What is Aromatherapy? Really….?
September 30, 2008 – 6:35 pmWhen I worked in a spa setting, the offering of aromatherapy - with a $10 price tag - was little more than an application of some highly diluted vague smelling oil with a name like Tranquility. Is this what aromatherapy really is?
When you look at the historic roots of aromatherapy it is the use of pure, undiluted, unaltered, essential oils for healing the body, mind, and spirit. After all, the father of modern day aromatherapy, Rene Gattefosse, put his hand in a vat of undiluted lavender oil and his severe burns were healed.
So how did this wonderful modality that can do everything from heal burns, repair tissues, and clean out receptor sites turn into such a watered down offering? Let’s take a look at how aromatherapy is taught, presented, and represented.
We are taught you must dilute 95% with carrier oils so the oils will do no harm (and this is because….?), you can’t use wintergreen (because synthetic methyl salicylate will kill you), and many other precautions. I agree that precautions are necessary, but it is as if we progressed to a place where before you can go out of the house you have to dilute the air by putting a bubble around you because you might catch a cold, or you might get sunburn, or it might smell bad.
So what would it be like to never feel the sun on your skin - and the vitamin D it delivers - to never smell the pure ocean air - and the healing negative ions you would breathe in - to never experience the healing benefits of air because you are so afraid of perceived negative side effects of breathing pure air?
Aromatherapy is an ancient healing art that was used by the Egyptians thousands of years ago, by the Biblical peoples, and even further back in Ayurvedic practice in India. Today, undiluted use of pure therapeutic-grade essential oils (see my last post) is being practiced around the world with wonderful results.
It is time for aromatherapy to get back to its roots as a healing modality. Many classes teach about the wonderful properties of essential oils but fail to deliver information on the historical use of essential oils which is undiluted application of pure, unaltered, high frequency, small molecule plant material.
So what can you do? Educate yourself. Walk on the wild side and take a Raindrop technique class, read a book by Dr. Daniel Penoel, a French aromatherapist and medical doctor, learn the other side. Then decide how you would like to use essential oils in your practice. You might just be surprised to find that there is so much more to aromatherapy than Tranquility .
One Response to “What is Aromatherapy? Really….?”
Maria,
Very well put and thank you. Unfortunately, many spas (no, not all) do not embody wellness. Many owners don’t care about a client’s well-being but rather about their “experience,” their connections and word-of-mouth capabilities, and the financial bottom line. The essential oil (EO) niche has been the BG ITCH in the industry for the past ten years and it’s really growing. I’ve worked in spas, launched spas, and consulted other in creating spas. I have seen the “ugly side” of spa conduct and day-to-day business practices. These companies buy bulk and they buy cheap. They cut the product, distribute it in pretty dark colored bottles where they are cut again in the treatment room. Then there are those who truly care about the benefits of the services they offer but continue to cut EOs because that is what’s taught here in the states. For them, it’s “safer,” and cost efficient…but is it really?
So, there’s a few housekeeping items on the floor:
1. More education about EOs
2. Reviewing a spa’s costs–how much money are they spending on products, how therapeutic are those products, and how can you save more money and still use pure-therapeutic oils?
3. What is the company’s goals? Review the spa’s philosophy and stick to it.
4. Employees need to Educate Their Clients. Education is a step beyond sales–think about it.
By Barb on Oct 6, 2008