-form. Erin Courtenay of Tree Hugger recently interviewed Anita Boen, an herbal expert. Anita is currently leading her spa towards creating its own line of organic body-care products. When asked why organic oils are thought to be better than non-organic options Anita stated that if the plants used for essential oils are grown using agricultural methods that include chemicals, those chemicals can bleed into the oils which will then be soaked into the human body. The oils are made by using a high concentration of the plant’s goodness.
Essential oils demonstrate how natural oils can help in the healing process for a number of ailments:
Fainting: lavender, rosemary or peppermint can be used to rouse a patient that has passed out.
Blisters: a mixture of tea tree or lavender oil with chamomile oil can help alleviate the discomfort of blisters.
Difficulty in breathing: a mixture of nutmeg, cinnamon, eucalyptus, rosemary, ginger and vegetable carrier oil can be massaged into the back and chest area of a person who suffers from breathing difficulties.
Head aches: to alleviate a head ache massage a mixture of lavender, peppermint, bergamot and jojoba oil into the temples of the patient.
If these are just a few of the ways natural oils can help you then maybe it’s time to start thinking about growing an herb garden. I know I’d definitely want to plant hoards of lavender in my garden; it seems to be a part of the cure for everything.
Jade Scully is a copywriter excited about writing copy and stories, blogging about the world and editing. She currently and regularly publishes her stories on a number of blogs. Jade loves animals and hopes to begin writing copy for the animal rescue charity TEARS as her contribution to the cause.
