Aromatherapy Essential Oil
June 7, 2009 by Cheryl
Filed under Aromatherapy Oils
Aromatherapy essential oils are highly concentrated substances extracted from different kind of plants. The “essences” of plants, they are pulled from the leaves, flowers, twigs, barks, rind of fruit, and roots of plants usually through the process of distillation. These types of oils as many of you may or may not know, are used to bring upon healing of the body and the mind.
The Basics
Every one of the aromatherapy essential oils can be used either as one of two things: a standalone or as a mixture of several different types of oils. Many concoctions of aromatherapy essential oils almost always create an effect which might be more attractive than if you compare it to lone oils. But before you begin using any aromatherapy essential oils, there are some very important things you need to learn and know.
Although distillation is the common most method used to extract essential oils, there are actually a lot of other methods in practice. Extracting aromatherapy essential oils can be a very time consuming and even sometimes very costly. It also requires a high volume of experience so that the oils don’t end up spoiled or ruined, making them virtually unusable since they won’t be able to offer anymore of those great therapeutic benefits they are reported to have. And what’s more, is that it takes in excess of 220 pounds of rose petals to produce only 4 to 5 teaspoons full of aromatherapy essential oil, it is definitely a tiresome, tedious process which should only be left to the professionals.
The fact that a huge amount of plant materials are needed just to produce even just a tiny vial of aromatherapy essential oil, natural pure essential oils are very costly. But hey, that’s what makes them highly effective, remember you get what you pay for. Also remember that aromatherapy essential oils are highly concentrated. That means only apply a few drops at a time and you can have the desired effect.
Of course, there are synthetic oils available out there as we are all aware of but they are not nearly as success as pure essential oils.
How it Works
The main target of aromatherapy oils is our sense of smell or the “olfaction.” When aromatherapy essential oils are inhaled, the scent stimulates the cells in our olfactory nerves, bringing upon an impulse which is transferred to the emotional center of the brain. This emotional center of the brain, which is called the “limbic system”, is connected to specific areas of the brain such as memory, breathing, and blood circulation. It is also related to the endocrine glands which regulate hormone levels in the body.

