Aromatherapy:   Making Good Scents
Yesterday and Today

Simplicity of use = relaxation and well-being

Essential oils contain the active ingredients of a plant in a highly concentrated and potent form. They therefore must be treated with care and should never be applied directly to the skin undiluted. However, there are many ways to disperse their fragrance and utilize their therapeutic properties, and most methods do not require any special equipment.

Here are some suggestions from dōTERRA Essential Wellness on how to easily incorporate aromatherapy into your own life:

• Apply to a cotton ball and breathe deeply as a pick-me-up (store in a Ziploc bag for the day), place it in the ashtray of your car (as the car heats up the scent will permeate the area), or place it in the dryer with your freshly laundered clothes or as a means of freshening up garment before wear.
• Rub onto your chest when you have a cold for healing benefits.
• Place a few drops of essential oil into a bowl of steaming water. Breathe the steam for 15 to 30 minutes. This is great for clearing sinuses and providing head cold relief.
• Apply to pulse points or combine a drop or two with lotion as a perfume.
• Burn some in a potpourri dish with a tea light under it.
• Put some in a spritzer with distilled water and spritz into your cold-air return as an air freshener, spritz onto your sheets for relaxation and sleep (or romance-depending on the essential oil used) or place a few drops on a cloth and use this cloth as a scarf or place it on your pillow case. Move cloth away when you have had enough.
• Add a tiny drop to the distilled water in your iron.
• Pour into a tub full of bath water for a relaxing soak.
• Put into a dishpan and soak your feet. Put marbles in bottom for a massage. (Great for when you don't have time for a bath but want the healing benefits. When the feet are pampered, your whole body is pampered!)
• Mix your favorite essential oil(s) with distilled water (no more than 15 drops of oil(s) per ounce of water) for a refreshing floral spray.
• Use during massage. This can have amazing effects. Beware that changes can happen EXTREMELY fast when doing this so dilution is a must.

Consult a physician if you are pregnant, use blood thinners, or have a heart condition.

Check in January for the second part of this article, appearing in the winter issue of Jade Dragon Online, for more detailed suggestions on how to easily add aromatherapy to your life.

What a sensational gift from nature!

"Nature does nothing uselessly."
Aristotle

With origins dating back over 6000 years, aromatherapy is truly one of the oldest methods of holistic healing. Although aromatherapy has been practiced for so very long, it has only recently become more popular in our culture. Perhaps because of the fast pace and additional stresses of today's world, more and more people are returning to a holistic lifestyle, recognizing the importance of combining the mind, body, and spirit to achieve optimum health and wellness, and searching for easy ways to bring this about. Aromatherapy is one simple practice that is readily available and effective.

Discover for yourself the ancient art of aromatherapy, refined over the centuries, and see how you too can easily harness the therapeutic powers of essential oils for health and well-being.

The pleasure and versatility of aromatic oils make them one of nature's greatest gifts. Try some aromatherapy today - even if it's as simple as sniffing a rose!

"I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order."
John Burroughs

Don't miss part 2 of this article in our Winter 2005 issue coming out in January for more information on how to use aromatherapy and how the many benefits of aromatherapy can help you achieve optimal health and well-being in today's stressful world.

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Chandra is an independent representative for dōTERRA Essential Wellness, a company founded on a wellness philosophy of healthy lifestyle choices and informed proactive participation in one's own healthcare alternatives. dōTERRA's Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade™ essential oils and other wellness products are specifically formulated to support a wellness philosophy of eating right, exercising, resting and managing stress, and reducing toxic load. dōTERRA also teaches informed self care alternatives and encourages people to take a proactive role in their medical care. The dōTERRA mission is to teach people to live more healthy, productive lives and to share with others the blessing of a lifetime of wellness.

See the dōTERRA website for more information or to place an order.

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