What Is Aromatherapy?

Aromatherapy is the practice of using essential oils for therapeutic benefit. Aromatherapy has been used for centuries. When inhaled, the scent molecules in essential oils travel from the olfactory nerves directly to the brain and especially impact the amygdala, the emotional center of the brain.

Essential oils can also be absorbed by the skin. A massage therapist might add a drop or two of wintergreen to oil to help relax tight muscles during a rubdown. A skincare company may add lavender to bath salts to create a soothing soak.

Inhalation

When a person inhales an essential oil that scent is carried by olfactory nerve cells in the nose to the olfactory system which then sends the aroma to the brain, namely the limbic system, the house of emotions and emotional behavior such as intimacy, passion and sex. Immediately, and depending on the oil, you may begin to feel more alert or more relaxed. You may feel excited and aroused. You may feel the release of negative emotions and/or the soothing of muscle tension. Mood enhancers like serotonin and endorphins get released.

Inhalation of essential oil has been known to induce a central nervous system response in 4 seconds. This response is initiated by the inhalation of volatile molecules through the nasal mucosa. Following a gas exchange, these molecules enter the lungs and enter the olfactory pathway, which regulates memory, emotions, visceral activities, and more advanced functions of the brain. These volatile molecules are then sent to the brain stem, hypothalamus, and neuronal system.

Our sense of smell is 10,000 more powerful than any other sense and the recognition of smell is immediate. (Other senses like touch travel to the brain via the spinal cord.) Smell is also the strongest link to the subconscious mind and also to our collective unconscious mind where memories are stored.

The Science behind Essential Oil Applications

The science behind essential oil applications is fascinating. The process is based on the understanding that all diseases and physical ailments are connected to a specific system within the body. The benefits of applying oils on the skin, scalp, and other parts of the body are numerous. They treat symptoms while addressing underlying causes. The power of essential oils can reach every cell in your body in just a few minutes! The process is based on the scientific fact that essential oils reach the brain in a few seconds, reach the bloodstream in two minutes, and affect every cell in your body for several minutes!

HISTORY of Aromatherapy

Essential oils have been used for therapeutic purposes for nearly 6,000 years. The ancient Chinese, Indians, Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans used them in cosmetics, perfumes, and drugs. Essential oils were also commonly used for spiritual, therapeutic, hygienic, and ritualistic purposes.

More recently, René-Maurice Gattefossé, a French chemist, discovered the healing properties of lavender oil when he applied it to a burn on his hand caused by an explosion in his laboratory. He then started to analyze the chemical properties of essential oils and how they were used to treat burns, skin infections, gangrene, and wounds in soldiers during World War I. In 1928, Gattefossé founded the science of aromatherapy. By the 1950s, massage therapists, beauticians, nurses, physiotherapists, doctors, and other health care providers began using aromatherapy.

Aromatherapy did not become popular in the U.S. until the 1980s. Today, many lotions, candles, and beauty products are sold as "aromatherapy" products. However, many of these products contain synthetic fragrances that do not have the same properties as essential oils.

research history

Academics and marketers have known for more than 20 years that there is a strong link between an aroma and a customer’s lasting feeling of enjoyment from that aroma. Studies show that a pleasurable scent diffused at a noticeable level can validate consumer intentions, improve workplace productivity and assist with health and medical conditions:

When the aroma of baked bread was released in a US supermarket, sales in the bakery section increased threefold. (Hirsch, 1995, International Journal of Aromatherapy).

Research in Japan is being undertaken to understand the influence scent and the use of essential oils has on the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. (Miyazawa, 2006, Inhibition of Acetyl cholinesterase Activity by Tea Tree Oil & Constituent Terpenoids)

The diffusion of lavender during breaks at work has been found to prevent the deterioration of work performance. (Sakamoto, et al, 2006, cited at chemse.oxfordjournals.org)

An Australian university is using scents to assist in the diagnosis of several brain disorders including Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia and obsessive – compulsive disorder.(University of Melbourne, 2006, cited at www.unimelb.edu.au

A trial undertaken in a USA casino showed that gambling revenue increased by 48% with the introduction of a pleasant aroma into a test area. The trial concluded that a noticeable scent in the air acts to enhance the mood and intention of patrons, without affecting judgment or exacerbating obsessive gambling behavior. (Hirsch, 1995, Psychology and Marketing)

Here's Why Smells Trigger Such Vivid Memories

Smells have a stronger link to memory and emotion than any of the other senses.

When you see, hear, touch, or taste something, that sensory information first heads to the thalamus, which acts as your brain's relay station. The thalamus then sends that information to the relevant brain areas, including the hippocampus, which is responsible for memory, and the amygdala, which does the emotional processing.

But with smells, it's different. Scents bypass the thalamus and go straight to the brain's smell center, known as the olfactory bulb. The olfactory bulb is directly connected to the amygdala and hippocampus, which might explain why the smell of something can so immediately trigger a detailed memory or even intense emotion.

But why, if we're such visual creatures, does smell get this elevated status in our brains? Some think it goes back to the way we evolved: Smell is one of the most rudimentary senses with roots in the way single-celled organisms interact with the chemicals around them, so it has the longest evolutionary history. This also might explain why we have at least 1,000 different types of smell receptors but only four types of light sensors and about four types of receptors for touch.

Did You Know…

The sense of smell works 24 hours a day and is the one human sense that cannot be ‘switched off.’

The human sense of smell affects 75% of daily emotions and plays an important role in memory.

The human nose is believed to be able to detect up to 350,000 chemicals. Emotion can be communicated by smell.

There are suggestions that smell can influence mood, memory, emotions, mate choice, immune system, and hormones.

Scenting does not impact on judgment and has been tested to prove that it cannot cause obsessive behavior. Academics and researchers agree that scents are effective simply because they create a mood which validates intentions.

Smell amplifies the sense of taste. Try this… if peeled pieces of apple are placed in one bowl, and peeled pieces of potato in another, and then the nostrils are held completed closed while a piece from one bowl is sampled, the two tastes are indistinguishable. That’s why a head-cold severely impacts your appetite and sense of taste