What is Aromatherapy?
Aromatherapy has been around since the 10th century when essential oil distillation was documented in France. Before this scent was used medicinally in ancient cultures in China, Egypt and India in homoeopathic balms and salves. It is defined as an aromatic holistic treatment from medicinal plant extracts, commonly in the form of essential oils.
Common aromatherapy oils come from plants including lavender, eucalyptus, patchouli, lemongrass, and tea tree to name a few. These plants are steamed or pressed to get the essential components of the plant into an oil form. This created a strong aromatic oil that can be used therapeutically in holistic medicine. Many people use aromatherapy in massages, when taking baths, and just in the house through the use of candles or incense. You can also put the oil on heat points of the skin to smell throughout the day.
Many people use aromatherapy for its benefits in sleep. It can help calm down the nervous system, promote deeper breaths, and soothe strong emotions. It is known to help with anxiety because of its calming benefits. Each essential oil has its own variable benefits.
An example would be lavender commonly used in oils for sleep or relaxation due to its soothing benefits on the mind. While an essential oil like eucalyptus is a stimulating scent that can help with focus and wakefulness.
Aromatherapy & meditation
Aromatherapy can also be used to aid in meditation and yoga, quite similar to using CBD during your practice. When in meditation, strong calming scents can help promote deeper breaths and focus. Strong aromatherapy scents travel from the olfactory nerves in our nose to the brain where it interacts especially with the emotional centre of the brain called the amygdala. Taking deep meditation breaths with aromatherapy can cause a deeper meditation and relief from stress and anxiety.
Voyager’s aromatherapy products
Voyager uses aromatherapy in many of our bath products including the CBD bath salts and CBD body scrubs. We believe the benefits of aromatherapy can go hand in hand with CBD in helping overall wellness in a natural way. We include essential oils like eucalyptus, ylang ylang. Lavender, and patchouli for their calming effects.
We also have aromatherapeutic candles in three different scents, ethereal, celestial, and aurora. All three have different beneficial aromatherapy scents to them that can pair well when lit next to a bath or in a living room to unwind.
The celestial candle has a natural blend of zesty orange, mandarin, and ripe green bergamot infused with herbaceous, lavender and chamomile accords. The Aurora candle has a citrus blend with bright orange, exotic coconut, fresh litsea, and bergamot. Lastly, the ethereal candle had a marine scent with notes of lily, patchouli, moss, and lavender.
How to implement aromatherapy into your wellness plan
While aromatherapy can be a great addition to holistic wellness, you should still talk to your doctor about health conditions and a health plan. Adding aromatherapy to your wellness plan can be as simple as using a product that contains essential oils.
You can use aromatherapy whilst in the bath to relax or start with using the essential oils during your yoga practice for increased focus and soothing effects. You could also use an aromatherapy spray on your pillow to aid sleep at night. There are many effective ways of adding aromatherapy to your life that is easy to use habitually. It is a great addition to meditation and wellness activities that help you stay centred.
