| Aromatherapy | Wildflowers in Spring, fresh cut grass in Summer, Pine in
Winter…the very mention of these scents bring back memories and emotions. That’s
aromatherapy! Aromatherapy uses the essential oils extracted from plants to create scents
that are a positive effect on our mind, body, and spirit. In aromatherapy, the brain responds to the aroma of the essential oil by retrieving a past memory associated with the aroma. "The quickest way to induce an emotional response is through smell," says Alan Hirsch, M.D., a neurologist and psychiatrist who directs the Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation in Chicago. Odor molecules influence the brain’s limbic system affecting memory, appetite, emotion, sexual responses, and learning. Aromatherapy dates back more than 4,000 years ago to Egypt and India. Now
well accepted in European countries it is widely prescribed by the main stream medical
profession. In the United States awareness of practice of aromatherapy is at an all time
high. Magazines such as Vogue, Self, Shape, and Martha Stewart
Living have published many articles explaining the benefits of aromatherapy.
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