Essential oils can be used medicinally and therapeutically to naturally help with physical troubles and ailments, such as headaches, skin rashes, symptoms of PMS, and many more, and they can also be used to enhance mood and concentration, or to calm your body, your mind, our your space.  Plants have been used in "Ayurvedic" and "folk" medicine for millennia, and people forget that 40% of all medications used today are the result of extracting active components from various plants.  With essential oils, you have the opportunity to experience the powerful healing capabilities of plants in a concentrated, all-organic, natural liquid form.  One drop of an essential oil can equal up to an entire ounce of plant material! - Now that's a powerful drop!

Medicinally: Please refer to a qualified practitioner before using any essential oils internally.  The safest application of essential oils is through aromatherapy, which is simply the process of placing essential oils into water in an oil burner or other gentle heating device, filling a room with a very clean, smokeless scent, or placing into a carrier oil for use directly on the skin.  Remember: do not place a pure essential oil directly on the skin; it can do more harm then good!

Aromatherapy: This is the most popular use for essential oils and can be traced back to earliest recorded history.

• Oil Burners: Essential oils are so concentrated, that a few drops can be placed into a warm oil burner filled with water, to release wondrous scents into any environment. It provides a very clean, smokeless scent as an all-natural alternative to incense.  The added benefit of essential oil burning is the essence of the plant is also released into the room, and can help with anxiety, tension, insomnia, it can clear stuffy noses and heads, as well as a multitude of other uses.  Remember that vaporizer when you were sick as a child?  A few drops of eucalyptus oil placed into an oil burner can be as powerful decongestant as one of those store bought units!

• Massage Oils: Essential oils are so concentrated, that a few drops can be placed into the carrier oil of your choice to create a powerful massage oil that can calm, relax, invigorate, or heal.  When manually making your own massage oil oil oil blend to be applied to he skin for various ailments, simply add a few drops at a time to your carrier oil, until you find a concentration that is most pleasing to your senses.  WE use about 1/4 of a bottle of essential oil (1/4oz bottle) for every 8 ounces of carrier oil.

• Bath Oils: Essential oils are so concentrated, that a few drops can be placed into a bath, transforming it into a bath that can more effectively calm, relax, invigorate, or heal.  Most bath therapy products or bath salts are simply sea salt mixed with either fragrance oils or essential oils.  When making your own bath salt blends, you know the quality of the ingredients you are using, and you can make every experience tailored exactly to your own preferences.

Original article by Lia & Keith