Aromatherapy and Aromatology

 

Aromatherapy and Aromatology are the art and practice of using essential oils to restore or enhance mental, physical, and emotional health.  It concerns balance in the same way that illness or dis-ease are directly related to imbalance.

We have become a society that cares for our bodies on the purely superficial and physical aspect--that part of us which others see and judge us by.  We rarely address emotional issues.  These unexpressed emotions build up, get stuffed down deep in the subconscious, so we can still function on a physical level, only to emerge during great stress or trauma as a mental illness, or in the form of a physical illness or disease.  Aromatherapy and Aromatology are the doorways to the return of the whole body, mind, spirit connection awareness.  How does it do this?

Aromatherapy and Aromatology act on the Central Nervous System, which also includes the limbic system.  It can relieve depression and anxiety, reduce stress, promote relaxation, and produce uplifting, sedating or stimulating feelings, and encourage a sense of well-being.  Thus it helps restore the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual balance.

To understand how and what Aromatherapy and Aromatology are, we will look at the definitions of each of them, then examine the limbic system, the sense of smell, the sense of touch, and essential oils.

AROMATHERAPY
Aromatherapy is the skilful and practical application of essential oils using a variety of methods of application, the same as an aromatologist, but with an added specialized massage used to stimulate the body's lymphatic system to carry the benefits of the essential oil.  Full theoretical knowledge of the physiology and anatomy of the body and its systems are required, as well as the knowledge of essential oils, their chemistry, and all their contraindications and safety data.

AROMATOLOGY
Aromatology is the skilful and knowledgeable application of essential oils.  The training involves full theoretical knowledge of essential oils, their chemistry, and all the holistic possibilities and methods of use.  Physiology and anatomy of the body are required.  Both Aromatherapists and Aromatologists use the essential oils as inhalations--steam or dry, as footbaths, as full body baths, as spritzers, in creams, room diffusers, compresses--hot and cold--and in lotions.

THE LIMBIC SYSTEM
This is the central information processing center located deep within the brain.  It is a part of the brain from which information is read or heard from a number of sensory systems in the body in a manner that recalls past events and compares and contrasts these to what is happening now within and around us.  The limbic system is the learning and filing of information, and the lessons learned in life.  It decided what action must be taken to ensure survival and sends messages to the brain and the rest of the body to take action. 

This is the core of the human sensory experience that processes memory, emotions, sex-drive, and hunger.  It also controls our hormones and our rhythmic processes (heart rate, body temperature, etc.)  The limbic system includes the senses of taste, smell, and touch as well as other senses and experiences.  It is what makes us human.

THE SENSE OF SMELL
Even with the desensitization and suppression of our other aspects, the human sense of smell is still 10,000 times more sensitive than any of our other senses.  It is the only sense that is directly connected to the limbic system.  It is because of this direct connection that when you smell something, you don't even think--you just react!  The smell of fire springs us to action, for instance.

Smell has the longest recall of any of our senses.  As humans we can process between 10,000 and 100, 000 different smells and remember not just the smell, but also when and where we first smelt it.

How do we do it?  This works on the same system as a lock and key.  The first smell of a scent (pleasant or unpleasant) creates the lock.  When you smell it again, you have the key to unlock that memory (pleasant or unpleasant).  This is why the smell of fresh baking reminds us of holidays and home.  It takes us back again to that time and place.  Smell is the wing that transports us back to the memory and the moment.

THE SENSE OF TOUCH
This is the primeval experience next to hearing, including the moment of birth.  The descent down the birth canal, the touch of the doctor, the nurses, our mothers, and the touch sensations of heat,  cold, and the blankets that we were wrapped in.  Although most of us do not remember the actual birth, all these things have happened to us and they are recorded deep in the recesses of our minds and depths of our first human and life experiences.  Some psychologists using the tool of hypnosis have been able to take some patients back to the moment of their birth and the experiences of it.

We have millions of nerve endings all over our bodies that send messages to our brains constantly about the status of our body and its environment.  The environment makes the body constantly check with the brain that the body is comfortable and safe.  There are sensors that detect heat and cold, wetness and dryness, things that are soft against the skin like silk, things that are rough like sandpaper, and even just air.

Since our sense of touch is the primary way that we know our world and environment (remove sight and hearing and you could still know your environment), the sense of touch would then be the best medium used by humans for expressions of love, sympathy, friendship, or anger, thus evoking feelings of love and nurturing, comfort and safety, acceptance, or rejection.

Touch, the need to touch and be touched is a basic human behavioral need.  Many studies exist to show the importance of touch in the development of healthy human beings.  Studies have shown that if a baby is not touched it will not thrive.  Other studies have shown that 'to touch' as in stroking an animal, reduces a person's blood pressure.  How many times has someone been comforted during a sudden stressful situation by you just holding her hand.  Executed with love and genuine caring, the effect of this simple action on the recipient is a feeling of pleasure to the soul and eventual relaxation of the body and mind.  We need to touch each other in ways besides aggression and sex.

Massage is a form of touching that helps to create trust, empathy, and respect for our physical existence.  The simple act of accepting someone for who they are in their body, and caring for them physically through the medium of touch and massage can do wonders for a person's self-acceptance.  The body relaxes, circulation increases, toxins are released and removed, energy is increased and the person receiving is made aware that the body is not a mechanical machine of bone and muscle.  It responds by relaxing in spite of itself.

By evoking a response from the body, massage provides and stimulates body awareness to the person's conscious mind.  It makes one want to care for his/her body.  It is the return to the center; a return to the whole self.  It is the reuniting of the four important aspects: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.  It is balance--the essence of health, and the essence of simple peaceful existence.
 
 

 

      

Midi 'Butterfly Fairies' by Geoff