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Whether taking a camping trip, tending a flower garden or just walking through the park, people like the experience of being surrounded by nature. The desire to recreate this delightful sensory experience away from nature has led many to turn to aromatherapy, even in their spas. Practitioners use essential oils from plants, such as lavender and juniper, in candles, diffusers, massage oils, lotions and spas in the hopes of relaxing and raising their spirits. This quest to reproduce the effects of nature isn’t new, as humans have been attempting to make use of plant aromas for thousands of years.
Aromatherapy: As Ancient as Civilization
Aromatherapy can be traced to humans’ first attempts to capture plant oils and fragrances for their own use. Many ancient cultures thought plants could be used to promote physical and spiritual well-being. It is believed that the Egyptians used infused plant oils for cosmetic usage, massage, reflexology and bathing as far back as 6,000 years ago, and employed frankincense and other herbal spices and resins, along with other ingredients in their mummification and burial processes. Later, the Greek physician Hippocrates used plant material for baths, massages and fumigation.
The ability to capture the essence of plant aromas wasn’t made possible, however, until the 11th century when Avicenna, the Persian physician and scholar, invented the curved condensing coil, according to Sylla Sheppard-Hanger of the Atlantic Institute of Aromatherapy. This enabled the steam distillation process, which is used to extract essential oils from plants, the ingredients for modern aromatherapy. Essential oils are concentrated aromatic liquids that contain the distinctive scent of a plant. Raw plant materials such as bark and leaves are steamed and the condensing coil captures the vapors and condenses the essences back into liquid.
“Before the condensing coil was perfected, the essential oil was discarded as an impurity,” says Jeanne Rose, author of numerous aromatherapy books, including The World of Aromatherapy.
Rose says the condensing coil led to the increased production of essential oils by the 15th and 16th centuries, especially in France. The fragrant oils were used for scenting leather and clothing and also made available as perfumes for purchase in apothecaries — precursors to pharmacies.
Modern Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy as we know it today came about in part by accident in the early 20th century, Hanger says. French chemist René-Maurice Gattefossé had been studying essential oils for cosmetic purposes, when he burned his arm in a laboratory accident. He responded by dousing his arm in a vat of lavender, and was so impressed by his perception of the way the burn healed that he began researching the healing properties of essential oils. Gattefossé is believed to be the first to use the term aromatherapy in 1928, and wrote the first book on the subject in 1938, Aromathérapie: Les Huiles essentielles hormones végétales, which helped to popularize the subject.
Dr. Jean Valnet, continued to explore the potential uses for aromatherapy, Hanger says, by using essential oils to treat soldiers during World War II. Valnet shared his beliefs about the capabilities of essential oils, by writing the second major text on the subject, The Practice of Aromatherapy.
Thanks to the body of information resulting from the work of Gattefossé and Valnet and others, aromatherapy took off in the 1950s and 1960s in England, where it was most often associated with massage, Hanger says. English massage therapists and beauty consultants built up a culture around using essential oils as an enhancement to the massage experience. These ideas were recorded and popularized by Robert Tisserand, who wrote the widely-publicized book on aromatherapy, The Art of Aromatherapy, in 1977.
Around that time, aromatherapy began to take hold in the United States, particularly in California, Hanger says. Today, some advocates see it as part of a holistic approach to health, and believe essential oils can be used medicinally. However claims surrounding the health benefits of essential oils are unproven, and aromatherapy shouldn’t be viewed as an alternative to standard health practices. Instead, these oils should be valued for their ability to please the senses and bring delightful, natural scents into your spa or onto your massage table.
Visit www.beingaromatherapy.com to read about our unique aromatherapy blends made exclusively for hot tubs and baths. Our being® brand of spa aromatherapy products include fragrances, candles and a body mist lotion and can be purchased through Arch’s authorized dealer network. Always follow label instructions and talk with the provider before purchasing any product.
*POOLLife® magazine does not endorse the use of essential oils or aromatherapy products for medicinal purposes.
