Aromatherapy is the use of Essential Oils and herbs to sooth, calm, heal, and relax the mind, body, and spirit. We may know about aromatherapy and its uses in a massage but what about where it came from and how long it has been around? In this article we will take a look at this relaxation method to see how it came about and how it has been used in history.
Plants, herbs, and flowers have been around since the dawn of the Earth. This first observation leads one to believe that the use of plants in therapy has been around as long as humans have been around, since we use this flora in our treatments. The Essential Oils from vegetation has been recorded being used as far back as the first century with a man named Dioscorides. He was recorded using plant oils as a healing agent.
Before the process of distillation, which was developed in the eleventh century, herbalists had to soften dried plants in fatty oils. They heated the fatty oils and then filtered the plant out. This process would create their infused aroma oils that they used for healing. When the invention of distillation came along the process was then preformed by using steam distillation. This made it faster and easier to extract the oils from the plants.
The first realization of aromatherapy didn’t come along until the early 1900’s by European scientists. One recorded use of medicinal use of Essential Oils was in 1910 when a scientist accidentally burned his hand and used Lavender Oil to successfully treat the burn. In World War II a French scientist made the oils popular by using them as a battlefield treatment for certain injuries sustained by soldiers.
Aromatherapy has a rich and ancient history that dates back as far as the first century but it is safe to assume that vegetation and holistic health methods have been used as a curative since there has been humans. Doctors today still research the potential healing properties of these Essential Oils and find them to be more and more a viable healing agent.
Using Essential Oils and plant life for its healing properties isn’t something new. Ancient man practiced using herbs and today as modern man we still use the same vegetation for its medicinal abilities. Of course we have more sophisticated was of refining the oils from the plants today.
No related posts.