Elizabeth Anne Jones - Awaken to Healing Fragrance: The Power of Essential Oil Therapy

Copyright 2010 by Elizabeth Anne Jones. All rights reserved. No portion of this book, except for brief review, may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout the written permission of the publisher. For information contact North Atlantic Books.

Published by
North Atlantic Books
P.O. Box 12327
Berkeley, California 94712

Cover Photos: Left: istockphoto.com/ooyoo
Center: istockphoto.com/OlgaLIS
Right: istockphoto.com/fotosav
Cover design by Suzanne Albertson

Awaken to Healing Fragrance: The Power of Essential Oil Therapy is sponsored by the Society for the Study of Native Arts and Sciences, a nonprofit educational corporation whose goals are to develop an educational and cross-cultural perspective linking various scientific, social, and artistic fields; to nurture a holistic view of arts, sciences, humanities, and healing; and to publish and distribute literature on the relationship of mind, body, and nature.

Medical Disclaimer: The following information is intended for general information purposes only. Individuals should always see their health care provider before administering any suggestions made in this book. Any application of the material set forth in the following pages is at the readers discretion and is his or her sole responsibility.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Jones, Elizabeth Anne, 1941
Awaken to healing fragrance: the power of essential oil therapy / Elizabeth Anne Jones; Lawrence E. Jones, contributor; foreword by Candace Pert.
p. cm.
Summary: Noted aromatherapist Elizabeth Anne Jones explores the value of scent in our lives today and provides a comprehensive look at the past, present, and future of essential oil therapy, focusing on its use in holistic healing and integrative medicineProvided by publisher.
Includes bibliographical references.
eISBN: 978-1-58394-409-7
1. Aromatherapy. 2. Holistic medicine. I. Jones, Lawrence E. II. Title.
RM666.A68J66 2010
615.3219dc22 2009022209

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T HIS BOOK IS DEDICATED to my dear husband, who has been a devoted partner to me from the very beginning. He has supported me in all the days of writing and contributed some editing and especially his wisdom with chemistry and the GC-MS information in .

This book is in remembrance of my father and mother, who loved history and the arts and had a genuine appreciation of nature. It is also dedicated to my two sons, Alex for his creative yet disciplined mind and Chris for his genuine goodness and humor, and to their two children, Audrey and Sean, my grandchildren, who bring me great fun and delight.

A special dedication is to those unseen spiritual forces who have guided my life and fragrant path with angelic wisdom and gentle empathy.

I HAVE SO MUCH GRATITUDE for Shanti and Gabriel Cousens, who believe in me and the importance of this subject and want to see it in print.

I would like to thank some friends who offered their love in the form of editing: Eric Rice, Judy Hashi, Virginia Lee Roberts, Byron Belitsos.

I am also indebted to Stephanie Marohn, who provided her professional advice.

I so appreciate the fragrant garden illustration from Suzy Hunt. I thank my resourceful stepdaughter, Avonel Jones, for creating the lovely photos of plants. She went on many herbal treasure hunts. I am delighted to include in this book, from my granddaughter, Audrey, a drawing of a butterfly perched on an Echinacea flower.

I want to give a special acknowledgment to Lynette Caspar for helping me locate some of the illustrations of historical women.

I feel thankful for all the students who have graced my hearts door with their receptive minds and inventive insight.

I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN FASCINATED by fragrance. The subject spans the broadest extremes from the most ethereal to the most scientifically concrete. After all, scientists can draw the precise chemical structures of most of the volatile molecules that float through the air and enter our noses, the first step in the sense of smell. The 2004 Nobel Prize was awarded for the discovery that every single olfactory receptor cell inside the nose expresses one and only one of the odorant receptor genes, the mechanism by which we recognize and remember thousands of smells. But understanding the molecular biology of smell doesnt really tell us anything about the power of fragrance, let alone the practice of aromatherapy. How much does learning about phthalocyanine, the chemical in blue paint, tell us about the mystery of how a painting by Rembrandt moves us?

Aromatherapy is mostly unchartered territory in the United States. To understand the powerful link between fragrance and the health of our bodies, one must appreciate how fragrance is the external piece of our molecules of emotion, how we smell not just with our brains but with our entire bodies. Elizabeth Jones, who has taught the mind-body class at the College of Botanical Healing Arts in Santa Cruz for many years, has this deep appreciation as well as an experienced eye (and nose) in relation to essential oil and herbal medicine. Her book captures the mystery as well as the science with a simple, almost poetic style that informs as it pleasures us (the mind keeps no secrets from the body).

Awaken to Healing Fragrance encompasses the legacy of healing from women in centuries past and present-day science to modern aromatherapy as a powerful, significant (if underappreciated) tool today. The rich stories of how heroines used aromatics to improve the quality and health of their lives blend into case studies of modern women and men.

What interests me as a neuropsychopharmacologist is the way essential oils pass easily through the skin and travel efficiently through the body in a similar fashion to hormones and neuropeptides. The oils find receptor sites on cells to act as catalysts for change within the cell metabolism. The oils are an outside influence on the vital communication network taking place between the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems in the mind-body, what Ive called the bodymind. The ability of essential oils to harmonize emotions, raise our spirits, and eliminate microbial infections has made them extremely precious and highly sought after throughout human history. Only recently have the molecular and cellular mechanisms of these powerful herbal preparations been studied by scientists.

This book eloquently explores the full scope of how these plant substances can almost instantaneously bridge the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual realms of human experience. Scientists now know that receptors on all immune cells as well as neurons form ion channels and regulate electrical set points, resulting in changes in cell shape and function with profound concomitant changes in levels of consciousnessfrom heightened awareness and excitement to reduced awareness and sleep. Essential oils, whose discovery evolved by human selection over thousands of years, can selectively modulate ion channels by dissolving in the fatty membranes much more gently than most pharmaceutical drugs. Their dosage is much more subtle since they can leave the body without liver metabolism being required. Thus, adding an essential oil, say rose