Aromatherapy has always played a big part in my life. I was one of those girls that used to make her own ‘perfume’ by soaking rose petals in water and leaving it on the window sill (usually until the water went brown and becoming a murky mess) but the seeds had been sown.
The use of aromatherapy has always fascinated me and I dabbled regularly before embarking on a change of career many moons ago and retrained to become an aromatherapist and holistic therapist. My journey along this path has led me down many turns but aromatherapy is still a big part of my therapy career and one of my many joys is passing on that love to clients and fellow natural health lovers.
I have written a few blogs in my time about aromatherapy and have shared their many uses – in the home and for general ‘First Aid” but with the growing awareness and use of essential oils by more people I wanted to share with you some really useful tips and advice on how to use and get the most out of essential oils.
My clients often ask me which essential oils they should buy but you need to consider that essential oils are a very personal thing. There is an art and science to using essential oils. The sense of smell is the only sense that goes directly to the brain so it is smells can bring to mind good feeling as well as not so good ones so oils that I like may totally be horrible to you. They work on many different levels – psychologically, physically as well as emotionally so to choose the correct oil for you is an art.
So a bit of a guideline is to choose a selection of oils which are:
Relaxing Oils
Lavender
Stimulating Oils
For when you need that little bit of oomph to get you going I’d opt for:
Rosemary
Balancing Oils
For when you feel a bit ‘off’ and need some balancing
Geranium
Immune Boosting
Lemon
The above a just a TINY selection of the oils available to you. It really is down to what you like at the time. I have always found that if you have a particular need at one time – whether it be for stress or something to calm you, once that particular need has passed it may be that you no longer like the smell – which is part of how they work.
Just a quick word on safety though:
NEVER ingest essential oils
NEVER put directly in the skin – oils are concentrated little things and can cause harm if used undiluted.
If you’d like to know more about essential oils then why not download my FREE Aromatherapy Guide HERE
My name is Julie Elder. I am an holistic therapist who specialises in utilising the body’s ability to heal itself using a variety of techniques including Bowen Technique and Kinesiology. I am also an Aromatherapist, Reflexologist, Reiki master and Yoga Teacher and an advocate for pursuing an organic lifestyle.