Essential oils infuse your living space with pleasant aromas, but they also deliver amazing health benefits. What are essential oils? How are they created? And what are their health benefits? Keep reading to find out.

What are Essential Oils?

Essential oils are the concentrated aromatic essences of plants, seeds, flowers, bark, roots, fruits, wood, and other parts of plants that have been steam distilled or cold-pressed.

They are volatile, meaning that they evaporate easily and will quickly evaporate at room temperature. The essential oil molecules are very small and need to be diluted in a carrier oil before being applied to the skin or evaporated into the atmosphere via a diffuser.

Essential oils contain many different chemical compounds, including terpenes, resins, flavonoids, chlorophyll, phenols, and a variety of other beneficial compounds.

How Essential Oils are Made and Extracted?

Techniques to create essential oils have been around for centuries, with ancient healers accessing the benefits of plants through salves, poultices, and medicinal teas. These were the only forms of medicine available for thousands of years until the pharmaceutical industry came along with other options.

As more people turn to more traditional healing methods, now is as good a time as any to understand where your aromatherapy products come from and how they are created.

Essential oils are extracted from the plant’s aromatic essence, or the oil responsible for the plant’s aroma. Plants use the oil to attract pollinators, repel predators, and inhibit competitive species from growing in the same area. Many essential oils also act as an anti-microbial system to protect the plant from disease.

Glandular structures in the plant produce the oils, which are extracted using steam distillation or cold pressing.

In steam distillation, hot steam pulls the oils from the plant and is forced through a tube where it condenses back into the water. The oils are collected as they separate from the cooling water.

Cold pressing, most often used to produce citrus oils, involves agitating the fruits of the plant with spikes or grating to puncture the oil sacs beneath the surface. The fruit is then pressed to squeeze out the oil and juice before going into a high-speed centrifuge that separates the solids and liquids so the oil can be extracted.

Benefits of Using Essential Oils

Essential oils are often marketed as a cure-all for a wide variety of ailments. However, even the highest quality products are no substitute for medical care. Instead, think of essential oils as an addition to a healthier lifestyle and a way to improve your self-care. Here are just a few of the benefits of essential oils.

Reduce Stress and Anxiety

Phytomedicine published a review [*1] of 90 randomized and nonrandomized studies in 2019 and concluded that inhaling or ingesting lavender oil can lower anxiety levels.

Headache Relief

Headaches are a massive health issue, affecting up to 75% of the population. According to this review [*2], an application of peppermint oil around the head and temple could provide some headache relief. Due to its cooling and analgesic properties, peppermint’s menthol component is believed to be most responsible for headache relief.

Nausea Relief

Peppermint and ginger essential oils are often used for nausea relief and digestive discomfort. Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics published a review [*3] revealing the potential for peppermint to lower nausea-inducing inflammation and relax gastrointestinal muscles.

Other health benefits offered by essential oils include:

• Easing menstrual cramps
• Improving sleep quality
• Antimicrobial effects for disease protection
• Relief from muscle pain

Using Essential Oils at Home and Business

You can use essential oils at home or at the office for a variety of benefits, from improving productivity to creating a more welcoming, stress-free environment for your customers.

Rosemary – Promotes productivity in the office as it helps to increase concentration and focus.

Bergamot – Boosts the room’s overall mood with its delightful Earl Grey tea scent and makes an excellent environmental cleaning spray.

Lemongrass – A lemongrass-infused office environment will ensure everyone is alert and energized. The aroma is also an excellent insect deterrent, especially against fruit flies and gnats.

Clove – The heady pumpkin spice aroma of clove is peaceful and uplifting, and perfect for promoting good cheer around the holidays.

References:

[*1] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31655395/

[*2] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2221169115001033#bib36

[*3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5814329/

The post Benefits of Using Essential Oils and Aromatherapy Products appeared first on H2EAROMATHERAPY.

Many people ask, “what’s up’ with meditation? What can it really do for me? Meditation is a way that anyone can use to help cope with stress, anxiety, and medical problems through thought, contemplation, and reflection.  Meditation encompasses a variety of practices that are somewhat different, but all of which share the basic principles of consideration and quiet thought.  Buddhist, Chakra Taoist, Transcendental, Zen and prayer are just a few examples of various types of meditation.  Some methods require stillness in the body, while others allow total freedom in movement.  Regardless of the path that you choose, they all utilize contemplation and reflection to quiet the mind and free it from stress.  

In this world of chaos, negativity and fear, most of us are unaware of just how much stress we hold on to.  When our bodies are exposed to a sudden threat we respond with hormones that are released from the adrenal glands as our pulse races, the blood pressure increases, our breath becomes faster and the blood rushes to our muscles.  We have inherited this survival response from our ancestors.  With the constant barrage of negative energy we encounter on a daily basis and our inability to control these situations, the same ancient response is triggered, but without the primal release of being able to act on the perceived “threat.”  As a result, we end up in a permanent loop of stress.

Meditation is a practice that brings about both physical and psychological benefits.  Relaxation and decreased physical stress are the obvious benefits, but meditation can also improve moods, memory, decrease depression and have amazing effects on the psyche.  A regular meditation practice, even for as little as ten minutes a day, will bring the following benefits:

• Reduced stress and tension
• Help in keeping blood pressure normal
• Enhanced energy, strength, and vigor
• Reduced anxiety, as it lowers the levels of blood lactate
• Increased serotonin, which influences moods and behavior. (Low levels of serotonin are associated with depression)
• Increased concentration and a strengthened mind
• A state of deep relaxation and general well-being.

If you do not have a regular meditation practice, you may find meditation support through online classes and at meditation centers within your local area.  For accessories, candles and aromatherapy products to enhance your practice, visit our online marketplace or contact us directly.

The post Benefits of Meditation appeared first on H2EAROMATHERAPY.