Have you ever seen people applying essential oils around their skin and wondered what is the purpose of this ritual? After reading this blog there should be no room left for wonder. We will provide you with all the essentials of oils, its benefits and use throughout history. 

The use of essential oils dates as far back as to ancient times. The Egyptians’ passion for beauty translates into using the essential oils for spa or other beauty treatments. The doctors and priests employed a vast variety of aromatic balms, resins and powders for medical and religious purposes. Essential oils have also been a core element of the Indian Ayurvedic health system that stresses the importance of using Earth’s elements to find balance in the body, in return for good health. Vedic literature lists aromatic oils as sandalwood, ginger, myrrh, and cinnamon as effective oils for healing. Ayurvedic teaching embraces the use of herbs not only for medical treatments but also for philosophical and spiritual practises. Basil is one of the sacred plants that is believed to open the heart and mind, making us aware of love and devotion. 

The journey of essential oils to Europe 

The knowledge of essential oils was adopted by crusaders from their Middle Eastern journeys. Due to their knowledge, the plants started to be widely used in medicine in the form of herbal remedies. It was in 1937 when French chemist Rene-Maurice Gattefosse first coined the term “aromatherapy” as a holistic healing treatment that uses natural plant oils to promote health and wellbeing. Nowadays are essential oils widely used across the continents for their healing and spiritual benefits. 

What are the benefits of essential oils? 

People usually connect essential oils with the relaxing atmosphere at the spa. That is exactly what the essential oils offer: a deep relaxation for our body and mind from our everyday stressful lives. Scents are powerful stimuli that directly enter the brain, triggering intense emotional responses. By inhaling the essential oils our brain will signal certain emotions that can leave us energised, relaxed, optimistic… Certain essential oils such as orange, jasmine or sandalwood would lift up our mood and energy levels. The use of oils to stimulate positive signals in our brain can significantly reduce emotional conditions making it a perfect supplement for the treatment of anxiety and chronic stress. In today’s stressful world many people have problems with sleep. The lavender essential oils are well-known to encourage our body to calm down preparing it for sleep time. Many essential oils have antifungal, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiviral and antiseptic effects that help boost our immune system and fight infections. In relation to their physical benefits, essential oils alleviate aches and pain when applied directly on the spot of the pain. They are especially helpful in treating postoperative pain, obstetrical pain and gynaecological pain. Want to have healthy skin? When applied periodically, essential oils get quickly absorbed into the deeper levels of skin tissue and promote healing in a form of acne or irritation treatment. 

How to use essential oils? 

You may take advantage of essential oil diffusers that disperse oil into the air. If you don’t have one, there is no need to obtain one, you can simply use the bottle filled with water and few drops of essential oil to spray the oil around the room, use a cotton ball, inhale the oil from the bottle or add it to your bath, helping you to ground after a long day.  Commonly, essential oils are used during yoga practises, morning rituals, and massages where you apply the oil directly to your body. The most common areas to apply an oil to is your neck, behind the ears or your wrist. When using essential oils for massage you will need to combine them with carrier oils such as coconut, olive, argan, jojoba, sweet almond or other oil, otherwise the scent might be too strong and cause a headache or nausea. It might feel nice to warm up the oil in your palms before giving a massage. Some essential oils can be taken internally, adding them to various food recipes, water or applying them directly under the tongue. You have to be extra careful when taking the oils internally because not all oils in the market are edible, so make sure to get the right guidance or investigate if your oil is edible… 

Essential oils were praised centuries for its effects on body, mind and spirit. Beautiful Yoga offers you the classes where you can fully experience the benefits of essential oils on your body and mind. You can choose between our Beautiful Yoga Ritual where you will practise Vinyasa and Yin Yoga accompanied with various applications of essential oil or our deeply relaxing Wellbeing Ritual, where you will experience Yin Yoga with small calming massages with essential oil. As of November, we will be using natural essential oils from doTERRA that are carefully selected and distilled from plants that have been patiently harvested at the perfect moment by experienced growers from around the whole world, to gain ideal extract composition and efficacy. DoTERRA oils are not only distinct by their high-quality standards and therapeutic grade but also by creating sustainable jobs and fair payment systems in developing countries. We are therefore happy to call doTerra our essential oil partner.

Interested to know more? Come to one of our signature classes where experienced teachers will dive deeper with you into the knowledge of essential oils.