Many plants produce essential oils, so using an essential oil in your life can be a great way to access the consciousness and teachings of that plant.
If you are new to the world of essential oils, let me tell you why I consider them the most powerful substance on our planet today – both from a physical and a vibrational perspective.
Let’s explore “Essential Oils 101”, so you have a solid understanding of what they are, and how they differ from other plant and vibrational essences and fatty oils.
What is an essential oil?
Essential oils are natural plant extracts, which come from specific parts of the plant. This could be the leaves (eg. Eucalyptus, Rosemary, Basil and Peppermint), the bark (eg. Cinnamon Bark), the heartwood (Palo Santo, Australian Blue Cypress, Sandalwood), the sap or gum resin (eg. Frankincense and Myrrh), the seeds (eg. Coriander seed), the roots (eg. Ginger and Vetiver), the flowers (eg. Jasmine, Ylang Ylang, Geranium and Rose), or the rind of the fruit (eg. citrus oils like Lemon, Grapefruit, Orange, Tangerine and Lime).
They are highly concentrated aromatic compounds, comprising hundreds of chemical constituents which work in perfect synergy. For example, 1 drop of Peppermint oil has the potency of 28 cups of Peppermint tea. So even a single drop can have a very profound influence on you!
Essential oils are often described as the life blood of the plant, carrying oxygen and nutrients through the plant’s tissues, and helping to remove toxins and wastes. They fortify the plant so it can withstand disease, and their powerful aroma can either deter insects and other animals from feeding on the plant, or attract them for the purposes of pollination.
But they don’t just have a powerful effect on the plant.
The 3 primary elements that make up essential oils are carbon, hydrogen and oxygen – the same 3 elements that make up our own body tissues. So they are highly compatible with our physical body, and are easily absorbed through our skin and membranes.
How are essential oils used?
Essential oils can be applied neat to the skin, or diluted in a carrier oil.
In addition to applying topically and adding to our baths and skin lotions, essential oils can also be diffused in an aromatic diffuser, to bring the beautiful fragrance of nature into any space.
I personally love the ultrasonic diffusers. You can simply add some water and your favourite essential oil, and turn it on. It uses a special ultrasonic plate which vibrates at around 1.7 million times a second to change the liquid essential oil and water into a vapour, and your essential oil begins to mist through the room.
Certain essential oils can also be used to flavour food and beverages. This may sound amazing, however just think about it. When you pan fry coriander seeds to make a curry, the heating process releases the essential oil from the seeds, so the aroma you get is in fact from the essential oil. The same applies when you are eating fresh herbs. When we eat food from any aromatic plant, we’re simply eating plant fibre (cellulose), essential oil and water!
Because the essential oil is so concentrated, start with just a tiny amount (eg. a single drop), and build up to taste. And always make sure that you are using an essential oil that is approved and labelled as a flavouring agent, as not all plant essential oils are safe to ingest, and not all brands of essential oil are compliant for use as flavouring agents. If it is, it will be on the label of the bottle.
Safe use of essential oils
A carrier oil is a fatty oil, whereas an essential oil is not fatty or greasy at all! However, they are “lipophilic”, meaning they love lipids (fats).
That’s why if you ever put an essential oil on sensitive skin and it starts burning or irritating, you would always liberally apply a good quality vegetable or carrier oil over the top (Eg. coconut oil, olive oil, sesame oil, etc.). This will settle any irritation within a minute or two.
Some essential oils are also photosensitive. This includes citrus essential oils, such as Lemon, Lime, Orange, Tangerine, Bergamot and Grapefruit essential oil. It also includes oils like Ginger and Angelica. When using these essential oils topically (ie. applying them to the skin), keep that patch of skin where the oil was applied away from direct sunlight or UV light for 24 hours. The easiest way is to wear a scarf or clothing over the top. Otherwise exposure to sunlight or UV light can cause deep burning of the layers of the skin, and result in a dark mark (like a birth mark) which needs to grow out. It can take months for the mark to disappear, and in severe cases the marking can be permanent.
Aromatherapy literature also offers cautions on using certain essential oils if you have high blood pressure, epilepsy, are on blood thinning medication, are pregnant or breast-feeding, and for children under 5. If you fall into one or more of these categories, make sure you do your own research or consult a qualified practitioner.
How essential oils differ from other vibrational essences
You can see how versatile and potent essential oils are. Yet they have the edge over any other vibrational or plant extract because of their aroma.
Our sense of smell is the only one of our 5 senses which sends signals directly to the limbic region of our brain where we store memories and their associated emotions.
Because essential oils are aromatic, they are not only a powerful tool for our physical body. They are also profoundly intelligent, able to help us transform on an emotional, mental and spiritual level. Because of how essential oils stimulate our brain, they allow us to more easily connect with those emotions that can be holding us back in life. This makes them a powerful tool for our journey of self awareness.
The limbic region of our brain includes the pineal and pituitary glands, which are connected to our third eye and crown chakra. It’s therefore not surprising that some people notice a huge opening in their spiritual awareness and intuition when they start using essential oils, including enhancing their ability to see auras, guides, and to meditate more effectively.
Essential oils work on all levels of our being, to create positive and life-enhancing transformation. They are one of the most powerful tools that exist on our planet, providing they are produced correctly!
The importance of quality
The majority of essential oil companies are committed to providing a beautiful-smelling product, rather than a product which is vibrational and therapeutic-grade. It’s common practise to spray their fields, add adulterants to their essential oils to “extend” them, and to distil their plants using high temperature, high-pressure methods and short distillation times.
Unfortunately, this creates a potentially toxic product, which has lost the life-force, vibration and power present in the original plant.
The hundreds of constituents present in an essential oil are the oil’s “fingerprint”. In order to preserve that entire fingerprint, the plant matter needs to be distilled at low temperature and low pressure. It needs to be distilled long enough to capture the full fingerprint, and sometimes that can be many times longer than what’s needed for a purely aromatic oil. And in order for it to be truly “pure”, no chemicals must have touched the plant, the fields or the essential oil at any point in the growing and production process.
The label “100% pure essential oil” is misleading, and no statement of quality. The labeling laws around the world are so inadequate that an essential oil with this labeling can still contain a high proportion of synthetic components and adulterants.
Similarly, just because an essential oil is “organic” doesn’t mean that it’s been distilled in a way that will retain the entire fingerprint. Remember – almost all essential oil suppliers around the globe are looking for a beautiful and purely aromatic oil. They’re not going for the full fingerprint.
So don’t trust the label. It’s not going to let you know the quality of the oil inside the bottle.
Unless a supplier has access to advanced labs with world-class testing equipment and are willing to invest the dollars needed to undertake these very advanced tests, they simply can’t guarantee the purity of what’s in the bottle.
You really need to know and trust your supplier, because many essential oils are labelled “pure” but they have been exposed to pesticides, herbicides and other adulterants. And with the escalating demand for essential oils, adulteration of essential oils is happening more and more.
You’ll feel the difference – genuinely pure essential oils are still alive in their bottle, and carry a potency that will impact you on all levels – physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. That’s why I refer to this quality as a “vibrational essential oil”.
Which brand should I buy?
There are many wonderful essential oil companies out there, doing great work. However, there’s only one company I personally know of which follows all of these processes in order to produce essential oils which are both vibrational and therapeutic-grade.
That company is Young Living Essential Oils, and I’ve been using and loving their essential oils and oil-infused products since 1998.
If you’ve never tried their oils before and would like to know more, reach out to the person who’s previously spoken to you about theYoung Living products. If you’ve lost touch with that person, or this is your first time hearing about these oils, please click here and we’ll be in touch.
Welcome to this amazing adventure into the world of vibrational essential oils….
