It’s not often I see something that validates the use of essential oils as much as this does. I have a soft spot for aromatherapy since it was the first therapy I seriously trained in. I still use it pretty much every day for something. For example, today I have made a scar treatment gel for someone and devised a new type of healing mouth oil for periodontal and gum disease using essential oils and herbal tinctures. Watch this space – I will write it up soon.
For now, though, let’s concentrate on this new research which proves that essential oils like jasmine actually have a physiological effect on GABA and the limbic part of the brain. I adore the heady scent of jasmine and have advised it loads over the years in mixes or plants to help calm the nerves. In fact, the favourite massage oil we used in the clinic was very jasminey and people invariably left much more smiley than when they came in!
Here’s a link to a piece in the Telegraph about it for you: www.telegraph.co.uk/science/7881819/Smell-of-jasmine-as-calming-as-valium.html
Try to use good jasmine oil. It is pretty expensive as it takes a hec of a lot of jasmine flowers to make a tiny amount of distilled essential oil. But, you can buy jasmine in oil eg sunflower, if you see what I mean ie. it’s not pure jasmine, but because jasmine is so potent, it is still powerfully smelly enough to work.