I use therapeutic essential oils in my practice and daily life to help keep me and my family balanced, focused, healthy and happy, and to recover quickly when needed.
I highly recommend Young Living Essential Oils and Supplements.
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I carry a nice selection with me to my classes, and I'm happy to share - just ask!
Essential Oils
By Jean Oswald RN CA
How many times has the smell of some “thing” immediately taken you back to an old memory or pleasant feeling? The smell of wood burning in the fireplace can take me back to a morning forty-some years ago at our family campsite in the Adirondacks. I remember walking along the path, inhaling the aroma of breakfast cooking. In the same instant that I recall this, the memory fills me with a bittersweet nostalgic feeling.
Do you know why this happens? It’s because our noses are connected (through the ‘olfactory system’) to part of the brain – called the amygdala – that holds those “feeling memories” for us. In fact, the sense of smell is the only one of our five senses that bypasses the “thinking” part of the brain and then brings forward a picture or feeling from the past. So as the aroma of an essential oil connects to the part of the brain where the amygdala lies, that ‘feeling memory’ is released.
This turns out to be very helpful in releasing stress or anxiety because the smell of an essential oil can bring a peaceful calm to the body and mind: it “unlocks” the feeling where it is being held in the body. You may already be familiar with the idea that “aromatherapy” can help relax you but essential oils also support each system in the body.
My goal is to help you understand how the natural gift of pure essential oils can bring you physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
What are Essential Oils?Essential oils are the volatile liquids (they evaporate quickly) that have been distilled from shrubs, flowers, trees, roots, bushes and seeds. While essential oils have been used medicinally for thousands of years to kill bacteria, fungi and viruses, it’s only been in the last 70 years that medical researchers have been documenting their effects.
When plant extracts are carefully distilled in a controlled environment (slowly, under low pressure and low heat) their healing properties are preserved and they can be used in many ways for healing in body, mind and spirit.
Essential oils carry oxygen and nutrients to the body’s cells; they stimulate the regeneration of tissue, provide comfort and healing for all kinds of physical ailments, offer pleasing fragrances that improve mood, create a positive environment and heal emotional wounds.
If you learn only one thing about essential oils, KNOW that essential oils are able to bring benefit because they contain so many healing compounds inside; it’s the healing compounds (like neryl acetate or beta caryophylline) that support the body in bringing balance and healing.
Essential oil molecules are very small and easily absorbed. In fact these molecules are absorbed through each layer of the skin and can be detected in the bloodstream just minutes after application.
Where to buy Essential Oils If you want to use essential oils therapeutically then you need to look further than your local ‘Natural Health Food’ store because their ‘perfume grade’ essential oils are not of a quality that can be used medicinally. How do I know that they are ‘perfume grade?’ I know because the companies that sell them are not using laboratory science to check what’s inside the bottle.
Currently there are no standards in the United States for either the manufacturing of essential oils OR the safe use of them. Just one drop of pure plant extract will allow a company to say an entire bottle is pure.
Most essential oils sold in the US are ‘perfume grade’ oils. What I know for sure is that truly pure, unadulterated essential oils that can be used medicinally must be tested in a laboratory to identify the components inside the liquid. In a laboratory, a gas chromatograph (GC) will identify the components in an essential oil (like alpha pinene, beta myrcene or 1,8 cineole) and if there are any synthetic ingredients – the GC will reveal them.
Further analysis called the Mass Spectrometry (MS) will reveal how much of each constituent there is in each batch. In other words there might be 50% d-limonene in a batch of essential oils or there might only be 10% d-limonene content. That makes a difference in the therapeutic action of the oil. It’s important to know that every single batch you purchase is tested with GCMS so that you are assured of its purity.
There are other companies you can order from – online. I urge you to verify with each company that they test each batch with the GCMS before bottling it. Young Living is prepared and happy to verify this level of testing standard.
Do you need to be concerned about Side Effects? For the most part the answer is no. Side effects include more energy, positive mood, quicker recoveries from infections, surgeries, and injuries, less pain, more hope, etc. There is an innate wisdom in these special plants from Nature. In simple terms, essential oils stimulate the body to return to normal function. In fact, essential oils are much safer than pharmaceutical prescriptions and cleaning agents under your sink are far more toxic than essential oils.
By Jean Oswald RN CA
How many times has the smell of some “thing” immediately taken you back to an old memory or pleasant feeling? The smell of wood burning in the fireplace can take me back to a morning forty-some years ago at our family campsite in the Adirondacks. I remember walking along the path, inhaling the aroma of breakfast cooking. In the same instant that I recall this, the memory fills me with a bittersweet nostalgic feeling.
Do you know why this happens? It’s because our noses are connected (through the ‘olfactory system’) to part of the brain – called the amygdala – that holds those “feeling memories” for us. In fact, the sense of smell is the only one of our five senses that bypasses the “thinking” part of the brain and then brings forward a picture or feeling from the past. So as the aroma of an essential oil connects to the part of the brain where the amygdala lies, that ‘feeling memory’ is released.
This turns out to be very helpful in releasing stress or anxiety because the smell of an essential oil can bring a peaceful calm to the body and mind: it “unlocks” the feeling where it is being held in the body. You may already be familiar with the idea that “aromatherapy” can help relax you but essential oils also support each system in the body.
My goal is to help you understand how the natural gift of pure essential oils can bring you physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
What are Essential Oils?Essential oils are the volatile liquids (they evaporate quickly) that have been distilled from shrubs, flowers, trees, roots, bushes and seeds. While essential oils have been used medicinally for thousands of years to kill bacteria, fungi and viruses, it’s only been in the last 70 years that medical researchers have been documenting their effects.
When plant extracts are carefully distilled in a controlled environment (slowly, under low pressure and low heat) their healing properties are preserved and they can be used in many ways for healing in body, mind and spirit.
Essential oils carry oxygen and nutrients to the body’s cells; they stimulate the regeneration of tissue, provide comfort and healing for all kinds of physical ailments, offer pleasing fragrances that improve mood, create a positive environment and heal emotional wounds.
If you learn only one thing about essential oils, KNOW that essential oils are able to bring benefit because they contain so many healing compounds inside; it’s the healing compounds (like neryl acetate or beta caryophylline) that support the body in bringing balance and healing.
Essential oil molecules are very small and easily absorbed. In fact these molecules are absorbed through each layer of the skin and can be detected in the bloodstream just minutes after application.
Where to buy Essential Oils If you want to use essential oils therapeutically then you need to look further than your local ‘Natural Health Food’ store because their ‘perfume grade’ essential oils are not of a quality that can be used medicinally. How do I know that they are ‘perfume grade?’ I know because the companies that sell them are not using laboratory science to check what’s inside the bottle.
Currently there are no standards in the United States for either the manufacturing of essential oils OR the safe use of them. Just one drop of pure plant extract will allow a company to say an entire bottle is pure.
Most essential oils sold in the US are ‘perfume grade’ oils. What I know for sure is that truly pure, unadulterated essential oils that can be used medicinally must be tested in a laboratory to identify the components inside the liquid. In a laboratory, a gas chromatograph (GC) will identify the components in an essential oil (like alpha pinene, beta myrcene or 1,8 cineole) and if there are any synthetic ingredients – the GC will reveal them.
Further analysis called the Mass Spectrometry (MS) will reveal how much of each constituent there is in each batch. In other words there might be 50% d-limonene in a batch of essential oils or there might only be 10% d-limonene content. That makes a difference in the therapeutic action of the oil. It’s important to know that every single batch you purchase is tested with GCMS so that you are assured of its purity.
There are other companies you can order from – online. I urge you to verify with each company that they test each batch with the GCMS before bottling it. Young Living is prepared and happy to verify this level of testing standard.
Do you need to be concerned about Side Effects? For the most part the answer is no. Side effects include more energy, positive mood, quicker recoveries from infections, surgeries, and injuries, less pain, more hope, etc. There is an innate wisdom in these special plants from Nature. In simple terms, essential oils stimulate the body to return to normal function. In fact, essential oils are much safer than pharmaceutical prescriptions and cleaning agents under your sink are far more toxic than essential oils.