Did you know that there is something called Aromatherapy , This consists of extracting oils from plants and has been used throughout history in different cultures, to promote physical, mental and spiritual well-being, which you can discover through your senses, in this case smell.
It is an alternative medicine practice, which is used through diffusers for environments, for baths and inhalation, since in practice it is said to help with relaxation and calm your nervous system, calming with its aromas and giving a feeling of mental and emotional peace.
Let's talk about the physical benefits that this practice brings us: For headaches we can use essential oils such as peppermint and lavender, as they help minimize pain in this area, in the case of chamomile, lavender and valerian, these oils help us fall asleep, since their properties combat insomnia allowing us to relax and sleep; For the strengthening of the immune system we can find oils such as tea tree, eucalyptus and lemon, which have antimicrobial properties that will help you not get sick so often.
If you are stressed and looking for how to relax or are suffering from depression, the essential oil that can help you is frankincense, as it will bring you calm and reduce anxiety, if you need concentration or have a bad memory rosemary or peppermint essential oil will give you mental clarity and help you to be more focused, If you want to increase your energy or mood, the oils that can help you are citrus essences as they help you with their revitalizing effects.
How can I use them?
In the bathroom, when you take a shower you can apply 5 to 10 drops in your bathtub and relax with your essence and enjoying that experience.
With inhalation, you can put a few drops on your pillow at bedtime, it's wonderful, or in a tissue; If you don't want to put it on your pillow or if you don't want to do it directly, you can put the drops in an essential oil diffuser, so that the aroma is spread throughout the environment.
It can also be used in compresses, if you take a tissue with warm water and put a few drops on it and let it sit in the area that is causing you discomfort, you can feel an improvement.
In the topical application to relax you put it in the following areas: on the wrists of the hands, on the temples and on the soles of the feet.
Do you want to know how these oils are extracted?
Well, I tell you that, just as we apply many products on our skin, it is also good to know where they come from, and the extraction of each oil is not as simple a task as we would think, let's know a little about how to extract essential oils from flowers, leaves, stems, bark and roots.
The steam distillation process consists of the steam that releases the water so that it penetrates the cells of the plant, breaks them and condensation occurs, then it goes through a cooling system that turns it into a liquid and then goes on to separate liquids, the oil from the water. The oils obtained by steam distillation are: lavender, eucalyptus, rosemary, mint and tea tree.
Mechanical extraction is used for oils extracted from the peels of citrus fruits such as: lemon, orange, tangerine, among others. The peel is squeezed until oil and juices are released to go to the centrifuge that is responsible for separating the oils from the water in the peel.
Solvent extraction is done on flowers that are more delicate, which consists of incorporating organic solvents with the plant so that it releases the oils and then this goes through another solvent called ethyl alcohol to remove residues and leave the oil pure. With this method we obtain jasmine, gardenia, rose and vanilla oil.
Maceration is more traditional and consists of letting the plant macerate in an oil such as olive, jojoba or almonds for several weeks so that the flower releases all its oils and then it is filtered to obtain the concentrated oil finally. The plants that we can macerate are calendula, arnica, lavender.
In conclusion, essential oils are a natural and wonderful option for skin care, health and mood, they have become an excellent option for the well-being of body and mind.
