Essential Oils for Beginners: A Guide to What They Are & How to Use Them

By Kac Young

Discover the Best Essential Oils to Get Started and Get Results

This approachable guide shares the secrets to improving your health and wellness through the use of twenty essential oils specifically chosen for their versatility and practicality. Kac Young shows you how these oils can be made into cleaning products, massage oils, aromatics, aphrodisiacs, magical formulas, and more.

Explore the many ways essential oils can be used for personal empowerment and well-being, such as peppermint for pain relief and rosemary for weight loss. Designed to help you enjoy essential oils throughout your life, this impressive book provides profiles for each oil, application and safety guidelines, diffusing and pairing insights, recipes, and more. A must-have resource for your bookshelf, Essential Oils for Beginners enhances spirituality, happiness, beauty, and fortitude.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide
• Release date: Feb 8, 2020
• ISBN: 9780738762951

Kac Young

Kac Young, PhD (Ventura, CA), holds doctorate degrees in clinical hypnotherapy, natural healing, and naturopathic medicine. She runs a private practice where she consults with people who want to change their lifestyle and prolong their lives, helping with weight loss, smoking cessation, addictions, physical conditions, and chronic pain.

Book preview

material

acknowledgments

A

book is a living thing. First it is the idea in the mind of the creator, then it is the work of the author, followed by editors, printers, artists, publishers, distributors, and retail sellers. Many hands go into making a book.

The first person who deserves acknowledgment is Angela Wix. She came to me with the request to write this book after working together on a previous book, The Healing Art of Essential Oils, and a calendar featuring essential oils. The entire Llewellyn team is a great example how teams work when creativity is inspired at the top. Thank you especially to team leader Bill Krause and editor Annie Burdick. My lovely and wonderful agent Lisa Hagan not only put the contract together for us but also had the faith in, and the support of, this project from day one. She’s been incredible throughout the process. I am grateful every day for her guidance and friendship.

Michelle Stevens at The Refill Shoppe in Ventura for inviting me to speak; Katherine Dippong-Lawson for allowing me to teach my courses in aromatherapy; Aurora Heinemann for hosting me at her Yoga Channel; Rakesh Samani at Aum Shanti Bookstore, New York City, for inviting me to teach; Rev. David Bruner for asking me to come to San Jose and teach; Kelly Holland Azzaro for her input and knowledge about Animal Aromatherapy and her friendship; Kat Sanborn and Jake Kent at Llewelyn for getting me on the radio and podcasts; and all of the wonderful students who come to my classes, ask me questions, and cause me to probe further into the wonderful world of essential oils. I also want to thank the radio and podcast hosts who have had me on their shows and treated me with great respect: Dave Congalton, Dr. Paula Joyce, Gwilda Wiyaki, Monique Chapman, Servet Hasan, Hercules Invictus, Donna Seebo, Randi Fine, Brenda Michaels, Rob Spears, Pamela Atherton, Sheryl Glick, Marianne Pestana, Janeane Bernstein, Kaisha & Kelsey, Crystal Myrick, Wendy Garrett, and all the other writers and journalists who have included me in their articles, posts, and blogs. A very special thank you to Dr. Paula Joyce for encouraging me to write an A–Z guide for essential oil remedies for common human conditions. Her encouragement was the inspiration for chapter twenty-eight.

I owe the greater part of this book to all of them.

One cannot write a book without a muse, the unfathomable source of inspiration, guidance, feedback, and clandestine editorial help. For the hours of her jaunty spirit, brilliant ideas, and encouragement, I bow in gratitude for her generosity, insights, corrections, and overall unconditional love and support. Every day I am filled with gratitude for having this wonderful person at my side through thick and thin and life-altering fires, rains, and thunderstorms. Thank you, my dear Marlene Morris.

And to my wonderful friends Pamela Ventura, Lisa Tenzin-Dolma, Tracy Abbott Cook, J. Randy Taraborrelli, Jacklyn Zeman, Valerie Voss Evans, Sharon Wuerl, Donna Wells, Peggy Jones, Terry Cole-Whittaker, Hercules, Hadley Fitzgerald, and Beth Wareham all of whom continue to support me in my efforts to make a small difference in our world. Without their love and friendship, I’d be shapeless.

You give me form and inspiration. Thank you from the very bottom of my heart.

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disclaimer

Essential oils have proven historically to contain therapeutic healing properties and benefits. However, you should not substitute the ideas and methods in this book for traditional medical care. Seek advice from your physician and use this book with common sense.

The information is presented for educational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, prescribe, prevent, treat, mitigate, or cure medical or psychological conditions. The information herein is not intended as medical advice but rather a sharing of knowledge and information based on research and experience.

Each body reacts differently to natural products and essential oils, so results may vary person to person. Essential oils are potent. Use care when handling them and always do a patch test on your skin and a smell test to make sure an essential oil is compatible with your personal chemistry. Use extra caution with children and seniors. Perform your own research before using an essential oil. Always err on the side of caution.

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introduction

EEssential oils seem to be in the news almost every day. I get one or two notices a day in my inbox. Maybe you heard about essential oils on a podcast; or you read about them in a magazine, or a friend shared about their own use. Whatever your personal interest in essential oils is, whether it began as mild curiosity about the particularly beautiful aroma of an oil you encountered in a store display, or you had an intense experience and were intrigued with the possibilities of an oil’s aroma and healing power, you are here. That’s a very good thing.

It is my pleasure to welcome you to this amazing world of incredible natural essences that will change your life for the better. I know it’s a large claim, but in my experience, I can’t recall one person who learned about essential oils who didn’t benefit from having them in their life.

My enthusiasm is high; I fancy myself a goodwill ambassador for essential oils. There are so many exciting ways essential oils can enhance your life. They have physical components that can heal and aid our bodies. They are beneficial to our emotional lives. They can help us overcome feelings of sadness, grief, depression, fear, and exhaustion, and can exchange the negative feelings we experience for joy and happiness in a matter of minutes. They have spiritual components that can lift our spirits and connect us to places we never dreamed of going. If that sounds like a best friend, they are that, too. I hope I can pass along not only my enthusiasm for essential oils, but also what I have learned over the years about them and their wonderful benefits to you.

I belong to several online groups for essential oils. I am always asked, What are your favorite essential oils, and why do you like them? I have given my answers much thought and often reply that my first choice for an essential oil is lavender because of its various properties, aroma, and all-around appeal. For this book, I selected twenty of my top picks based on their versatility, compatibility, and helpful properties. I wanted to select twenty oils that would give you a wide variety of benefits for all areas of your life. I didn’t want to neglect body, mind, or soul in this roster. You should have a balanced palette with these selected oils.

Several times a year I teach classes and give workshops in essential oils and aromatherapy. You may be familiar with my other book, The Healing Art of Essential Oils. That book is a culmination of thirty years working with essential oils. They have become my specialty!

Each time I begin a new class I ask the students, What do you know about essential oils? The answers range from They smell good; Not much; I’ve used them for a few months; I just got a set for my birthday and don’t know what to do with them, to What are they, anyway? At the end of the class or workshop I ask them, What do you know now that you didn’t know before you took this class? Hands go up instantly, That they are powerful; That I have to dilute them; That I should use gloves when mixing them; That there are different mixtures for different ages; You shouldn’t use them on pets. It’s always gratifying to know that the course was valuable, and I’ve sent a better-educated person out into the world of aromatherapy and essential oils.

Essential oils are perhaps the most underrated natural gifts from the earth that we can find, and they are designed especially for us. They are chemically constituted for compatibility with the human body. But you shouldn’t just pick them up and start using them without some background and guidance. There is a lot to learn about essential oils and how to use them correctly, safely, and most effectively. The goal of this book is to give you the right background for a lifetime of use and enjoyment of essential oils.

When they are extracted and processed, essential oils become stronger and very potent and can be dangerous if we don’t use them with care and caution. Parts of this book will instruct you on how to use essential oils properly and effectively by explaining the do’s and don’ts of use. This book will also introduce you to a new world of natural products; you can make your own cleaning products, cosmetics, massage oils, aromatics, aphrodisiacs, and magical formulas.

The greatest benefits of essential oils might be in the ways they keep you green. When you use essential oils, you are choosing to help keep our planet healthy. You are choosing a sustainable product that can be renewed year after year for generations to come. You are providing jobs to growers, farmers, workers, distillers, and shippers around the world. With just one little bottle of essential oil, you become part of the legacy of caring individuals who believe planetary conservation matters. Many essential oils plants are endangered, so it is important to buy from suppliers whose products are fair market and grown as sustainable crops.

Essential oils often use fragrance to entice us before using their unique properties to heal and protect us. As members of the plant kingdom, they are meant to help themselves first and then help us; much like putting on your oxygen mask first in an airplane before helping another with theirs. Essential oils are fashioned by the plant kingdom to be compatible in many ways with the human species because we have similar biology and their unique chemistry can help us improve our lives.

The very essence of a plant’s life-matter is the collection of oils and fluids that protect it from bacteria, viruses, parasites, predators, and diseases as part of the natural process of living. When extracted from the plants, these essential oils can do the same thing for humans. They are little miracle workers in a bottle.

Western medicine is a marvelous tool to diagnose what ails us. No one has perfected surgical techniques, lifesaving emergency measures, and radical transplants more than modern surgeons and specialists. The new frontier before us is to explore how essential oils can assist these wondrous measures in healing the patient without the side effects and trace evidence left behind by modern pharmaceuticals. Already, research on the effectiveness of essential oils has begun around the world. It’s going to be a fantastic day when modern medicine and ancient knowledge join hands and walk together into the future of pain management and gentler natural healing.

One by one, we will explore each little miracle in dark glass bottles and learn about their properties, benefits, applications, and how we can put them to use for our health and personal empowerment.

Each essential oil has a lot of options to offer you. Some have properties that will help with congestion, some can assist you with muscle aches, and others can lift you emotionally when you’re feeling down.

I’m looking forward to this journey and I hope you are too. In the first section, we’ll learn the basics about essential oils to offer you a fundamental knowledge of where they came from, how they are cultivated, grown, harvested, and processed. This leads directly into an explanation of the reasons why the human body reacts to and utilizes essential oils and their extraordinary healing properties.

In chapter one we will journey through the ages with our essential oils and find out how ancient cultures used them and for what purpose.

Chapter two explains what essential oils are, what part of the plant they come from, the various means of extraction and distillation, and how they work in the human body.

Chapter three covers the all-important safety guidelines, and probably some interesting things you didn’t know about essential oils. There are oils that are toxic and oils that should not be used by children or pregnant women. We’ll discuss them all so you will feel safe using essential oils in your life. I tell you how to store and dispose of your oils for optimum care and safe handling.

In chapter four we will cover the practical knowledge about carrier oils, which is laid out for you along with a description of why they are vitally important, how you can use them for added benefit, and where some of them originate. Carrier oils also have hidden purposes and you’ll learn about those along the journey.

Part 2 begins with chapters five through twenty-four, which introduce you to the profiles of twenty essential oils: bergamot, clary sage, clove, eucalyptus, frankincense, lavender, lemon, Melissa, orange, patchouli, peppermint, pine, rose, Roman chamomile, rose geranium, rosemary, sandalwood, tea tree, thyme, and ylang-ylang. I recommend starting with these essential oils. The information you will learn in these twenty chapters will provide you with a solid basis for a long and happy life using essential oils for yourself and for your family.

Part 3 begins with twenty-five and a wonderful introduction to blending essential oils and creating aromatic masterpieces.

Chapter twenty-six gives you a primer on diffusing and diffusers and how to get the best results from your airborne essential oils. I’ll also give you a list of various blends you can use for different purposes.

In chapter twenty-seven you’ll find some easy recipes for face moisturizers, wrinkle creams, summer and winter applications, and some healing creams for bites, burns, and in case you find yourself entangled in some poison ivy. You’ll love how simple they are to make, and you can use them not only for yourself, but as gifts for others, too.

I love chapter twenty-eight, a chapter for comprehensive remedies using essential oils. You’ll find them listed A–Z for your easy access.

Chapter twenty-nine addresses the emotional uses of essential oils. You’ll find an array of choices you can use to alleviate everything from a broken heart to weight control.

In chapter thirty I share some ideas for using the sacred side of essential oils for rituals and commemorating special moments and milestones in your life and those around you. Each essential oil we discuss in this book comes with metaphysical qualities, and I’ve made a list of those so you can deepen your spiritual practices using essential oils.

Once again, please allow me to welcome you to the wonderful and exciting world of essential oils. They are ancient gifts from Mother Nature reemerging into our modern world. I am confident you will have a wonderful time exploring all these exciting oils and aromas.

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part 1

Understanding the Basics

of Essential Oils

In this first section we will cover some of the fascinating history of essential oils as they made their way through the centuries into our lives. We’ll discover what essential oils are, where they come from, and why they are so compatible with the human body. You’ll learn some cautionary measures for using essential oils, and age-appropriate doses for applications on children, adults, and the elderly. Every essential oil needs to be diluted, so you’ll learn about carrier oils and what they have to offer when paired with an essential oil. It’s a fascinating look into the world of essential oils. Then, in part 2 , you’ll meet twenty individual essential oils up close and personal. And now, how it all began.

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one

History of Essential Oils

I

magine you enter a contest and win first prize. Your reward is a trip to the most luscious, exotic garden in the world. Close your eyes for a moment and imagine that you are in the middle of thousands of amazing plants and trees from around the world. There are lush, tall trees; flowering bushes; plump roses; high and low grasses; multi-colored barks; plentiful, shiny seeds; and elegant ferns in every shape and size. Some are in flower; some are dormant. As you walk around the garden, the fragrances wafting from the plants are intoxicating. You might even feel slightly light-headed because of all the perfumes competing for your attention.

One by one, you begin to identify the fragrances: some are sweet, some very floral, some hearty, earthy, spicy, pungent, sharp, and some even smell like a freshly cut Christmas tree. It’s like being in the middle of nature’s apothecary.

Now that you have officially entered the sumptuous world of essential oils, a place from which you will emerge changed for the better, please ask yourself a few questions: Why am I interested in essential oils? What do I want from them? What do I expect from them? Am I willing to learn how to use them wisely?

You already know in your heart if this is mild curiosity or if you are willing to shift your old ways of thinking and living in order to incorporate essential oils into your daily life. Be open. A few hours of painless study will open new avenues for you and your relationship with essential oils.

Essential oils can easily help you live a greener and more natural life, reduce toxic chemical waste in the world, and add a spiritual dimension to your life path. They can help heal you physically, emotionally, and, if you choose, spiritually.

Before we dive into the details of what oils are and how to use them, let’s look at how they have been used throughout history, so we can understand them a bit better before applying them for our use.

18,000 BCE

Essential oils have been around for a very long time. They are definitely not new or the latest fad. They have longevity, character, and well-earned history.

The earliest evidence of human knowledge of the healing properties of plants was found in Lascaux, located in the Dordogne region in France. Cave paintings on the walls suggest the use of medicinal plants in everyday life and have been carbon dated as far back as 18,000 BCE. The excavation reports from Lascaux show the people were familiar with the properties of eight local plants and herbs, which are still used in the region today. The plants and oils were used for both cooking and healing.

4500 BCE

Evidence has shown the Egyptians used aromatic essential oils as early as 4500 BCE. They became renowned for their knowledge of cosmetology, ointments, and aromatic oils. In fact, Cleopatra VII went a little overboard with her use of essential oils. Legend has it that she scented the sails of her ships with essential oils as well as her garments