Essential Oils & Aromatherapy
What are essential oils?
When it comes to essential oils, there are two types that are typically available: therapeutic grade and fragrance. But there’s a lot more to essential oils than just their scent. Therapeutic grade essential oils provide substantial physical and mental health benefits and, therefore, relax and heal not only the body but the mind as well.
Essential oils are the life force of the plant. In other words, they are highly concentrated plant extracts that contain nothing but the organic constituents of the plant. The oils are gently extracted (usually steam distilled) from the flowers, leaves, stems, seeds, roots and/or bark. Therapeutic grade oils are the purest oils in the world and less than 2% of the essential oils on the market today are therapeutic grade.
Perfume-grade oils are sometimes derived from essential oils and blended with additives to get more product per ounce of essential oil, or may not come from essential oils at all! Many are derived from reconstructing petroleum molecules and can actually be unhealthy to the body. These commercial oils are usually inexpensive and do not have any therapeutic qualities.
Why do we use essential oils?
Simply put, essential oils are used to achieve therapeutic benefits and promote health and well being. The smell of an oil has the ability to conjure memories and create mood while the chemistry of an oil supports physical health. Therapeutic grade oils can help keep immune systems strong, promote emotional wellness, shorten recovery times for athletes and even improve sleep.
How are essential oils used in a session?
The therapeutic power of touch combined with the healing and balancing properties of essential oils is an extremely beneficial way to enhance massage. Based on our consultation, I will select a group of oils to integrate throughout the session and during the massage I will apply the oils to an area of the body such as the bottoms of your feet, palms of your hand, pulse points or specific areas of pain or discomfort. Through inhalation and absorption, the oils will help you relax and bring about a greater sense of balance to your body.
mpgandelman@gmail.com~(203) 499-9076
~(203) 499-9076