Photo Credit: www.bathdelirium.com
Everyone has their favorite scents that make them feel good. It’s been proven that breathing in scents that you like can bring peace into your life; they can also make you hungry. Who hasn’t found their mouth watering after smelling apple scented candles of some type? What about vanilla?
This isn’t the same thing as aromatherapy, although the general principles are the same. With aromatherapy, there are specific oils that are used, some of which are rubbed into the body to stimulate both your senses of touch and smell. Indeed, some essential oils can be powerful stimulants, while scents from candles aren’t quite as strong and aren’t meant to alter one’s brain chemistry.
Or are they? There are over 800 different scents that have been made into candles. Some are meant to calm people down, and they end up with names like Passion, Peace, Tranquility, etc. Some scents are meant to bring about a sense of being at home, scents such as firewood, apple pie, or even newer scents like drying laundry or cotton sheets.
The intentions may not be the same, but the results are. Those people who react positively to scents from candles feel like they are at peace with the world. Their minds clear, and they just feel a sense of well being.
There are some people who are allergic or sensitive to the scents of candles, and in those cases, its best not to even have them around. That turns out to be a small cross-section of people, as most people can easily tell you what their favorite scents are.
As far as using them for therapeutic use, many massage therapists use candles while performing their magic on their customers. They say it helps to relax their clients, especially those who need deep muscle massages to help relieve painful areas. Psychics also use scented candles, as well as some hypnotists. The usage of candles in this way is known as “aroma-chology.”
A person can decide to try their own little bit of candle therapy at home. There are two basic types of candles. They are wax and soy. Soy burns easier and the scents last longer, but candles will retain their smell longer because it takes longer for candles to completely melt down. Soy candles can also hold more scent than candles can and still burn, and using tarts instead of traditional looking candles can handle even more scent.
For a relatively inexpensive home peace treatment, scented candles are the way to go.
See more:
Aromatherapy & Essential Oils
Organic Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy: Making Dollars Out of Scents
Dr. Michael J. Murphy has been serving the East Valley communities of Mesa, Gilbert, and Chandler at 2 locations since relocating from Wisconsin in the spring of 2006. Dr. Murphy graduated Magna Cum Laude from the prestigious Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport Iowa and practiced for over 20 years in the Madison area.