Aromatherapy as a Healing Art

Healing with aromatherapy and essential oil

Combining essential oils with intuitive and Swedish massage techniques in the 1960s led to the contemporary practice of aromatherapy as a healing art. Aromatherapy is a holistic, complementary health-care discipline. The main treatment is full body massage, using essential oils diluted in a base of vegetable oil. When you visit a qualified aromatherapist, he or she will take a detailed case history covering your medical history, lifestyle and emotional wellbeing, before selecting appropriate essential oils for you.

The Healing Power of Touch

Although there are other important uses of essential oils, it is human touch and essential oils that hold the essence of the healing art of aromatherapy. The healing power of touch is instinctive in human nature: we express affection, sexuality and other forms of non-verbal communication using touch. We naturally rub our body for pain relief when we hurt ourselves. And when we formalize that instinctive touch into massage, it becomes a powerful healing tool.

One of the most important aspects of aromatherapy is that essential oils are only applied by external means. It is illegal for a qualified aromatherapist to suggest that a client ingest essential oils by mouth. Although in France some medical doctors are trained to prescribe the internal use of essential oils, this is a highly specialized aspect of aromatherapy.

It has been scientifically demonstrated that the external application of essential oils is in most cases more effective, and considerably safer, than taking them internally. Thus the healing art of aromatherapy lies in the hands of the therapist working in synchronicity with the judicious choice of essential oils.