Chelsea Allan is an an Aromatic Kinesiologist. Aromatic Kinesiology embraces beauty, transformation and balance and focuses on how to influence your physical health, your state of mind and your connection to spirit through exploring aromatherapy from an emotional perspective.
Many of you know that I am an Aromatic Kinesiologist. Aromatic Kinesiology embraces beauty, transformation and balance and focuses on how to influence your physical health, your state of mind and your connection to spirit through exploring aromatherapy from an emotional perspective. I utilise The Essential Oil Reflections as metaphors for change and access the symbolic expressions of essential oils to enhance your capacity to let go of symptoms, to restore balance and to open into a broader way of thinking and feeling. When I am not at Trevallan you can normally find me at Potionatrix.
You may be wondering though, how a gardening girl get interested in essential oils?
To me essential oils and plants go hand in hand as essentially essential oils are the essence of a plant.
An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile aroma compounds from plants. They are found in the seeds, bark, stems, roots, flowers, and other parts of plants. They can be both beautifully and powerfully fragrant.
Sal Battaglia, owner and creator of Perfect Potion, says if you’ve ever smelt the revitalising scent of a eucalyptus leaf as you crush it in your hand or have run your fingers over a stalk of lavender and inhaled its soothing scent, or scratched the rind of an orange to release its fresh, zesty aroma, you have smelt the pure essential oils that have been just released from these plants.
It is believed that the essential oil in a plant has two types of functions: protection and communication. The scent the essential oil releases protects the plant from bad bacteria or fungi, and/or it deters herbivorous mammals from eating the plant. The “fragrant cloud” surrounding the plant may also attract a particular pollinator that will help the plant reproduce by cross-pollination when it visits similar plants in flower.
For this reason plants that release a certain smell have been used for centuries in companion planting to deter predators and disease and to promote pollination.
You see how closely joined plants and essential oils are? How could I not fall in love with the essence of a plant!
While aromatherapy may still be classed as an alternative therapy it is very closely related to us down to earth gardeners!
But you see gardening isn’t the only place essential oils can be used.
Since the ancient Egyptian time essential oils have been used extensively in medical practice, beauty treatment, food preparation, and in religious ceremonies.
Today we use the term aromatherapy to describe the range of traditional therapies that use essential oils to try to improve a person's health or mood.
But how does the essence of a plant really improve your life and health.
Throughout history we have associated certain plants or scents (essential oil) with meanings. We use rosemary for Remembrance Day, rosemary essential oil can be used to help concentrate and remember. Roses are given as a sign of love, Rose essential oil can be used to instil a sense of self love and happiness, Ylang Ylang flowers are used in the wedding bedroom to help, well you get the idea, as Ylang Ylang is known as a sensual essential oil! The most common is Lavender, I bet we all have used lavender to help relax us at some point.
So while aromatherapy may classed as an alternative therapy or seem a bit farfetched when you really think about it, it’s not that farfetched at all and very closely related to us down to earth gardeners!