The beautiful thing about the use of essential oils is that they can be used safely without any secondary stresses to the body as often occurs from NSAIDs, pain relievers, or other over-the-counter medications.

Science is now beginning to confirm what the ancients knew so well — essential oils, the pure “essence” of a plant, provide both psychological and physical benefits when used properly and with wisdom.

What can we use essential oils for?

There are many actions that essential oils can create within the body such as anti-inflammatory benefits, pain relieving benefits, antibacterial benefits, stimulation of proper digestion, cellular detoxification, expectorant effect, and antispasmodic uses.

Where Do Essential Oils Come From?

Out of all the thousands of plants in this world, only about 300 actually render essential oils. The essential oils of aromatic plants are stored in special cells, ducts or glandular hairs, and are located in many different parts of the plant such as flowers, blossoms, fruit skins, seeds, stems, leaves, roots or bark. As a result, the oils can encompass a wide range of aromas and tastes. They can be tart and tangy, as are oils from the citrus family of lemon, orange, tangerine, grapefruit, mandarin, and lime. They can be warm and spicy, like the oils of cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, ginger, black pepper, cardamom, or cumin. The oils can be wonderfully floral as are geranium, rose, and lavender. They can be powerfully herbaceous, like oregano, basil, dill, rosemary, sage, tarragon, and savory. They can be fresh and minty, as are peppermint and spearmint.

So exactly how is it that essential oils work?

The Sense of Scent: Essential oils affect people first through their sense of smell. Your sense of smell is actually the most rapidly responding of all your senses; it’s the source of all moods, emotions, creativity and motivation; therefore, scents affect each immediately. How can that happen? Take a moment and think about it — the smell of freshly-baked pumpkin pie can elicit responses in one’s body within seconds. Is your mouth watering yet?

The mouth may begin watering, a sense of warmth can pervade the body, and emotions tied to past family events may quickly come to your awareness — all from the scent of fresh-baked pumpkin pie. Through the beautiful aromas of various essential oils, an overall sense of well-being can be created or enhanced.

Topical Application: When essential oils are applied topically, almost instantaneous absorption occurs through the skin, moving into the blood stream, then to the deprived area. Swelling decreases, blood circulation returns, the pain is diminished, and mobility is restored.

It has been reported that when applying essential oils on the bottom of the feet, the constituents of that oil will travel to every cell within 20 minutes of application. Oftentimes, it’s possible to even smell certain oils on someone’s breath within seconds of applying them to the skin!

Bioelectric Activity: This electric activity is a coherent and harmonic balance of energy, which helps maintain life. At a cellular level, a person does not live or die all at once, but rather one cell at a time. If our diet is lower in frequency than the body, the cell’s ability to live is in jeopardy and can die. The death of cells creates a place for toxins, which then creates a host for disease to thrive. Using essential oils may elevate the body’s frequency. When elevating the body’s frequency, disease no longer has a supportive environment.

Ingestion: Essential oils possess subtle energies able to interact with the body’s own energy system to promote wellness and healing. Many oils taken internally will support the immune system, the detoxification and cellular health needed for a vibrant life.