Cold and Flu Season

This holiday season, cold and flu present themselves in not so lovely packages. There is really no way around it.  However, there are many preventative measures one can take to preempt the onset of sickness. Obvious ways to do this include: taking vitamins,consuming healthy whole foods, drinking enough water and getting enough rest. But what about combating an ailment once it has already taken hold? Often times these solutions lie within the not so apparent routes to wellness. Take for instance, aromatherapy and the intricate way in which it works with emotional states to assist in fighting illness.

Physical illness often causes a negative emotional state, and this can eventually lead to a compromised immune system. This situation can be particularly devastating since a weakened immune system is more vulnerable to further infection, and another new infection can lead to even further emotional depression.  Thus the vicious cycle ensues. A downward spiral of emotional and physical health can result producing a cycle of illness that can be very difficult to break.

Aromatherapy excels as a form of complementary and alternative medicine, bringing relief and helping millions of people where conventional medicine can often fall short.  Here, aromatherapy can surely be the hero. However, there is one more area where aromatherapy is more effective than possibly any other healing paradigm.  It has long been understood that preventative measures go a very long way towards protecting the body against all types of illness. Therefore the relaxing and de-stressing influence of essential oils and massage, together with their effect on the immune system, places aromatherapy in the pre-eminent position as the finest preventative medicine.

And no matter what your opinion or beliefs may currently be about the efficacy of aromatherapy, there is one thing that we can all surely agree on: Prevention really is much better than cure.

~Piper Williamse, Lead LMT