The use of oils to help affect a person’s mood and well-being has been practiced for thousands of years. The oil from various plant species is extracted and concentrated to form what are known as essential oils. These essential oils are basically concentrated versions of the plants fragrant essence and are typically about 100 times as fragrant as the corresponding dried plant.
The nature of essential oils and carrier oils
Most often, a pure concentrate of an essential oil is far too strong to be used alone. Typically, these essential oils will evaporate if exposed to air so they must be stored in airtight containers. Essential oils do not have the same properties as fatty oils such as olive or almond oil. However, they are soluble in fatty oils. For this reason, these types of fatty oils are often used as carrier oils to create a usable form of the aromatic essential oil. Almond oil is a very common carrier oil for making massage oil and most essential oils are used at 2-5% strength, requiring a large quantity of carrier oil due to the high concentration of the essential oil.
When used in massage, the oils are thought to penetrate the skin and enter the tissues and bloodstream in a matter of minutes or hours, depending on the essential oil. From here, the oil goes to work to help rejuvenate and regenerate dead or unhealthy cells. However, as the term aromatherapy implies, the aromas are often received through smell alone, whether it be through candles, scented oils, shampoos or other personal care products, and transmit a signal to our brain to create an emotion, feeling or response from us.
Essential oils to consider
Basil oil - Basil essential oil is typically extracted from the basil plant through a steam distillery process. The oil itself can be useful in treating a number of different chest related sickness such as colds, bronchitis, flu, coughs and rheumatism. It can also be used as an effective insect repellent or as a treatment for bites. However, basil should be avoided by pregnant women and should never be taken in large doses.
Sandalwood oil – Sandalwood oil is reminiscent of a forest like floral scent and is often used to treat depression, stress and a variety of skin problems such as stretch marks, scars, oily skin or dry skin. Sandalwood oil is very high in demand and very scarce due to many species sandalwood trees being endangered. For this reason sandalwood is often imitated or diluted and it can often be very hard to tell the real thing from the fake.
Spanish Sage oil – Spanish Sage is an evergreen shrub and can produce an uplifting aroma to treat circulation, arthritis, acne, asthma, coughing, laryngitis as well as stress, headaches and exhaustion.
Vetivert oil – Vetivert oil is derived from a perennial grass and has woody, smoky scent with sweet undertones. This oil typically mixed well with more common scents such as sandlewood, sage or jasmine. Vetiverts therapeutic qualities can be used as a treatment for depression, tension and insomnia.
Tagetes oil – Tagetes oil is derived from its flowering annual counterpart and is used primarily as a treatment for skin conditions such as corns, calluses and bunions although it may also be used to treat fungal infections. Occasionally, contact with too high of a concentration of tagetes oil can cause dermatitis so use should be discontinued immediately if any adverse reaction is seen.
Aromatherapy for Beginners
Men and Depression
Depression affects men as much as it affects women. Due to social stigma, few men are willing to report it and get the necessary treatment. Since the number of women seeking medical treatment for depression outranges the number of men, depression in men is left unnoticed. It is said that about 6 million men in
The symptoms for depression in both women and men are the same. The only difference is the way they express it. Some of the symptoms in men are insomnia, lack of concentration, fatigue, irritation etc. They also experience lack of interest in their work place or any other social activities.
As mentioned earlier, more number of women are seen visiting psychiatrist for depression related problem. However instead of seeking for medical help, men tend to engage themselves in various other activities. They try to do other activities by which they can forget the root cause of their depression. Some of these may not be healthy. Such activities are working more than usual, consuming alcohol excessively. Some men take the extreme steps of indulging in drugs or driving recklessly. These are some of the ways men use to cope up with the situation. It is well known that women attempt suicide more than men do. But statistics show that the number of men committing suicide in
Whatever may be the reason for your depression, it should be given proper treatment. For this, the first thing is that men should come forward and voice out their feelings in open. Self initiative is the best help. Other than that you should try for psychotherapy, or counseling. If possible look around for a support group nearby. You can also try going for a Psychotherapeutic work. It can be done individually or in a group. The advantage of doing it in a group is that you are motivated in an environment where there are several other suffering like you. You can help each other come out of the depression and face the challenge together.
You can consult your doctor for antidepressant medication. You can try different kinds of medicines and see which one can get rid of the depression. In rare cases or in emergencies, it is recommended to go for ECT (electroconvulsive therapy). If you are feeling suicidal do talk about it to someone. There are many organizations, doctors, physicians who are working for the same cause. You can seek help from any one of them.
Yoga Today Introduces Free Internet TV Yoga Courses
Original, One-Hour Courses Bring Yoga Practice Conveniently to the Masses in High-Definition
JACKSON, Wyo., June 13 /PRNewswire/ -- Yoga Today has announced the availability of free, one-hour yoga classes in high-definition video over the Internet (iHD) via Instant Media's (I'M) free software available at http://www.im.com/. I'M's patent-pending caching technology enables the highest quality, full-screen viewing experience on the market today, making the breathtaking setting of Jackson Hole, Wyoming, in which Yoga Today is filmed, all the more inspiring to Yoga novices and experts alike. In each episode of Yoga Today, world-class instructors Adi Amar, Neesha Zollinger and Sarah Kline will take viewers through sessions that focus on strength building, flexibility and stamina, as well as meditation-in-motion. Yoga Today will deliver new shows seven days a week, 365 days per year, keeping workouts fresh and energizing. This new, free, yoga-on-demand format provides excellent training for everyone from students to stay-at-home parents to traveling business executives.
According to a study commissioned by Yoga Journal, 16.5 million Americans stay fit through yoga -- up 43 percent from 2002. With yoga courses averaging $15/session and yoga DVDs averaging $15 each*, Americans can save hundreds -- if not thousands -- of dollars by accessing the courses from Yoga Today. Yoga Today's free content will be supported by four 30-second ads at the beginning of each episode.
"Yoga Today's mission is to bring free yoga to the world," said Kim Whitman, President and Executive Producer of Yoga Today. "It is really yoga for everyone, anywhere they are, providing the perfect balance of hands-on instruction with fresh, new courses in an inspiring setting directly to consumers via their laptops, PCs or televisions. Yoga-on-the-go is a convenience we are offering people with busy schedules, and with the I'M delivery platform, we're able to make on-demand fitness available to our customers."
Each Yoga Today episode will feature an expert instructor and two students. The students will have different skill levels and instructors will interact with them to improve their poses. This down-to-earth approach to yoga training makes the class more authentic and accessible to viewers, allowing them to improve their practice from the comfort of their own homes, hotel rooms or anywhere they see fit. Courses will be filmed outdoors in spectacular Teton settings or, when weather does not permit, indoors in a state-of-the-art yoga studio.
In addition to its availability through I'M, Yoga Today's content will be downloadable for Mac users in QuickTime format in a video archive on the company's Web site: http://www.yogatoday.com/. Yoga Today also plans to offer individuals or groups the chance to practice yoga live, with its instructors on retreats in rejuvenating destination locations.
How To Access Yoga Today on Internet TV
Viewing Yoga Today on Internet TV is easy. Consumers can download the I'M player for free at http://www.im.com/. Once the player is installed, consumers can browse an integrated directory of channels, including videocasts and audiocasts, and subscribe for free to Yoga Today. Viewers can perform work on their PC while shows download in the background, or leave their systems on through the night and wake up to a fresh class every morning. New shows appear automatically, and are ready to watch instantly. Instant Media also provides an automated disk management capability system to ensure that your allocated cache for Yoga Today remains updated with the latest shows. All shows are archived in a lower resolution QuickTime format that can be easily downloaded by PC and Mac users alike, directly from http://www.yogatoday.com/.
About Yoga Today
Yoga Today delivers yoga practices that are accessible to anyone, anytime through Internet TV. With new courses posting everyday and training from world-class instructors, Yoga Today brings the benefits of yoga to experts and novices alike in the comfort of their own homes. Yoga Today also offers viewers the chance to practice live with their instructors through exclusive Yoga Today retreats. For more information, visit http://www.yogatoday.com/.
* Yoga Journal, How to Open a Yoga Studio, By Constance Loizos, June 2006; Average cost of top 50 yoga videos on amazon.com, June 2006.
Website: http://www.yogatoday.com/Website: http://www.im.com/
