Essential oil is the “lifeblood” of a plant. The oil protects the plant from disease, provides nutrients and helps to fight off anything it doesn’t want. It keeps the plant healthy and functioning at its best.
Essential oils are extracted from flowers, stems, leaves, bark, seeds, roots and peels by steam distillation, resin tapping, and cold pressing.
Essential oils are very complex, containing thousands of different chemical compounds. When applied topically they reach every cell in your body within 20 minutes. They work on every system in the body on a cellular level to assist in the elimination of toxins. When essential oils are inhaled, they can work on the limbic system.
There are three ways to use essential oils.
- Aromatic Use – Add a few drops of essential oil to a diffuser and your space will smell amazing and you’ll be able to reap health benefits from just inhaling essential oils. If you don’t have a diffuser just add a few drops of essential oil in the palm of your hand then cup hands together around your nose and mouth and inhale deeply.
- Topical Use- One of the easiest ways to use essential oils is to directly apply them to the skin. The best places to apply oils are the bottoms of your feet, wrists or the back of your neck. When applying oils, it’s recommended to dilute them with a carrier oil such as coconut oil, sweet almond oil, grape seed oil, or olive oil. Dilution is a good idea, especially when you’re just getting started, but you may find that your skin can tolerate applying oils neat( undiluted).
- Internal Use -Young Living has a line of oils for dietary use called Vitality. The FDA has approved these oils as safe for ingestion. I wouldn’t feel comfortable ingesting just any brand of essential oils, but since Young Living oils are strictly oils with no additives, I personally feel good about ingesting them.
