Essential Oils: Their Benefits and Uses to Heal your Body
Money doesn’t grow on trees we all know but many oils we do get from trees. Thanks to nature, it is so bountiful with useful, medicinal plants and herbs. Among them are some plants and trees from which we extract oil. As you may observe the stores and markets these days are flooded with a range of essential oils like lavender, sandalwood, jasmine, to name a few. The latest trend is gifting each other with essential oil hampers. What’s the buzz about these essential oils? To begin with, we first need to know what is essential oil. Let’s find out:
What are Essentials Oils?
Essential oils are basically organic compounds of plant extracts. They are extracted from various parts of a plant (flowers, bark, leaves, seed or fruit) through a process called steaming or processing to capture the compounds that produce fragrance. These oils are produced by the extraction or distillation of various parts of plants. It can take several pounds of a plant to produce a single bottle of essential oil.
Where are Essential Oils used?
In early times, the Egyptians used essential oils as medicinal, cosmetics, in religious ceremonies and for embalming the dead. Later the Chinese and the Indians used herbs, spices and aromatic plants for culinary and medicinal purposes. In India, it became an integral part of treatment in Ayurveda for various ailments. Each oil offers great mental, physical and emotional health benefits. Essential oils are being used for many different purposes like detoxification, antiviral therapy, anti-depressant, anti-bacterial and many more where it has been proved to be beneficial. Research on them is still on and some of them have really been helpful for certain treatments and therapies.
One form of holistic treatment where essential oils are used is Aromatherapy which has been practised since ancient times. Other than aromatherapy essential oils are used as room fresheners for a soothing fragrance or for the closets or laundry. Some essential oils are infused in making cosmetics made of natural products. In fact today, essential oils are widely used as perfumes, food flavours, and for medicinal purposes, we even get mosquito repellent made with essential oils.
Benefits of Essential Oils
Essential oils offer many health benefits and can be used by almost anyone. Essential oils can help relax the body, help you sleep, reduce headaches and enhance massage therapy. Some of the benefits of the use of these essential oil extracts:-
- Relieves stress and anxiety
- Mental booster
- Enhances sleep
- Bowel function
- Helps in solving a few skin conditions
- Skin nourishment
- Reduces muscle inflammation
- Helpful in headache
How to use Essential Oils?
Essential oils can be absorbed by the skin. The oils are made from concentrated plant extracts and often used in aromatherapy or massage therapy. You can use the oils in a diffuser or mix in massage oil for a soothing massage. Basically, they can be used through inhalation, topical application to the skin, or oral ingestion. Inhalation can be either by a diffuser, dry evaporation, steam or spray.
Diffusers:
The simplest and easiest way to use essential oil is through diffusers. They are low cost, easy to handle and bring elements of wellness into your home. The oil diffuser is a device that breaks essential oils down into smaller molecules, dispersing them into the air for a pleasant or calming effect. You can easily transform your space into a spa where you can rejuvenate, relax, sleep and breathe freshness with fragrance. Experience tranquillity.
Direct application:
Have you experienced oil massage in a spa or at home. It’s simply applying oil with a gentle massage. When it comes to direct application of essential oil, it will depend on the purpose for example the essential oils of lavender, chamomile, and basil, are generally found to have a calming effect and may help with anxiety, while peppermint oil is stimulating and can help those with depression. Normally essential oils are applied either using compresses, sprays, baths or massaging them into the skin.
Aromatherapy:
Aromatherapy is the practice of using essential oils for therapeutic benefit. It has been practised for centuries. Inhaling the essential oil using diffusers and receiving topical application as well we generally experience in spas or ayurvedic centres. It can be used for, relaxing, wellness, or treating respiratory or other health issues.
Internal consumption directly or in food:
As mentioned earlier essential oils are concentrated extracts so we have to be mindful when we use them (maybe just a few drops). Each essential oil possesses a different chemical structure that will provide the body with unique properties and benefits. For example, some essential oils can be used internally to promote healthy cell function, maintain healthy immune function, while others may offer internal cleansing benefits.
Types of Essential Oils
Soothe, moisturize, nourish, or soften the skin. Let’s experience some uplifting, rejuvenating, energizing, therapeutic healing and calming effects of some of the common essential oils:
Lavender is a herb and lavender oil is extracted from the flower. Lavender oil has multiple uses and is used to treat fungal infection, wounds, hair loss or fungal infections because of its antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties. Lavender oil is widely used in the perfume & cosmetic industries. It is also used in many other commercial products such as soaps, aroma diffusers and cleaners.
The oil extract from this queen of herbs from the mint family ‘Rosemary’ has been used as seasoning oil across the globe. However, it is more popular as an essential oil because of its antispasmodic and anti-inflammatory properties that help to relieve joint pains and soreness of muscles. It is also rich in anti-microbial, antioxidant and anticancer properties. Can be used as a massage oil, diluted if required. The oil extracts can also be added to in-room diffusers or face packs.
Tea tree oil, also known as melaleuca oil, is an essential oil that comes from steaming the leaves of the Australian tea tree. Because of the antibacterial properties, the tea tree oil is used to heal wounds caused by insect bites, nail fungus, lice, athlete foot etc.
The woody scent from the Eucalyptus oil is basically extracted from its leaves. It is used as a medicine to treat a variety of common diseases and conditions because it is believed to be decongestant, anti-inflammatory, antispasmodic, antiseptic, antifungal, antimicrobial, antiviral, and antibacterial properties and gives relief for nasal congestion, asthma and other benefits. Eucalyptus is often used as an essential oil with a diffuser for aromatherapy health benefits.
The sweet-smelling oil of jasmine comes from its flowers and is mostly used as an aromatherapy essential oil. The extract of this oil is believed to have many benefits because of the presence of aromatic compounds and mood uplifting properties. It helps reduce stress, anxiety and improves skin tone.
The aromatic warm and spicy cinnamon oil is ideal for comforting and energizing. It is also a natural remedy for health conditions like soothing relief from cough & cold, stimulate circulation, reduce stress, relieve pain, fight off infections and improve digestion.
The extract of peppermint oil is mostly used for cosmetic, health and cleansing purposes. The presence of the compound menthol in it is good for hair and scalp. It may help with dryness, itching, or other scalp problems. It is also used for treating conditions including digestive issues, nausea, headaches, topical application for relief from itching, muscle pain, as a flavouring agent in foods and in products such as mouthwashes, a fresh pleasing scent added to soaps and cosmetic products.
Also read:
7 Essential Oils for Pain Relief: Benefits & Uses
Top 10 Essential Oils for your Crowning Glory (Hair)
Use with precautions:
A word of caution is that essential oil most of the time is concentrated extract and so should be diluted and diffused with other mild carrier oils before topical application. It can cause irritation, burning sensation if your skin is sensitive and allergic. Ensure to verify that the essential oils you are using are free of contaminants and impurities in order to protect your body from harm. Whether inhaling, topical application or internal consumption, depending on your health concerns or conditions, it is advised to follow the recommended direction for use under the guidance of your physician or therapist regarding its use and dosage.
What Aryan Herbals has to offer?
Seeing the popularity and the immense use of Essential Oils in aromatherapy and other healing routines, Aryan Herbals are proud to introduce some of the pure essential oils for its valued customers. Be assured of the quality as all our essential oils are 100% pure, natural and undiluted. We monitor closely to follow the process with authenticity and our essential oils are prepared with the Cold-Press method. The cold press method is one of the oldest and most traditional ways of extracting oil. It follows the basic processes like:
- Grinding where the fruits, flowers seeds or leaves are ground with minimal temperature as excess heat spoils the essence of the oils
- Pricked and pressed where the fatty portions which remain are further pricked to extract and processed mechanically to extract the remaining oil.
- Centrifugation is the final process when the purest form of the oil is extracted and bottled.
The advantage of using the cold press method is that it is an age-old tried and tested process. To add to this:
- It is environmental friendly
- It practically has no solvents
- Involves no external application of heat
- Uses the heat produced internally and finally
- Preserves the integrity and potency of the essential oil.
So what you need to do right now is just visit Aryan Herbals and check out our wide range of pure essential oils now.
Discover the true potential of mothers nature’s most potent remedies found in plants, herbs and spices. Capture and embrace the essence of living by the healing powers of these essential oils. It’s good to feel good.
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