Essential oils are a curiosity to many folks -- they smell nice, but they're just not sure what to do with them, never mind how to get the most from aromatherapy's science-proven benefits. So where to start?! Inhale! Breathe them in! The simplest means is through diffusion: evaporating the oils into your home, office, or other living space. By using a diffuser to accelerate the evaporation of oils in the air around you, one can both enjoy the wonderful aromas of pure essential oils, and go so far as to use them for their therapeutic, medicinal effects.
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.
There are other simple, inexpensive 'low-tech' methods of diffusing essential oils. These are as simple as candle warmers -- where a candle gently evaporates a few drops of essential oil floating on a small bowl of water above a tea-light candle (don't forget the water! So many people report these devices burn their oils, but they've put them just over the heat!). A Reed Diffuser is also common, which evaporates aromatic oils through bamboo reeds and slowly into the air. Though they do most often use a synthetic dispersion agent called DPG or dipropylene glycol, which most aromatherapists will not recommend using, as at some point the diffusion process requires one breathing in its vapors.
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 essential oil one can diffuse vary as much as the diffusers themselves. If you're just wanting to make your space smell wonderful, choose a few of your favorite aromas and just go for it! Use small amounts at first to conserve your oils, while you get an idea of how much essential oil diffusing for so long suits your tastes. Some people are more sensitive than others, so take your friends and family into consideration as well. Note that children generally need much less oil to notice and have a response to, so lower your starting volume for the younger ones of your family. Blending oils from the same family is easy to do, and generally results in a very fun scent. To simply bring great cheer to a room, woods and needle oils work especially well, as their scents are broadly loved. Balsam Fir, Pine, Spruce, Black Spruce and Juniper Berry go very well together; the Citrus oils also combine well -- you can blend virtually any combination of Lemon, Grapefruit, Orange, Tangerine and Mandarin and make a very uplifting combination. If you like floral aromas, you can try blending your favorites of those as well, though they take a little more close attention to the ratios of each oil so that one does not overwhelm another. When you start, it's not a bad idea to take notes about how many drops of each oil you've used and adjust them to make your favorite combination the next time. There are many pre-made diffuser blends of pure essential oils available as well, so consider giving them a try.
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.
There are other simple, inexpensive 'low-tech' methods of diffusing essential oils. These are as simple as candle warmers -- where a candle gently evaporates a few drops of essential oil floating on a small bowl of water above a tea-light candle (don't forget the water! So many people report these devices burn their oils, but they've put them just over the heat!). A Reed Diffuser is also common, which evaporates aromatic oils through bamboo reeds and slowly into the air. Though they do most often use a synthetic dispersion agent called DPG or dipropylene glycol, which most aromatherapists will not recommend using, as at some point the diffusion process requires one breathing in its vapors.
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 essential oil one can diffuse vary as much as the diffusers themselves. If you're just wanting to make your space smell wonderful, choose a few of your favorite aromas and just go for it! Use small amounts at first to conserve your oils, while you get an idea of how much essential oil diffusing for so long suits your tastes. Some people are more sensitive than others, so take your friends and family into consideration as well. Note that children generally need much less oil to notice and have a response to, so lower your starting volume for the younger ones of your family. Blending oils from the same family is easy to do, and generally results in a very fun scent. To simply bring great cheer to a room, woods and needle oils work especially well, as their scents are broadly loved. Balsam Fir, Pine, Spruce, Black Spruce and Juniper Berry go very well together; the Citrus oils also combine well -- you can blend virtually any combination of Lemon, Grapefruit, Orange, Tangerine and Mandarin and make a very uplifting combination. If you like floral aromas, you can try blending your favorites of those as well, though they take a little more close attention to the ratios of each oil so that one does not overwhelm another. When you start, it's not a bad idea to take notes about how many drops of each oil you've used and adjust them to make your favorite combination the next time. There are many pre-made diffuser blends of pure essential oils available as well, so consider giving them a try.
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:
More on the healing effects of essential oils can be found at http://www.anandaapothecary.com/essential-oils.html.
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