Aromatherapy – conversation with the spirit of the plant

By Saulius Urbonas

I remembered today how back in 2000’s my views towards herbal medicine and aromatherapy changed radically. At the time my three great interests were creation of databases, herbal medicine and aromatherapy.  While comparing different data from different sources I’ve started noticing certain patterns. This led me towards doing a comparative analysis bringing together data on different herbs and essential oils according to their stated effect, medicinal properties, application under certain symptoms etc. and … Eureka! Once and for all I realized their universality.  All what was left to do was to find out what and how can I choose what works for me personally.

I have been analyzing principles of healthy nutrition for five years at that time and coincidentally came across a simple but crucial phrase it sounded roughly as follows:

“Our perception of smell and taste is essentially signalling only one thing about the product we taste or smell- if we like it, it is beneficial for us if we do not or the smell is unpleasant it is harmful.”

That is when my conception of healthy lifestyle and products started to form and the criteria for choosing herbs and essential oils emerged.

1. When natural and unaltered things are concerned we do not need to use the mind to make a decision it is enough to trust ones instincts (not others – yours). This rule does not apply for things created or altered by humans (boiled, fried, marinated) or things created in laboratories such as synthetic aromas. Actually synthetic scents are proven to be one of the most toxic products we willingly consume.

2. Our perception of smell and taste is changing depending on our age, health and physical condition. It means tomorrow you might not be as fascinated by a smell you admired yesterday and the other way around. So if your body starts feeling that this ‘not entirely pleasant smell’ is actually beneficial – your subconscious will change the perception of it and it might even become your favorite scent.

3. Someone who’s been leading a healthy lifestyle for a while can trust ones senses when choosing what essential oil or herb to use when feeling low or getting ill. Unfortunately, while the system is full of drugs, chemically refined products and especially hormones or antibiotics one should trust mentors and medics because the natural senses get atrophied.

To conclude that – in order to use aromatherapy effectively you must have multiple essential oils to choose from. How many do we need? For me around 30 are sufficient. And for you maybe 10? 50? 100? It is personal. One thing I can be sure of, when a person has one or two bottles only a feeling of satiety comes very fast because natural essential oils just as natural food gives us a signal when it’s too much and too often..

Through the last 15 years I have been using herbal medicine less and less and moving on to essential oils not because the herbs would not work but because it is a much more convenient and efficient way to reach an intended result with the help of clean, high quality pure essential oils. Only two percent on the market would qualify as such which is not that much. Essential oil is a spirit gently and with love separated from the plant maintaining all of the information, chemical and physical qualities and carefully closed into special bottles. This spirit embodies a remarkable, magical power that we can use for our own benefit if we manage to communicate with it.