As the owner of an aromatherapy company, I get asked all the time: "How do I get started using essential oils? Well, one of the simplest and rewarding ways of doing this is getting into the "aroma" part of aromatherapy -- the inhalation and enjoyment of the scent of the oils themselves. This in fact is a gateway to utilizing the whole realm of therapy available from pure essential oils. Once you get familiar with the oils and the way they smell by diffusing their aromas, you'll be more apt to investigate the powerful medicinal aspects of aromatherapy and its many application techniques.
Diffusion of an essential oil means to distribute the oil in the air around you. Essential oils easily evaporate -- more easily than water -- so this is a pretty straightforward thing to do. At the same time, there are ways to get even more essential oil in the air, at a higher concentration than, say, if you just let a bottle sit open on a table. This is where an aromatherapy diffuser comes it. The diffuser evaporates the essential oil faster, using one of many possible methods (more on that in a moment). And why would you want to evaporate the oil faster? If you just left a bottle sitting open, you and your family would occasionally smell the aroma coming from the bottle; if you'd like your whole room or house to be filled with that aroma, you'd use a diffuser.
The least expensive diffusers work very well for bringing aroma into the air. They often use heat to evaporate essential oil -- others use a small fan -- and both these types often have a small replaceable pad onto which a few drops of essential oil are placed. These diffusers have the advantage of low cost and ease-of-use, though they generally are only for small spaces, like a single bedroom or small office. More advanced diffusers, called ultrasonic diffuser, are like small ultrasonic humidification units, built to diffuse essential oil along with a mist of air. They are well-liked, particularly in dry environments -- the ultrasonic diffusers are also made to fill a somewhat larger space with aroma.
Another very inexpensive diffuser is called a "reed" diffuser. It draws up essential oils in some sort of base formula and evaporates it from the tips of the reeds. These are generally avoided in aromatherapy, because the base mixture often contains synthetic chemicals that are not excellent to breathe in. One can do away with the base chemical altogether, putting the reeds only in pure essential oil if you so desire. Also available are tea lights, which use a candle to warm a small bowl of water from which the essential oils evaporate from the surface of. These are lovely to use, though they do require close attention such that the burning of the candle is safe, and that the water does not evaporate before the oil.
The high end of aromatherapy diffusers are called cold-air nebulizing diffusers. The use nothing but a pressurized stream of air to make a fine mist of essential oil, which then evaporates directly into the air. The best of these units have a variable output control so they can be properly adjusted to the size of the room and/or the desired concentration of aroma in the air. The nebulizing diffuser has the capability of both simply diffusing oils for their aromatic effects, and to go so far as to deliver true therapy in aroma medicine. The classic aroma medicine texts show images of people placed in oxygen-style tents inhaling significant quantities of essential oil vapor to cure them of very serious infectious diseases. This effect can be created in small rooms, though it is important to have the guidance of a natural health professional before including this modality in a treatment program for yourself or a loved one. At the same time, these techniques are very worthwhile investigating, and the curing of infectious illness is considered one of the most promising medical application of essential oil therapy.
The choice of oils you can use in a diffuser is even more diverse than the kinds of diffusers available. It is really best to start with your desired reason for diffusing oils, then select your oils following this guideline. For general use, Citrus oils are very lovely, and combine very well to make your own unique scents. Try Lemon, Lime, Bergamot, Orange and Grapefruit together for example. Or the "evegreen" oils all blend together well: Fir, Spruce, Pine and Juniper create a very welcoming and warm atmosphere. Floral oils can be easily blended too, as can the woods and the herbs. Once you venture outside of blending oils from the same family, you'll want to pay a little closer attention to the ratios of each oil you use, as it's easy to make odd smelling recipes if you just start putting in "a little of this and a little of that"! On can always use a single oil at any time, particularly if you really enjoy one, but in the long run, blends can often be more interesting to the advanced aromatherapy user.
Blend recipes can often be found that are made for specific therapeutic needs -- though in many cases, a single oil is called for in a "therapy". Sleep can be helped for many people through just diffusing a high quality French Lavender essential oil; Memory and concentration can be enhanced by cold pressed Lemon oil or a steam distilled wild Rosemary. Immune system support is often provided by many of the oils from herbs, such as Melissa (Lemon Balm), Hyssop (a highly-regarded anti-viral oil), and Eucalyptus Radiata (recently shown to improve the efficacy of our white blood cells in their immune system action). Without too much work, you can find the right oils for your needs, and blending needn't be too precise for these actions from a diffuser (though you would want to take care to be more precise with other modalities, like topical application, and in extreme cases, oil ingestion with the guidance of a doctor).
So there is a primer on diffusing essential oils. To recap, first pick the diffuser style that will suit your needs, whether you'll just like to smell the aromas in a smaller space, or diffuse significant quantities for health reasons. Next, you can blend one oil at a time (diffusers usually do not require one to clean them between oils, nor are the therapeutic effects significantly altered by this), by a pre-blended formula, or create your own diffuser mixture. Just be sure not to include any fixed or carrier oils for diffuser use -- many massage formulas can be converted to diffuser use simply by removing the carrier oil. Start slowly, remembering that you'll generally need less oil than you think to produce the effect you need. And welcome yourself to a whole new world of natural medicine. - 14130
Diffusion of an essential oil means to distribute the oil in the air around you. Essential oils easily evaporate -- more easily than water -- so this is a pretty straightforward thing to do. At the same time, there are ways to get even more essential oil in the air, at a higher concentration than, say, if you just let a bottle sit open on a table. This is where an aromatherapy diffuser comes it. The diffuser evaporates the essential oil faster, using one of many possible methods (more on that in a moment). And why would you want to evaporate the oil faster? If you just left a bottle sitting open, you and your family would occasionally smell the aroma coming from the bottle; if you'd like your whole room or house to be filled with that aroma, you'd use a diffuser.
The least expensive diffusers work very well for bringing aroma into the air. They often use heat to evaporate essential oil -- others use a small fan -- and both these types often have a small replaceable pad onto which a few drops of essential oil are placed. These diffusers have the advantage of low cost and ease-of-use, though they generally are only for small spaces, like a single bedroom or small office. More advanced diffusers, called ultrasonic diffuser, are like small ultrasonic humidification units, built to diffuse essential oil along with a mist of air. They are well-liked, particularly in dry environments -- the ultrasonic diffusers are also made to fill a somewhat larger space with aroma.
Another very inexpensive diffuser is called a "reed" diffuser. It draws up essential oils in some sort of base formula and evaporates it from the tips of the reeds. These are generally avoided in aromatherapy, because the base mixture often contains synthetic chemicals that are not excellent to breathe in. One can do away with the base chemical altogether, putting the reeds only in pure essential oil if you so desire. Also available are tea lights, which use a candle to warm a small bowl of water from which the essential oils evaporate from the surface of. These are lovely to use, though they do require close attention such that the burning of the candle is safe, and that the water does not evaporate before the oil.
The high end of aromatherapy diffusers are called cold-air nebulizing diffusers. The use nothing but a pressurized stream of air to make a fine mist of essential oil, which then evaporates directly into the air. The best of these units have a variable output control so they can be properly adjusted to the size of the room and/or the desired concentration of aroma in the air. The nebulizing diffuser has the capability of both simply diffusing oils for their aromatic effects, and to go so far as to deliver true therapy in aroma medicine. The classic aroma medicine texts show images of people placed in oxygen-style tents inhaling significant quantities of essential oil vapor to cure them of very serious infectious diseases. This effect can be created in small rooms, though it is important to have the guidance of a natural health professional before including this modality in a treatment program for yourself or a loved one. At the same time, these techniques are very worthwhile investigating, and the curing of infectious illness is considered one of the most promising medical application of essential oil therapy.
The choice of oils you can use in a diffuser is even more diverse than the kinds of diffusers available. It is really best to start with your desired reason for diffusing oils, then select your oils following this guideline. For general use, Citrus oils are very lovely, and combine very well to make your own unique scents. Try Lemon, Lime, Bergamot, Orange and Grapefruit together for example. Or the "evegreen" oils all blend together well: Fir, Spruce, Pine and Juniper create a very welcoming and warm atmosphere. Floral oils can be easily blended too, as can the woods and the herbs. Once you venture outside of blending oils from the same family, you'll want to pay a little closer attention to the ratios of each oil you use, as it's easy to make odd smelling recipes if you just start putting in "a little of this and a little of that"! On can always use a single oil at any time, particularly if you really enjoy one, but in the long run, blends can often be more interesting to the advanced aromatherapy user.
Blend recipes can often be found that are made for specific therapeutic needs -- though in many cases, a single oil is called for in a "therapy". Sleep can be helped for many people through just diffusing a high quality French Lavender essential oil; Memory and concentration can be enhanced by cold pressed Lemon oil or a steam distilled wild Rosemary. Immune system support is often provided by many of the oils from herbs, such as Melissa (Lemon Balm), Hyssop (a highly-regarded anti-viral oil), and Eucalyptus Radiata (recently shown to improve the efficacy of our white blood cells in their immune system action). Without too much work, you can find the right oils for your needs, and blending needn't be too precise for these actions from a diffuser (though you would want to take care to be more precise with other modalities, like topical application, and in extreme cases, oil ingestion with the guidance of a doctor).
So there is a primer on diffusing essential oils. To recap, first pick the diffuser style that will suit your needs, whether you'll just like to smell the aromas in a smaller space, or diffuse significant quantities for health reasons. Next, you can blend one oil at a time (diffusers usually do not require one to clean them between oils, nor are the therapeutic effects significantly altered by this), by a pre-blended formula, or create your own diffuser mixture. Just be sure not to include any fixed or carrier oils for diffuser use -- many massage formulas can be converted to diffuser use simply by removing the carrier oil. Start slowly, remembering that you'll generally need less oil than you think to produce the effect you need. And welcome yourself to a whole new world of natural medicine. - 14130
About the Author:
The author is a regular contributor to natural e-zines on essential oils and advanced aromatherapy. She may be contacted through www.anandaapothecary.com.
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