CHAPTER ONE
THE NEW AROMATHERAPY
WHAT IS AROMATHERAPY? The quick and simple answer—aromatherapy is the study and application of essential oils. It can also be referred to as Essential Oil Therapy, and that’s how we like to think of it. Essential Oil Therapy (i.e., aromatherapy) encompasses the holistic application and use of essential oils to support the health and well-being of the individual. We’ll use both terms in this book.
But if we dig deeper, its true and genuine definition is still a little murky. It’s often misunderstood and undervalued, possibly due to its commercial exploitation, especially in the United States. Think of all the diffusers saturating the market these days, and the thousands of articles and Internet posts touting the magical powers of essential oils. (That’s actually one of the reasons we like calling it Essential Oil Therapy.) And yet, despite the lack of clarity and complexity in its definition, aromatherapy continues to be one of the fastest growing complementary healthcare modalities of the 21st century.
Before we start carving out our approach to Essential Oil Therapy, let’s quickly review the history of the human use of aromatic plants. Understanding it can provide great insight into how we redefine it for the 21st century.
Although humans have been using aromatic plants for thousands of years, aromatherapy as we know it today is a relatively young practice in comparison. Throughout this book you will be introduced to the remarkably dynamic and diverse ways in which essential oils can be used: house-cleaning products, therapeutic inhalers, diffuser blends, body care products to nourish and support the health of skin, and medicinal products that support the body’s own innate healing processes.
A LITTLE HISTORY
Our use of medicinal and aromatic plants is ancient. Many of the ways our ancestors used aromatics are similar to the ways in which we use them today. They date back to the origins of humans, when aromatic plant material was first placed onto a fire. Our sense of smell was more attuned back then, and primitive humans may have found the aromas powerfully affecting them in many ways.
Eventually, through their intuition and observations, people were motivated to start writing down their experiences with plants. We can find written records dating as far back as 5,000 years. Cultures in India, Egypt, and China, for example, have rich histories and evidence of using medicinal and aromatic plants. Plants collected for their aroma and extracts were used for medicine, food preservation, religious ceremonies, and embalming the dead.
During the Middle Ages aromatics were used for defense against the bubonic plague. Doctors would use a variety of aromatic herbs and spices stuffed in a mask to protect themselves from infection. It has been speculated that through their use of aromatics, perfumers and glove makers (those who made gloves would imbue the gloves with aromatics) were immune to the plague due to the aromatics they used in their respective crafts.
By the 18th century, the use of essential oils was much more widespread. Research on their medicinal properties captivated the curiosity of physicians and druggists, who were the early precursors to modern pharmacists. And in the 19th century, published studies showing the antibacterial and antifungal properties of many essential oils became more accessible.
Let’s take a brief look at how the word Aroma- therapy came into the modern lexicon. It was René-Maurice Gattefossé, perfumer and chemist, who coined the term in 1937. Probably the most important thing to remember about Gattefossé and his impact on what eventually grew into the modern practice of aromatherapy is that he clearly meant to distinguish the medicinal application of essential oils from their perfumery applications. As a perfumer, he had a great love and passion for the aromas of essential oils, but by 1918 he grew more fascinated with their application for medicinal purposes.
Fast Forward 100 Years
Today our definition of aromatherapy is much more nuanced. We recognize and implement the dual effect essential oils have on the body and the mind.
This modern perspective was mostly born from the work of visionary Marguerite Maury (1895–1968), a traditionally trained nurse from Vienna who had a passion for exploring mind and body practices, such as acupuncture, yoga, and meditation.
Her fascination with and great love of aromatics compelled her to explore how best to apply essential oils to achieve a notable and identifiable connection between the mind and body. From this, she pioneered the practice of applying essential oils topically and observing their psychological and physiological benefits.
If we want to celebrate and advocate a new paradigm that integrates the holistic nature of essential oils into 21st century concepts of health and well-being, it’s key for us to understand her work and her influential contributions.
Maury’s work helped build the foundational and philosophical framework for the modern practice of holistic aromatherapy:
• Integration of massage and aromatherapy. A strong advocate of massage to maintain good health, Maury saw it as an opportunity to deliver essential oils to the body.
• The importance of a holistic approach. Health must be maintained through the balance of diet, exercise, emotional support, and spiritual support.
• The importance of the individual. Like Maury, we emphasize the value of creating aromatic remedies based upon the individual’s needs and health concerns.
• Recognition of the dual effect of essential oils. Essential oils, when applied to the skin, not only have a physiological effect, but also a corresponding psychological effect.
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HEALTHY IN THE 21ST CENTURY
To really understand how using essential oils can improve our health and well-being, we must first rethink what it means to be healthy.
Orthodox medicine focuses primarily on treating symptoms and diseases, and often doesn’t pay much attention to what may be causing the problems. This approach leaves us believing that to feel healthy, we have to be symptom-free. But is this really what being healthy means?
Let’s consider another option. What if we let go of this notion that feeling good and living well are the result of not having any physical or emotional symptoms? Instead we could start thinking about our health, and our ability to heal, as finding balance in our lives.
Today, Essential Oil Therapy is considered a Holistic Health Modality. It focuses on healing the patient by addressing the nature of the disease within the context of the whole person, including diet, lifestyle, exercise, stress levels, and anything else that may be contributing to or potentially causing the disease or imbalance. The goal is to attain balance—physically, mentally, emotionally, socially, and spiritually. And thanks to Maury, we are inspired to look at the uniqueness of each individual and appreciate each person’s set of criteria and challenges.
Where aromatherapy shines as practice is in supporting us when we are off balance. It’s not intended to create whole health or wellness, or to cure or heal us from disease. Of course, we know that using essential oils for acute conditions, such as injuries, pain, or infections, can have great results that have been well documented. But the true nature and power of Essential Oil Therapy is to help our minds and bodies find their way back to balance.
Let’s take a look at our diagram (opposite). Here we can see that our goal, illustrated in the center, is to find what we call Radiant Health. But affecting the stability of this constantly moving center are all the factors we are faced with every day, which threaten to throw us off our game and prevent us from finding that sense of place.
We’ve all had those days, or weeks, when we don’t sleep well, we are experiencing grief or loss, or we’ve been too busy to exercise or spend time outside in nature. When that happens, our center gets thrown off, and we begin to feel symptoms such as sore muscles, digestive issues, and anxiety. And that’s the moment we should be reaching for essential oils. By doing so, we can potentially prevent the imbalances from escalating into more serious health problems.
This book will show you how using essential oils can help you do this. We will explain the properties of the essential oils and share recipes and best practices for how to apply them. We will do this guided by our intention to make their use accessible—so you, too, can find your place of balance.
OUR PREFERRED METHOD: THE NEW AROMATHERAPY
We’ve been teaching about essential oils since the early 1990s. After all these years and thousands of students, we’ve become even more committed to and passionate about the holistic nature of essential oils and their power to make profound changes in our lives. Smelling and working with them for all these years has shown us how profoundly they can impact our experience of our world.
As educators and advocates, we are dedicated to sharing our knowledge and experience. We want our students to understand our perspective so that they can use essential oils to live more consciously. To make our concepts more accessible, we have distilled our unique approach into a simple method. As you read this book, you will discover our framework, core principles, and practice echoed throughout each chapter.
This pioneering, balanced, innovative, and progressive approach teaches the basic concepts of aromatherapy in order to help people live more consciously, by using the profound holistic nature of essential oils as the core catalyst to inspire change. It provides a modern, heart-centered philosophical framework to guide teachers, students, and laypeople to live healthier and inspired lives.
The Framework: Shifting the Paradigm
The philosophical foundation of this method is built upon a framework focused on supporting the body versus treating disease. Our method informs how we utilize essential oils to:
• Stimulate and support the body’s innate ability to heal.
• Encompass the whole (individual) person.
• Address the underlying cause of a disease or imbalance.
• Consider the aroma therapist as a teacher.
• Focus on prevention.
• Live by the Hippocratic code to First Do No Harm.
The Core Principles
Keep these important principles in mind as you build your knowledge and practice:
• Knowledge is Art (intuition) + Science (facts).
• Aromatherapy is the quintessential expression of holistic healthcare, meaning it encompasses physical, emotional, and at times, spiritual health and wellness.
• Know the Person, rather than the Disease.
• Utilize intention and mindfulness.
• Understand the significance of relationships
Client and practitioner
Practitioner and oils
Boundaries, personal and professional
To Nature (plants)
To Self
The Core Practice
Our method is practically applied via three core methodologies. These methodologies offer specific guidelines for blending essential oils and revolutionizing the way in which practitioners, teachers, and natural beauty entrepreneurs approach formulation, through the lens of wellness and healing.
1. Blending: Our approach to formulating.
2. Consultation: Our comprehensive approach to clinical practice.
3. Plant Relationship(s): Our belief in the power of our relationship with nature to heal and transform.