Dating Essential Oils

Howdy! Consider this our first date. I may be moving fast, but we’ve got a lot to cover. Follow along as we date the usage of essential oil back to it’s roots, it’s humble beginnings. Where are my manners? Let me introduce myself. My name is Korina Buehrer and I fancy many titles; Birth Doula, Mama Baby Haiti board member, mama of four boys, wife to my high school sweetheart, sister to five siblings, daughter to Yahweh, world traveler, homeschooler, animal lover, and healer. Lets’s zoom in on the last title: healer. Healer by definition is, “Someone that alleviates a person's distress or anguish”. It never gets old helping people dig deep to make well thought out choices, to be empowered. I use three very powerful tools to empower others: essential oils, nutrition, and mindset. In this blog post, we will focus on essential oils. They are incredible and never cease to amaze me. Essential oils have passed the test of time—they have been used medicinally since the beginning of recorded history. ~ Frankincense and Myrrh essential oils were a gift of the Magi. ~ In the history of mankind, let’s take a peek at the Egyptians. They were the first people to discover aromatherapy, and use aromatic herbs for religion, cosmetics as well as medicinal purposes. ~ At the same time the Egyptians were developing their knowledge on plant based medicine, the Chinese made use of herbs and aromatic plants. They were an integral part of the Indian Ayurvedic medicinal system. ~ The life changing benefits discovered discovered by the Egyptians were adopted and put into practice by the ancient Greeks. The most well-known physician of that time - Hippocrates (c.460 - 377 BC) was also a firm believer of treating the patient holistically and included aromatherapy massage as a treatment. ~ Good things can’t be kept secret for long. The wisdom of the Greeks made it’s way to the Romans. Romans were strong believers in hygiene to promote health and also place great stock in aromatherapy and the power of fragrances. ~ After the fall of the Roman Empire, and the subsequent Dark Ages, we saw the emergence of the Arabian empire which was in the position to draw not only from Greek and Roman teachings, but also those of China and India! The Persian physician Avicenna (980 - 1037 AD) is credited with perfecting the distillation process of essential oils. ~ The term aromatherapy, as we know it today, was first coined in 1937 by the French chemist and perfumer Rene Maurice Gattefosse. He was not a believer of the natural health movement but was interested in the properties that essential oils exhibited. In 1910 he burnt his hand badly in his laboratory. Pure undiluted lavender oil was the first available compound handy to treat his badly burnt hand. Not only did it immediately ease the pain, but helped heal the hand without any sign of infection or scar. He also found that minute amounts of essential oils are absorbed by the body and interact with the body chemistry. ~ During the second world war, as a result of Gattefosse's experiments, Dr. Jean Valet used essential oils to treat injured soldiers with great success. ~ Sin