What is an Aromatherapist?

Here's the short answer:

An Aromatherapist is someone who uses the power of the olfactory system, the only place where your body has dendrites exposed to the external environment, to affect the body, mood, mind and spirit through the use of essential oils.

Now the long answer:

If you would have told me 5 years ago that I would be an aromatherapist, much less a Certified Aromatherapist I would have done a spit take and then promptly asked you, "What the heck is that?" Before I wandered into my first free class while wearing two wrist braces and grieving the loss of my dog I had no interest in essential oils. An hour later my wrists were soothed, my braces were in my purse and my grief was replaced with knowing that life is right. I was hooked. I made an executive decision and put together a large purchase that day. "Hi Honey, I bought something today." My husband's eyes went wide. "What?"

"Essential Oils. Lots of them."

"Cool."

Yeah, he's the best. Not only was he okay with it, he was as excited as I was when my box arrived.

You see the best essential oils come from online sources. The FDA does not regulate the labeling of essential oils, which is why the stuff that I got in stores before never attracted me. Some of them smelled okay, but they didn't do much for me.

But what I had ordered was doTERRA. These were therapeutic grade. These lit me up, soothed my pain, helped me sleep. My body loved these oils, my world of smell, previously a black and white world of no smell or bad smells had gone full technicolor. My husband had much the same reaction. Being the nerd that I am, I figured, if I love these oils, what other brands of oils am I missing out on? What else can they do for me, my loved ones, my pets, my clients? I didn't want to be a brand whore and I was hungry to learn.

I attended lectures with Kurt Schnaubelt and Jeffrey Yuan. Mind blowing. I gobbled up books and online videos.

After much research I found one of the only in-person aromatherapy certification courses available in the country, Stillpoint Aromatics. Earl, my husband and I looked at the courses together. It was in Sedona, Arizona and would require 4 months of back and forth travel for a 250 hour course.

"I think I should go." I said.

"I think I should go." He said, a fellow nerd.

"If only one of us goes I think I should go." I reiterated.

"If only one of us goes I think I should go." He parroted again. Now we were both going. Huh? Yeah.

To me, International Aromatherapy is just a basic understanding of how oils are used in different parts of the world. For example:

The French don't have drug stores, they have apothecaries, and as the leaders of the modern oil usage movement, they will pour it into open cavities during surgery.

The Brits, whose usage is the basis of the International Certification program dilute oils down to 1-3% solutions. Not because it's more effective that way, though I often treat animals and babies at those dilutions, but because it was illegal to do it otherwise in Britain at that time unless you were a doctor.

The Chinese first recorded use of essential oils in the Materia Medica of the Ming Dynasty. After seeing how well they worked for the emperor's court, they cut them into teas and herbs for the common man.

Earl and I came home from Sedona with our heads swimming with a dizzying amount of conflicting information. The one great takeaway I got from getting certified and chasing down a few oil masters, it is to understand that aromatherapy and essential oils are a healing art. Not unlike fine art and paint, or music and it's instruments, it's expressions are unlimited. There are various opinions on the "best" or "right" or "only" ways to play. Unlike other arts there are heated debates on the "safe" and "regulated" and "scientifically proven" ways to use essential oils.

After a few years of self-biohacking, testimonials and practice, our noses filled with hundreds of new smells and armed with dozens of case studies we now dive confidently in to how we use this education to play with essential oils our way. Ask 6 aromatherapists how to treat a headache with oils and you will get 12 different answers. No two aromatherapists are alike. Just like no two musicians are alike. But we love our art forms with a passion that ignites the senses.

These days, since we also enjoy the safe internal usage of essential oils, I prefer to call myself, my husband and my team members "essential oils mentors." We will guide you on the usage of essential oils that suits your lifestyle, sensitivities and curiosities. It is beautiful, fun, inspiring and healing. It crosses all boundaries of language, age or culture. Like music, it is a wonderful way to communicate, connect and heal.

When you have a pantry of essential oils, a basic education and a dash of intuition are the best way to play. This is where an experienced aromatherapist and oil lover with an open mind and heart can become a useful ally. Wanna be an aromatherapist, too?

#Aromatherapy #NewtoOils