The History Of Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy is one of the oldest methods of holistic healing dating back 5000 years. Ancient man has a deep tie and respect for nature for he was dependent on Mother Nature for his food shelter and clothing. Ancient man also had to get his medicine from nature.

People of ancient times were very smart and were very in tune with their surroundings and how they could use those items surrounding them for survival. The ancient people learned how to treat illness and injuries using the herbs and aromatics that were near to them. Aromatherapy was born early.

Even aromatherapy as we use it today dates way back to the earliest Egyptian times. They used infusion to extract powerful oils from aromatic plants then used as medicine to cure ailments and injuries. It was also used in cosmetics and it was used in embalming. These powerful aromatherapy oils have a multitude of uses.

Ancient Chinese civilizations also used aromatic oils. Shen Nung’s herbal book dates back to 2700 BC and it contains the uses for over 300 different plants. This includes uses from aromatherapy to infusions to cooking.

Aromatics were found in Chinese religious ceremonies in which burning incense shows respect to their Gods. Ancient therapies used aromatherapy in both acupressure and massage. Today all of these practices are still an important part of Chinese culture.

In India aromatherapy has also been used for many centuries in the traditional medical system of India known as Ayurveda in which fresh and dried herbs are used and so is aromatic massage which is considered a very important part of the Ayurveda medical system.

The Greeks inherited much of their medical knowledge from the Egyptians from which they then expanded it based on their own discoveries. Aromatherapy became a very important part of their medical treatments after discovering the value of various flower fragrances. Some had properties to relax while others have properties to stimulate.

The Greeks used olive oil as the base oil to absorb the aroma from the herbs or flowers that had the aromatic oils. The final product could then be used for medicinal purposes or for cosmetics. Today we still use this process in aromatherapy.

The Romans took their lessons from the Greeks. They become very well known for their decadent baths that were so nicely scented and then followed by an aromatherapy massage. In fact aromatic oils were so popular that thank to the trade routes the Romans were soon importing exotic oils from places like India.

As the Roman Empire began to falter the use of aromatherapy faded and in fact during the dark ages the knowledge of how to use aromatics was almost lost.

In recent years the interest in the ancient practice of aromatherapy has been revived. This is because we as a people are looking beyond pharmaceuticals and looking for holistic lifestyles.

Those holistic lifestyles deal with mind, body, and soul to achieve wellness and optimum heal and aromatherapy is just one of the options.

Over time we have come to better understand what nature has to offer and just how important it is. We are all looking for answers to the complex modern day illnesses. Some of the answers have been found through surgery or prescription drugs but many of us are looking for alternatives and aromatherapy is one of those options.

Therapies, medicines, and aromatherapy treatments that were once seen as sketchy alternative treatments have risen above that skepticism and are recognized for the complimentary value they play to conventional medicine.

Aromatherapy continues to grow in popularity as more and more people begin to understand how easy it is find and just how effective it is as a therapy.

Get all the latest information about Aromatherapy from the only true source at http://www.myaromatherapyinfo.com

Be sure to check out our aromatherapy pages.

Leave a Reply