{This blog entry has been adapted from an assignment I wrote for one of my courses.}
You can also download my brochure - Holistic Aromatherapy: An Introduction.
What is Aromatherapy?
Aromatherapy is the health science of using the essential oils derived from plant matter such as flowers, fruits, seeds, leaves and bark, to achieve and maintain optimum health, balance and beauty.
Essential oils are absorbed by the body either through ingestion, inhalation or skin application. The latter two are most commonly used by North American aromatherapists. In Europe, medicinal aromatherapy, (i.e. taking essential oils internally) is practiced by many doctors. Pharmacists mix and dispense the oils right at the pharmacy. For example, a mixture of fennel and anise seed may be given to a baby with colic.
There was a time when Aromatherapy (and Herbalism in general) was considered primary medicine. Herbs, oils, etc… were often the first thing people turned to when they were ill. With the advent of big-business pharmaceutical companies, and the push for prescription drugs, Aromatherapy is now considered “alternative” or “complementary” medicine.
Although there are thousands of years worth of anecdotal evidence that Aromatherapy works, there are really very few scientific (i.e. double blind, control group) studies available regarding aromatherapy. Due to the lack of “evidence”, many medical professionals are skeptical of its benefits, and some may even warn against it.
A Short History of Aromatherapy
The term “aromatherapy” was coined by Rene Maurice Gattefosse in the 1920s, but aromatherapy can be traced back at least 5000 years. The use of plants and herbs medicinally goes back as far as recorded history, most likely to the beginning of mankind. Originally, plants were used in their whole state. Around the 10th century, an Arabian doctor named Avicenna perfected the art of steam distillation and made obtaining the essential oil of plant matter much easier. EOs are concentrated and more potent that using a leaf or flower from the same plant.
In India, essential oils were an important component of Ayurvedic medicine and massage, an ancient form of medicine. This holds true today.
The Egyptians are considered the first group of people to perfect the art of aromatherapy. They were famous for their use of incense and burning aromatic wood. It was used in religious rituals, to drive away evil spirits and disease.
One of the first texts containing written guidelines about the use of herbs in medicine was written by the Chinese around 2800 BC. China introduced incense to Japan in the 6th century.
Greeks and Romans learned about aromatics from the Egyptians. The most important contributions the Greeks made to modern aromatherapy was to classify and index all the knowledge they learned from their travels in Egypt. The Romans made extensive use of essential oils in baths, perfumes, massage oil and ointments.
During the 16th century, commercial production of essentials oils began in Grasse, France. Essential oils continued to be a popular form of medicine until synthetic drugs became a readily available. Aromatherapy and herbalism (once mankind’s sole form of medicine) is now considered “alternative” therapy.
How Are We Affected by Scent?
Memories of odours are stored in the limbic system. The limbic system is the group of brain structures concerned with the olfactory system (among other systems). It is also the centre of emotional behaviour such as anger, fear and pleasure. Evolutionary wise, the limbic system is the oldest part of the cortex, so it would stand to reason that it is the most developed or finely-tuned part of the brain as well.
Scent is our strongest link to memory. Memories of odours are stored in the limbic system, as well as the memories of the experiences associated with the odours. Yet often I will catch a waft of something and be overcome by a feeling that I cannot always connect to a conscious memory. I know the scent has meaning, and it will evoke a feeling in me, but I can’t pinpoint the reason. This is because our scent memories last longer than our visual memories.
Other times, the visual memory accompanying the scent memory is very obvious. A co-worker walked into the lunch room one day after having been outside for a cigarette break. The scent of her perfume combined with the stale cigarette smoke invoked an immediate response from me. “You smell like church!” I told her. When I was a child, we attended church every Sunday and after mass the parishioners would congregate on the front steps of the church to socialize. Nearly everyone smoked, and there must have been one particular woman who wore the same brand of perfume as my co-worker. That combination of scents has been stored with my childhood memory of attending weekly mass.
When a memory is triggered, it can create an “opening” in the limbic system. Unpleasant scent memories can be modified by teaching the brain to form a new association. Fortunately, pleasant odours can gain deeper access to the limbic system than unpleasant ones.
{This blog entry has been adapted from an assignment I wrote for one of my courses.}
You can also download my brochure - Holistic Aromatherapy: An Introduction.
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