Herbal Remedies Used In Aromatherapy

Aromatherapy involves the use of aromatic herbal remedies for physical, emotional, and mental healing. Herbal remedies in the form of essential oils from herbs are distilled to produce soothing, healing aromas.

The essential oils used in aromatherapy are usually volatile. This means that the molecules in these herbal remedies evaporate quickly into the air. Every time when you inhale the aroma of an essential oil, the unique components mix and react with the olfactory membranes in your nose, which are directly connected to your brain. Of course, your brain plays a very important part in how your mind, emotions and entire body are regulated.

You may then think that aromatherapy is just the practice of sniffing different essential oils. However, that is not all that you can do with these oils. Most of these herbal remedies can also be applied onto your skin. When this is done often enough, it becomes doubly effective. This is because the essential oil is being absorbed directly into your bloodstream as well.

The cost of these essential oils can vary quite a lot. Prices vary depending on their availability and the methods that have to be used in order to procure and produce them. For instance 1 ounce of pure lavender oil can be procured for $5 because this is a fairly common plant and easily harvestable. Conversely, you may pay $250 for half an ounce of rose oil.

You are also going to need to purchase a diffuser in order to properly use these herbal remedies. This is a special device that is used to disperse the essential oils into the air. These are usually very inexpensive and, in most cases, an atomizer will work fine. There are also special aromatherapy pottery rings available that fit over the top of a light bulb and are relatively inexpensive as well.

The herbal remedies used in aromatherapy can be used to treat various health ailments. They can help to alleviate symptoms such as stress, depression, digestive problems, skin problems, hormone imbalances and respiratory problems. Most essential oils are quite potent; hence you would need to follow the instructions found on the label strictly. If you are pregnant or have some major illness or disease, you should also check with your doctor on the use of aromatherapy.

Finally, you should note that the one thing that you should not do is to apply essential oils directly to your skin without first diluting it. You also need to ensure that your skin is not sensitive to the herbal remedies that are being used.

Grow Lemon Balm and Let its Aroma Enrich Your Life

Are you anxious or under some serious stress? Using lemon balm is an excellent way to calm yourself. This aromatic herb has several other beneficial medicinal properties besides relaxation. Not only does it pep up your mood and spirits but it relaxes your mind, promotes sleep, improves digestion, reduces flatulence, and heals cuts and injuries on your body too. Its helps seal up wounds and in other words, it can make an excellent surgical dressing. You can rub lemon balm on your skin to repel mosquitoes and it can help heal bites of venomous creatures like scorpions. It even brings down fever, as it induces perspiration. These are just a few of the many of its uses. In fact, you can make a long list of its anti-viral and ant-bacterial properties as also its medicinal and cosmetic uses or its uses in the kitchen.

Growing Lemon Balm

From the mint family, lemon balm is a very plant easy to grow. You can either sow its seeds in a piece of land that is fertile and moist or grow it from stem-cuttings or root divisions. As the seeds are quite small, ensure that you cover them with a thin layer of rich soil so they do not blow away in the wind. You can use stem-cuttings taken from the plants in summer. If you use root divisions, it is best to do so in early fall or spring. See to it that each root- cutting has at least 3 or 4 buds. Space the plants about 2 feet apart to allow the necessary freedom for it to grow well. As with many plants, lemon balm takes more time to grow from seed than from cuttings. You will also have more success growing plants with more succulent leaves in shade than under bright direct sunlight.

In winter, if ground conditions are freezing cold, mulching the crowns will help. Proper irrigation, suitable fertilization with chemicals like nitrogen, phosphorus and potash, prevention and removal of weeds, usage of organic and other controls for keeping away insects, adopting good cultural practices are some of the important aspects that will help you in harvesting healthy, disease-free, lemon balm. You need to cut off the decayed stalks and loosen the soil around the roots to allow faster growth. Trim the plants quite frequently so as to stimulate branching and to increase foliage.

They usually are in bloom from late spring to midsummer. The flowers are white or yellowish and attract bees. The leaves are oval or heart shaped, shiny and crenate. When fresh, lemon balm gives better fragrance than when dried.

You can harvest once or twice a week, once the plants start to bloom. Take care to avoid bruising the leaf during harvesting, as otherwise the quality of the product will suffer. Dry the harvested lemon balm outside, but in partial shade rather than directly under the sun. If there is moisture in the air at night, the lemon balm will turn brown. Alternatively, you can air dry it in your shed, or even oven dry it on screens. You need to store the dried balm in airtight containers.

With the umpteen ways in which lemon balm can be put to use, there is no doubt that you will find many uses for it with your own bountiful harvest.