Essential oils are extremely complex, as single oil can have more than 300 naturally forming chemicals that create it. All of these chemicals working together is what makes Essential Oils effective, they are synergistic. There is no one chemical that works the magic. These chemicals are also constantly evolving and modifying themselves to adapt to changes in the environment. Even oils from the same location will change every season because the weather is different, more sun less sun, more rain, less rain, cooler or drier all these factors alter the Essential Oil a plant creates. This makes Essential Oils nimble so pathogens can’t adapt easily to this moving target called Essential Oils and humans do not build a tolerance like we do with medications.

Pharmacology

Pharmacology doesn’t know how to evaluate Essential Oils with the current structure that they use. Pharmaceuticals specifically look at effectiveness. There are several aspects to this evaluation of effectiveness.

First to determine effectiveness you must have an experiment that connects a specific substance (chemical) to a specific response.

Then according to pharmacology if you increase the dosage then the response should last longer.

Once those two effects are proven true you would repeat the experiment but now on isolated area rather than the whole person.

And finally traditional pharmacology only looks at one ingredient.

This is why essential oils aren’t tested and accepted in traditional pharmacology. There are 200 plus chemicals that work on the entire person and often if you use more of the Essential Oil typically you get the opposite effect. Pharmacology doesn’t know what to do with that.

Medicine

There are approximately 120 medicines have their origins in plants. However, we do not use the natural ingredient. We create synthetic versions of them. Synthetics have larger molecules that do not penetrate the skin or olfactory system as well. Although we think of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy as things that smell good and scent a room, really it is the molecules from the diffused oils or the lotion going through your pores and entering your bloodstream that evoke the healing response in the body. That healing response can be physical like getting rid of achy muscles or mental like feeling calm and centered. This is important Essential Oils create a healing response from the body instead of attacking a symptom. Synthetics simply attack the symptom it was created for.

The tiny molecules from essential oils are in the bloodstream in 2 minutes working with our bodies going directly where they are needed. Pharmaceuticals have to work through the digestive tract and the acids and survive to the other side so 15 to 30 minutes later you get some relief.

Now with all of that information provided, I want to say that traditional medicine is not bad. It is very important. Essential Oils can be used to compliment traditional medicine and they provide additional options. I always tell my daughters options are good. When you start running out of options that is bad. Essential Oils do not replace good medical care, they can work synergistically with it.

 

Essential Oils + Me

Eventually, the Yoga workshops I attended led me to essential oils. I read about using aromatherapy in yoga classes, and I had dabbled some with aromatherapy for my youngest daughter to help with her emotional issues. But I definitely didn’t really know what I was doing. A friend told me about Natural Options Aromatherapy in northern Ohio. They have been doing essential oils for 20 years, they provide Cleveland Clinic with oils for their holistic medicine, and they teach certification classes. I love classes, so I attended, and the class was amazing. The knowledge that George Cox has is astounding. By the end of the class we had completed 6 labs, making 13 essential oil blends to address issues from arthritis to stress to insomnia to carpet odor. For every blend I made I had someone in my life in mind. I carefully weighed the benefits of each oil I added, and of course the smell, because part of it is “aromatherapy” even if you are applying to the skin. I came back home officially certified by Natural Options. I am now working on my national certification as I start Blue Lotus Journey.

The real test was whether the blends would work, though. Megan uses the insomnia blend I created, which now helps her go to sleep every night. Her dreams are weird but not nightmares anymore so we count it as a win. The person that I gave the depression blend to uses it and has some success. Brie uses the bath salts that I created for her aches and pains in her muscles and joints and she says it helps immensely with her mobility. I am using the osteoporosis blend on myself just in case. And the carpet deodorizer works wonders taking out any and all pet smells you can imagine from my furniture (and Brie’s as well!).

The best was being able to take the information that I learned and solve a new problem. Brie gets ganglion cysts, also known as “Bible bumps”. She has had one on each wrist since seventh grade – eight years ago. They have pretty much been her constant companions unless she kept her wrists wrapped tightly all the time. They are painful and get large enough that they decrease her mobility in her wrists – on rare occasions one will pop, but it always returns a couple days later. I had her start applying lavender to them 2-3 times a day, and the cysts started shrinking. Then one of them actually popped. She still uses the lavender on the remaining cyst and it continues to shrink. She continues to use lavender where the cyst popped and it hasn’t come back in over a month’s time. I am still monitoring changes waiting to see if the second one also pops and goes away or just continues shrinking, and to make sure that the other one doesn’t return. The only options medicine had given her was wrapping her wrists to minimize their growth, or surgery with the knowledge that they would return even if surgically removed.

I tell everyone that if all I get from that workshop is helping my family, I will be happy – but the purpose of Blue Lotus Journey is to share these resources with you, to help you on your journey.