Nothing
in the world is more precious to us than our
children, and it's a daunting responsibility
to care for them. We all rely heavily on the
medical professions to keep our children
healthy, and we should continue to take
advantage of all the benefits modern medicine
can offer us. But there are times when help is
not available, when we have to fall back on
our own resources, and take the care of our
children into our own hands.
Many
of us may simply prefer to use natural
medicines whenever we can. There is certainly
a trend towards natural medicine, not only
among the general public, but within the
medical professions. The advantages of
integrative medicine are increasingly
appreciated, as natural remedies are used
alongside conventional medical treatment.
There's
nothing new in natural medicine. From earliest
times parents around the world have taken from
nature the herbs and plants they needed to
care for the health of their children.
Aromatherapy is a modern version of that long
tradition of using what's available, natural,
and works. These days we have scientific
papers to back up empirical evidence, and
instead of long treks into the countryside to
collect healing plants, we have convenient
dropper bottles full of plants' healing
essential oils. Aromatherapy offers great
convenience and flexibility, and there's never
been a better time to take advantage of
nature's fragrant pharmacy.
In
my practice as a clinical aromatherapist I've
seen the wonderful healing effect of
aromatherapy and essential oils on children.
Friends and family have used my knowledge, and
passed it on to their friends and family. I
constantly hear of the positive results this
has brought to adults and children alike.
Readers all over the world who have used the
information in my books kindly write and tell
me how much aromatherapy has helped them or
their children. I'm also a consultant to the
aromatherapists working with The Children's
Society in England, to relieve the
difficulties faced by children who are
physically or emotionally disadvantaged. These
children have hills to climb, and aromatherapy
helps them.
There
has been talk that aromatherapy should only be
used by people trained in the profession. Part
of this argument maintains that general
readers aren't capable of following
instructions, and shouldn't be encouraged to
get involved in something they know nothing
about.
As
I wondered about all this, the phone rang. It
was my brother. The previous evening he'd gone
to a dinner party where another guest, a
woman, said aromatherapy saved her child's
life. Her baby was born prematurely with
severe health difficulties. The doctor at the
hospital said there was nothing further they
could do, take your baby home, and prepare for
the worst. The mother was devastated. Then a
nurse came and showed her a copy of an
aromatherapy book and said "go and buy a
copy and follow the instructions". She
did this, and the baby is now a healthy two
year old. "What was the book?"
someone asked, and she replied The
Complete Book of Essential Oils &
Aromatherapy -- one of my earlier
books. When my brother told the lady that I am
his sister, she asked him to tell me
"thanks". That's why he'd called.
It
was a message to me. Aromatherapy can be
beneficial to children's health, and if people
are informed, they can use it to help their
children. So, I offer my knowledge, however
there's another side to this -- you, the
caregiver. You're the person who is going to
carry out the instructions, and I rely on you
to follow them correctly Also, please take
care to find a reputable supplier of essential
oils. If you do these things, I have
confidence you too will discover the healing
power of essential oils.
When
I was a little girl my mother treated everyday
ailments with herbs and healing plants,
administered around the kitchen table. To
older generations in Europe this was normal.
Not everyone could afford to go to the doctor
every time something was wrong with a child.
For them, it was not a question of natural
medicine being an alternative. Indeed, at one
time, modern medicine was the alternative.
The
tradition of natural medicine lives on in
modern aromatherapy. Those of us who have been
using essential oils for a long time, and have
seen our children grow up and have children of
their own, take great pleasure in the fact
that younger generations now use essential
oils, and recommend them to their friends. One
drop of essential oil, performing some task of
healing, falls into the pool of general
knowledge, and ripples out, touching others.
This is how aromatherapy is today. The ripples
are getting stronger, and spreading further,
because aromatherapy works.
As
a clinical aromatherapist, and working with
others in the field, I know that individual
children can benefit from aromatherapy --
children of all ages, temperaments, and states
of health. Everything in aromatherapy is
natural, a gift from God. The essential
goodness of essential oils cannot be denied.
They are powerful, that is true, and we must
always regard them with respect. If we do
that, they will help us through some of the
hardest times we shall have to face, when our
precious children are not well.
What's
So Great about Aromatherapy?
Every
parent has been in the position of having a
sick child to care for with no available help.
It's a horrible feeling. Perhaps the doctor is
not available until the following morning, or
you are snowed in and can't go and get help.
With aromatherapy, however, you're not
helpless; there's something you can do --
something that's been shown to work through
long term use, and through a great deal of
scientific research. As well as helping out in
emergencies, aromatherapy lets you think
proactively about the long term health of your
child.
The
essential oils used in aromatherapy are 100
percent pure, natural essences distilled from
a variety of plants. These are very
concentrated substances, measured in drops.
Using just one drop is not unusual. The
essential oils come from flowers, leaves,
roots, resin, seeds, fruits, and wood,
depending on the plant species.
The
first essential oil people often buy is
lavender because it's so versatile. It can
help with the healing process of cuts and
grazes, and is the best thing for burns. Plus
it smells nice and can be diffused around the
home, or put in the bath for when you want to
relax and have a good sleep. That's just one
oil. Add a few more and you get not only their
individual properties, but the fact that when
two or more essential oils are mixed together,
they make a new therapeutic composition, able
to perform tasks not possible for the
individual oils on their own. So you get two
things -- individual oils, and a whole array
of mixes. Combining essential oils into unique
blends gives aromatherapy depth, richness, and
tremendous flexibility.
You
will discover that the healing power of
nature, in the form of aromatherapy, is very
easy to use at home. Because the essential
oils come in volatile liquid form, there are
lots of ways they can be used. The only things
you will need in addition to essential oils
are a few small empty bottles, some carrier
oil like almond oil, and a diffuser. Most
other things you might need are likely to be
in your home already.
In
terms of therapeutic potency, most essential
oils have a shelf-life of approximately two
years. However, the therapeutic properties of
the citrus oils, such as lemon, are said to
diminish after six months. But even when an
essential oil has lost its therapeutic
vibrancy, it can still be used in all sorts of
ways. Lemon, for example, can be used in a
room diffuser or air-freshening spray, or even
to wipe down kitchen surfaces, or freshen the
laundry.
There's
no telling when a child might get sick. They
can walk out of their bed in the middle of the
night and complain of an ache or wake up with
a cough. With aromatherapy, it's often
possible to deal with the situation right then
and there. That's a great relief when you have
a crying child asking for your help. Essential
oils are not a cure-all and won't be able to
assist with every crisis you'll have to deal
with as a parent, but they can deal with more
than you think they can. As you discover this,
you'll wonder how you ever managed without
them.
This article was excerpted with permission
from the book Aromatherapy
for the Healthy Child, ?2000,
published by New World Library, Novato, CA,
USA 94949. www.newworldlibrary.com
Info/Order
book.
More
articles by this author.
Excerpted
from:
Aromatherapy for the Healthy Child
by
Valerie Ann Worwood.
Info/Order book
About The
Author
VALERIE ANN WORWOOD, one of
the word's leading aromatherapists, has been practicing for more than 20
years. An aromatherapist to royalty and heads of state, she teaches and
conducts workshops around the world and is an active member on the
executive council of the International Federation of Aromatherapists and
runs her own clinic in England. Her many books include The
Compete Book of Essential Oils & Aromatherapy, The
Fragrant Mind: Aromatherapy for Personality, Mind, Mood, and Emotion,
The
Fragrant Heavens, and Scents
& Scentuality.
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