This is a question that I have always struggled to answer especially since I never really notice I’m in a bad mood at that particular moment. This ‘bad mood’ subject comes up when I’m exhausted or stressed in some way and more often than not the ‘bad mood’ is surprisingly written all over my face. If you too are a victim of this uncomfortable subject, aromatherapy is here to help.
Aromatherapy is the health practice of using sweet scented natural oils extracted from flowers, barks of specific trees, roots, leaves and the seeds of plants to enhance psychological and physical well-being. Also called essential oil therapy, aromatherapy has been proven to improve one’s mood and increase one’s brain functioning by restoring a state of peace and satisfaction.
Aromatherapy traces its roots from way back in the ancient years of civilization when the Chinese and Greeks commonly used plant extracts and essential oils as perfume and moisturizer. The practice has lived on from then on but its prominence has only been restored in the recent years after a number of studies re-discovered the art. Legend has it that particular essential oils were used by the French to treat the wounds their soldiers sustained in the second World War.
The name aromatherapy would obviously elude that the practice depends entirely on the sense of smell. True to the lay-mans definition, the success of aromatherapy relies on the scent of the oils used but they do not necessarily only have to be inhaled. Modes of application of these oils include topical application where they are rubbed on the skin hence acting as moisturizer. The oils can also be massaged into the skin making penetration into the bloodstream more effective which yields better results and ensures equitable distribution of the oils throughout the body. In inhalation, one can choose to smell the plants or seeds from which the oil is extracted directly but it is recommended that the particular substance from which the oil is gotten from is immersed in water or rather the oil itself is dissolved in warm or hot water to stimulate the desired response.
Some of the most commonly used oils include tee tree oil, eucalyptus, grapefruit, chamomile and vanilla for rather obvious reasons. Oil extracted from these substances has a long-lasting and appealing aroma which gives basis to the whole purpose of aromatherapy. Let’s face it, this is the exact reason why your mood is uplifted when you smell really nice but you tend to shudder and stay away from crowds when you believe you have unpleasant body odour.
Evidence of the efficiency of aromatherapy in treating bacterial, viral as well as fungal infections remains poor because of inadequate researched findings by scientists but they however ascertain that aromatherapy does relieve stress and soothes the body turning your frown into a smile.
