Aromatherapy for Mind and Body
Aromatherapy is the practice of using the natural oils extracted from flowers, bark, stems, leaves, roots or other parts of a plant to enhance psychological and physical well-being. As an Ayurveda practitioner I often face questions like ' Is aromatherapy a branch of Ayurveda?' Or 'Is there any relationship between these two alternate systems of healing?' One thing is clear many are unaware of the use of essential oil or importance of aromatherapy in Ayurveda practice.
Before going deeply in to benefits and importance of Aromatherapy in healing your mind and body, I would like to point to the facts connecting Ayurveda and Aromatherapy. For understanding this relationship, you should how Ayurveda treats a disease. Ayurvedic treatment is not just prescribing herbs or oils, but it's a regular practice of living gracefully with proper diet, regimen, yoga, meditation according to individual body types, called as prakrithi or constitution. Aromatherapy is also a holistic approach which has a connection between mind, body and soul. Ayurveda, as a part of daily regimen has advised the use of incense sticks and other aromatic herbs and oils like sandalwood and thulsi (holy basil) in religious rituals and prayers for instilling the spiritual feeling. Saying that lets check how aromatherapy can help heal your body and soul.
Aromatherapy for healing body -
Essential oils can be absorbed through your skin, where they travel through the bloodstream and promote whole body healing.
Use of aromatherapy relieves pain.
Digestive issues can be treated with Essential oils. Citrus essential oils are normally the best for treating digestive conditions, including lemon and orange.
Use of essential oils prevents wrinkles, as they can mitigate the signs of aging, increase skin elasticity, and prevent oxidative stress in the skin that causes wrinkles. The most popular and trusted ones include rose, myrrh, carrot seed, neroli, geranium, frankincense, sandalwood, ylang-ylang, lemon, and helichrysum oils.
Essential oil provides good skin health and prevent acne. Ideal oil for acne prevention and cure include rosemary oil, tea tree oil, oregano oil, lavender oil, Neroli oil, rose hip oil etc.
Aromatherapy for healing Mind -
Certain essential oils can trigger physical or emotional effects on their own. For instance, lavender is a widely known calming agent, whereas peppermint is a mood lifter.
Another essential oil for mental wellness is chamomile. Chamomile is a powerful calming agent, as well as antibiotic, antiseptic, antidepressant and overall mood lifter.
Aromatherapy can stimulate the activities of brain.
Aromatherapy can help heal anxiety, postnatal depression, Mental fatigue, low self-esteem etc.
It can also be used in insomnia and other sleep disturbances.
Discussing the benefits of aromatherapy for mind and soul, I would like to render a piece of advice. Essential oils are meant for topical use only and not for ingestion, as pure and organic essential oils are the life force of plants and are highly concentrated substances. Seek the advice of your Ayurvedic expert or healthcare professional before choosing the appropriate essential oils for your state of health and unique individual constitution.