Recently, while on holiday on the Black Isle, I walked up a tree covered path and emerged into the bright sunlit walled garden that is Poyntzfield Herb Nursery. The fragrance of the aromatic herbs was overwhelming and immediately uplifing and relaxing! The joy of seeing, feeling and smelling the herbs was wonderful and I could have spent a lifetime there.
What is Aromatherapy or Aromatic Medicine?
Schnaubelt (1999), tries to define this pointing to the work of Gattefosse (1937). It was he who first introduced the word and the creation of the "discipline of therapeutuc applications of essential oils". Aromatherapy was originally considered a medical therapy based on the pharmacological effects of the essential oils and regarded as being equally effective to conventional medicines. Over the years many books have been published including Jean Valnet's The Practice of Aromatherapy and Robert Tisserand's The Art of Aromatherapy. Aromatherapy has branched into 4 distinct branches ranging from the scientific study of fragrance, holistic-medical therapy, esoteric aromatherapy and as most people in UK understand it , the application of essential oils during massage (Schnaubelt, 1999).
History of Aromatic massage
There is evidence that aromatic plants have been used for over 4,000 years. It is thought that the Ancient Sumerians of Mesopotamia used myrhh and cypress. During the 19th century George Ebers discovered an ancient Egyptian papyrus dating from @ 1500 BCE that listed more than 850 herbal remedies (Mojay, 1999). Ancient Egyptians and Greeks used massage and the application of oils in their daily bathing ritual. There is also evidence that Greek, Roman, Arab, Ayurvedic and Chinese physicians also used massage with oils.
What are the benefits of Aromatic Massage?
All of us are aware of the benefits of fragrance around the home. Essential oils are pure and naturally derived from aromatic plants. Some plants yield their oils readily from small quantities of plant material while others require much larger amounts. Rose essential oil requires about 60,000 roses to produce 25g of oil. The more exquisite the fragrance the more expensive the oil such as jasmine, tuberose, sandalwood and melissa essential oil.
The safest way to apply essentail oils is diluted in a carrier oil and applied through massage. They can also be used in ointements, lotions, compresses, baths or used as an inhalation.They have a physical and psychological effect. Massage itself also contributes to the overall benefit by stimulating the blood and lymph flow helping remove waste products from the body. Aromatic Massage helps you relax inducing a feeling of well-being. It has a beneficial effect on the heart, bloodpressure and causes deeper, slower more effecient breathing.
Who Benefits from Aromatic Massage?
Almost everyone can benefit but essential oils should be used with care in people with a history of allergies or hypersensitivity reactions. The amount of essential oils is reduced in pregnancy, children and the elderly. A case history is always taken before treatment starts. This is to establish underlying illness, possible interaction with prescribed medicines and any other contraindications to massage such as fever, alcohol or drug use, skin infection, recent scarring, fractures or soft tissue injury. Massage should not be given immedialely following a large meal. As with Herbal Medicine attention is given to diet, exercise and lifestyle and aftercare advice is also given. To gain the maximum benefit from aromatic massage you are encouraged to have a weekly treatment over a period of 4 weeks to help address underlying medical and stress related conditions.
Aromatherapy "embraces all aspects of human life, including instinct and the human spirit" (Schnaubelt, 1999).
Cypress Trees
"Sweeter than the finest nectar of the honeyed pomegranate is the fragrance of the wind in the grove of cypress"
The Essene Gospel of Peace, Book Two
(trans. Edmond Boreaux Szekely)