Have you used essential oils before? If not, perhaps you’ve noticed that they are becoming more mainstream and widely available. And then you may be wondering “What are essential oils?” and “What’s the big deal with them anyway?”. Read on to learn more.
So first let’s learn about what they are.
Definition:
“A volatile oil, usually having the characteristic odor or flavor of the plant from which it is obtained, used to make perfumes and flavorings.”
What’s the big deal? Here are the 3 reasons why you need to use essential oils.
- Aid in altering mood and feelings. For example if you are feeling stressed, use lavender to help you to feel more relaxed. Or if you are feeling low energy, use lemon essential oil to help you to feel more energized, or peppermint to help you to feel more alert.
- Promote holistic well being of body, mind, and spirit. Essential oils are a tool than can help to balance and harmonize the physical, mental, and emotional.
- Freshen laundry, shoes, and rooms. Mix 10 – 15 drops of essential oils and 1 ounce of water in a spray bottle. Shake and spray! This is a great way to reduce exposure to harmful chemicals which are ingredients in many commercial fresheners.
Feeling inspired? Want to know more? Feel free to get in contact with me, I’d love to share more ways that essential oils can help you to live your best active, healthy, balanced life!
When selecting an essential oil, ensure that it is:
- Extracted by steam distillation or cold pressed. These methods maintain the essential oils purest form, without contaminating it with other chemicals such as may occur with solvent extraction methods.
- Produced with a seed-to-source standard. This type of standard tracks the quality from the plants all the way to the final product, making sure the oil is pure and safe. The standards typically also take into account ethical and environment considerations.
References:
National Association for Holistic Aromatherapy
