Amy Leigh Mercree - Essential Oils Handbook

Modern aromatherapy, the medicine of the future, draws its wisdom from experiences that are rooted deep in antiquity. Since the times of ancient Egypt, across the continents and millennia to the foundations of Chinese medicine, essential oils have held a central place in health, culture, and beauty.

Myrrh was once valued even more than gold. Mary Magdalene anointed the feet of Jesus with Spikenard oil, a gift of kings. Frankincense was mixed with charcoal to make classic black eyeliner for Egyptians of old. Now, for the first time in world history, we have easy access to the oils once reserved only for royalty, or at least the very wealthy.

Essential oils are a potent distillation of the nonwater-soluble essence of plants. They are so concentrated that it takes over 130 pounds of rose petals to make a single ounce of Rose oil. One drop of Peppermint essential oil is equivalent to drinking 30 cups of strong peppermint tea. If you want to boost your physical, emotional, or spiritual well-being quickly, and in a big way, aromatherapy is your new best friend.

We are living at a time when, more than ever, we need the knowledge and skills to take care of ourselves. We are exposed to levels of chemicals, stress, and pollution that strain our immune systems and speed aging. Since we are living longer, we need new tools to help us experience a high quality of life, vitality, and youthfulness into our later decades. This is easy to do if we start early and incorporate the gifts of the emerging science of wellness, of which aromatherapy is central.

Essential oils are a superpower from the plant world. They enhance your well-being, dont require a prescription, are easily accessible, and can support every aspect of your health and beauty.

The first time I heard about essential oils, I was on a commercial fishing boat in the Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska, reading a massage magazine.

An article about essential oils captured my bioscience-obsessed mind and spurred me to order every oil from the ad I saw on the next page. Next, I ordered every book I could find that was written in English. The year was 1989.

Fast-forward nearly 30 years and you have hundreds of essential oil companies to order from, heaps of scientific evidence to substantiate the efficacy of the oils at your fingertips, and millions of Google search results.

Since 1989, Ive used essential oils to support hundreds of patients in my medical practice, flavor my meals, bless ceremonies, anoint my body with heavenly fragrance, clean my kitchen and bathroom, replace chemical-laden body care products, fill my home with mood-lifting scents, and treat every health challenge my family has faced.

Aromatherapy is also a key aspect of my meditation practice and the guided inner journeys I lead people on. They can help one feel centered and grounded, balanced, and calm. There are reasons that spiritual practitioners the world over incorporate incense in their work. Essential oils help us release our monkey-mind focus on the mundane and open us to experiences of a divine nature.

Essential oils have been used in Asian medicine for thousands of years, but because of locally limited growing climates, processing abilities, and trade routes, essential oils were largely unavailable or unaffordable to the general population. If the vast majority of Asians had access to oils the way we now do, Asian medicine, Ayurvedic medicine, and herbalism around the world would be focused on essential oils. It just wasnt possible before now!

As an acupuncturist, I use essential oils to create herbal formulas that support my clients well-being. Oftentimes, I find essential oils more effective than the herbal tea or pill formulas of Asian medicine.

They are always part of my cancer-prevention regimen. They provide detoxification support, help people overcome digestive challenges, balance hormones, alleviate the symptoms of menopause, increase brain functioning, decrease inflammation and pain from injury and disease, relieve tension, and clear headaches. The list goes on and on. I use them with nearly every client.

Personally, I always have essential oils with me. I feel more confident to be able to address anything that comes my way when I have the power of an extensive herbal apothecary contained in a small bag of oils that fits in my purse.

I have this confidence because I use high-quality medicinal oils. When it comes to aromatherapy, quality matters. Just as you would not take any white pill and hope it would work like a prescription, you cannot use any scented oil and hope it will support your health. Nothing Amy shares with you in this book will matter if you arent using pure oils.

I recommend doing your due diligence and choosing a company that publishes the chemical analyses of its products. All companies will say their oils are pure and natural, but its up to you to research each company and find the highest-quality oils you can. (Hint: Ordering directly from individual companies online is your best bet!)

With Amys experienced guidance, a world of empowered wellness is about to open up to you! I hope it blesses your life, as it does mine.

STACY ROMILLAH