Reposted from the Spiritual Sunflower's wordpress blog, originally posted on September 28th, 2018
Today I shared my first crystal meditation live on instagram... I was pretty nervous, but overall I think it went well! Thank you so much to everyone who made the time and space out of their day to tune in.
I also decided to sit down and do some research on essential oils, which I’m going to share a little about what I learned with you all.
A Little Bit About Essential Oils
Essential oils have been a part of cultures all over the world for centuries with varying uses, from healing and recovery to religious.
According to Healing Scents, the earliest proof of humans using plants for healing purposes was found in Lascaux, France. Here, there are cave paintings that suggest that medicinal plants have been a part of everyday life as far back as 18,000 B.C.E.
Recorded evidence and history also shows Egyptians began using essential oils around 4500 B.C.E., their most famous oil being “Kyphi.” Perfumed oils, resins, spices and a wider variety of oils and pastes from plants were used to create makeup, medicine and lotions.
Ancient Egyptians also had specific fragrances for deity, and blends for meditation, love and even conflict. Traces of aromatic gums like cedar and myrrh were even used in the embalming process in Egyptian society.
Ali-Ibn Sana from Persia is credited with being the first person to discover and record a method of distilling oils around 1000 A.D., which is still in use today. According to Healing Scents, Ali-Ibn wrote books about the properties of over 800 plants and also studied their effects on the human body.
“The chronicling of essential oil usage in holistic medicine began with the ancient Chinese, who documented their consistent usage of these remedies in a text that noted over 300 plants and their healing power,” Mariza Snyder, writer for Mind Body Green, said.
According to Snyder, Holistic care and other Western alternative methods of healing and medicine continue to grow in popularity, specifically essential oils. They can be used as a natural remedy for anxiety, sleep, allergies, and more.
“Breaking it down to the basics, essential oils are volatile aromatic compounds extracted from the bark, flowers, leaves, roots, seeds, stems and other parts of plants,” Snyder said.
Snyder chooses the word “volatile” to describe essential oils because of the ability for their molecules to change from liquid to gas quickly at room temperature, which makes them great for diffusing. Each essential oil has its own unique set of ingredients, whose quality depends on the care of the plants.
According to Snyder, essential oils are being sought out today because antibiotics are proving to be ineffective due to people’s resistance to them and overprescription. It’s important to be aware of how the oils a consumer purchases are made and where they come from because there is little regulation over them.
Some essential oils, known as food-grade oils, are labeled GRAS or “Generally Recognized as Safe.” These are oils such as citrus fruits and herbs that can be used in cooking, but Snyder advices only with the advice of a doctor or health care professional.
Essential oils are also commonly used in the perfume and cosmetics industry, where “adulterated” essential oils are growing in popularity.
“Solvents and additives [in perfumes or not-therapeutic-grade essential oils] may be adversely affecting your health over time, and you may be completely unaware since there are very few guidelines (in the United States) concerning cosmetics,” Snyder said.
Snyder also advises consumers to be on the look-out for terms like “certified pure” or “certified pure therapeutic grade,” and to research companies before making a choice in purchasing essential oils for health care.
Essential oils can be used aromatically, internally or topically, but it’s important to keep in mind where they come from, and to understand their specific uses in order to find success in your essential oil journey.
Thank you so much for reading today's post!
Namaste