Basic Ways to Use Essential Oils in Aromatherapy

Using essential oils can be a great alternative to the standard methods of helping many conditions. Essential oils connect with the body and the mind, the scent of the essential oils works on the mind well before the essential oils works on the body. This is one unique aspect to aromatherapy because of the mind-body connection but I will talk about that more in-depth in a later article. Now I’m going to go over many of the basic ways to use essential oils on yourself and around the home. There are countless ways to use essential oils and while I’ve included many different ways to use them, you may find other ways you would like to use them yourself.

One of the easiest ways to use essential oils is in the tub. This can be done several different ways and all work equally well, use the one that works best for you. A bath can be very relaxing and soothing with warm to hot water and stimulating and invigorating with cool to cold water.

-The simplest way is to add 5-10 drops of essential oil to the tub once it is filled.

-Create your own bath oil for the tub by adding 2 tsp. of essential oil to 3 ½ oz. of base oil in a bottle. To use, shake the bottle and add a teaspoon to an already full tub, gently mix the oil around with your hand.

-Bath salts can also be easily made by adding 5 drops of essential oil to every ¼ cup of sea salt or Epsom salt. Add to a full tub and gently mix with your hand just before getting in.

-For a foot bath add 3-6 drops of essential oil to the water. You can also add a little base oil, sea salt or Epsom salt to the water with the essential oils.

Another easy way to use essential oils is in the air around your home. There are many different ways to do this and they are very simple to do, you will find many ways to use them yourself.

-A vaporizer can be used, there are a few different ways to use them depending on the type of vaporizer that you have. Ceramic or metal vaporizers use a candle or light to heat the oil, to use essential oils mix several drops in the bowl of the burner with a little water. The water will keep the oil from evaporating too fast. For room vaporizers with large containers for the water, you can place a few drops in with the water or some models may have a small dish in the top where the steam comes out to place the oil.

-Diffusers are a great way to use oils because most come with a variety of settling to control the rate at which the oils will evaporate and are also very easy to use since most come with pads to put the oils on.

-Light rings are very easy to use, just put a few drops of oil into the ring, place it on top of the bulb and turn on the light. However, they cannot be used with the new fluorescent light bulbs.

- Candles can also be used with oils. First, light the candle and let burn for a little bit till there is a pool of wax, blow out the candle, add 1-2 drops of oil to the pool of wax and then relight the candle.

-Steam inhalation can be done directly by adding 5-6 drops of oil into a steaming hot bowl of water, then placing your head over the bowl with a bowl over it over the bowl. The other way to use steam inhalation is by taking a bowl of steaming hot water adding 5-6 drops and placing it in a central location in a room.

- Room sprays can be made by adding 4-7 drops per cup and placing them in a clean spray bottle.

- Adding essential oils to fabrics is another way to use them in the house. One way is to place a few drops on the edge of your pillow right before bed or on a handkerchief and placed them in your pocket to smell throughout the day. You can also add a few drops to an old cloth and place them in the dryer when you dry your clothes.

-Hot or cold compresses can be made by adding a few cups of steaming hot water or ice water to a bowl with 5-6 drops of oil. Then soak a towel in the water, wring out and apply to the area.

-Neat application on lavender or tea tree oil can be used for many first aid applications, including burns, scratches, and stings.

- They can be used for disinfecting the house by putting 50 drops of oil into 4 cups of water.

These are just the main ways that you can use essential oils around your home. Once you start using them you will find many other ways to use them on your own. Using them around your home is a great alternative to all the dangerous chemicals that you could be using around your home.