Essential Oils for Optimum Health

Are prescription drugs over used? What do you think?

Do you have a family member – sister, aunt, cousin, uncle, son, daughter or even your grandchildren using drugs for a variety of illnesses or maladies? Drug use is prevalent and increasing every year.

With the increase use of prescription drugs and added side effects an increase in deaths can occur.

Instead of curing, most drugs mask the symptoms and create upsets throughout the body. Most every prescription drug has drawbacks and side effects. When you listen to pharmaceutical television advertisements, you might shake your head in wonderment that these dire warning and the long list of contraindications are what your physician had in mind for your health.

Perhaps you’ve thought that you’d like to find an alternative to prescription drugs – an alternative that would first protect your health and do no harm, an alternative that would be economical yet effective and most of all, an alternative you could trust.

Let me introduce you to the healing properties of essential oils.

Ancient cultures found that essential oils made from plants, flowers, barks, resins, spices and more would ward off disease.  The Bible is one source that describes many healing oils – the earth and its healing gifts were the ancient world’s medicine and the way to live today with strength and vitality lies in what nature created, not what man has devised in a laboratory.

Oh yes, modern medicine has certainly had its miracles but more and more people everywhere are recognizing the power and scope of essential oils.

Essential oils can penetrate cell membranes and the healing properties can travel throughout the body in a matter of minutes without disturbing the body’s natural balance. The aroma of these fragrant oils can directly affect your emotions and your lifespan. When a fragrance is inhaled it produces profound physiological and psychological effects to combat stress and emotional trauma, it can reduce your appetite to help you lose weight, increase the libido, aid in learning, boost immune function, hormone balance, increase your energy level and much, much more.

These oils can be used in a variety of ways. There is direct inhalation, they can be diffused, massaged into the skin, used as a warm or cold compress, used by acupuncturists and layered with other oils.

The highest quality essential oils are housed in dark glass…this insures stability as the dark glass protects the oil from light. Always tighten the lid after using an essential oil so it maintains its original chemistry and quality.

Reading historical data and learning about the medical properties and uses of essential oils can be a life-long undertaking. What prompted me to begin this education was when my pastor announced that he had stage four liver cancer and his docs had told him there was nothing he or they could do. I had heard that there were instances where essential oils had successfully been used for the remission of certain cancers by improving the attitude and emotional well-being of the patient; that is when I began my exploration.

The applications for treatment are vast – just as there are many illnesses, there are many essential oils that can be used.  There are single oils and blends that can be used together. They can be inhaled, used topically or ingested to treat maladies from A to Z.

In my search for answers, I was introduced to Dr David Stewart’s book, “Healing Oils of the Bible”. This book is educating me that our Creator provided us medicines to heal and restore wellness to our bodies using divine gifts of essential oils. Dr. Stewart iterates that, “it is not the intent of the book to diagnose, prescribe, make medical claims, to practice medicine in any form, or to encourage anyone else to do so unless they are properly licensed to perform such functions.”  He goes on to write, “Essential oils contain life force, intelligence and vibratory energy that imbue them with healing power that works for people.”

My friend, Jackie Silver, founder of Aging Backwards.com, shares essential oil information she developed.  She writes, “Using plants for medicinal purposes is nothing new – Hippocrates mixed powder from the bark and leaves of willow trees to cure headaches, pain and fever. His discovery would lead to the formulation, some two thousand years later, of modern-day aspirin. In the 1920s, French chemist Rene-Maurice Gattefosse stumbled across the medicinal properties of lavender oil when treating his burned arm and gave rise to our current use of therapeutic essentials. History reveals that even the ancient Egyptians soaked the bandages of their Pharaohs with aromatic essential oils. Modern-day uses for essential oils include combating stress, improving sleep, boosting immunity, curing a hangover, decongesting and more.”

The array of oils is amazing! From anise, coriander, dill, frankincense to clove, …”there are myriads of scents that can positively influence our quality of life, sense of well being and mood – the idea behind aromatherapy, the practice of using essential oils for the curative properties. Essential oils are the aromatic oils distilled from plants that can be inhaled, applied to the skin or ingested,” says Silver.

One interesting tidbit I discovered about cedar is that according to Dr Stewart, “it turns out that inhaling the oil of cedarwood increases the ability to think clearly and enhances the awareness for effective prayer and meditation. This is because, of all the essential oils of the world, cedarwood contain the highest concentration of sesquiterpenes (98%). The sesquiterpenes in cedarwood have the ability to pass through the blood-brain barrier and oxygenate the brain directly upon inhalation by way of the nasal passages and the olfactory nerves. It has even been suggested that cedarwood oil might prevent senility and Alzheimer’s disease.”

From www.youngliving.org/cynrow we are provided this information:

Essential oils, known as nature’s living energy, are the natural, aromatic volatile liquids found in shrubs, flowers, trees, roots, bushes, and seeds. The distinctive components in essential oils defend plants against insects, environmental conditions, and disease. They are also vital for a plant to grow, live, evolve, and adapt to its surroundings. Essential oils are extracted from aromatic plant sources via steam distillation, and are highly concentrated and far more potent than dry herbs.

While essential oils often have a pleasant aroma, their chemical makeup is complex and their benefits vast—which make them much more than something that simply smells good.