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About Spas in Puerto Vallarta - Part 3 – Aromatherapy By The PVMirror Staff • Photos by Jesús de Avila • August 2009
Many of the treatments offered in the beauty salons and spas around the Bay of Banderas are accompanied by aromatherapy. We read about it everywhere, but what exactly is aromatherapy? When did it all start? How?...
Aromatherapy means "treatment using scents". It is a holistic treatment of caring for the body -with pleasant smelling botanical oils- that has been around for millennia, 6000 years or more. Ancient Romans, Greeks and Egyptians all used aromatherapy oils. The Egyptian physician Imhotep recommended fragrant oils for bathing and massage (it was also used to embalm the dead…) Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, used aromatic fumigations to rid Athens of the plague.
www.mind-mart.com
French chemist René Maurice Gattefosse coined the term aromatherapy for the therapeutic use of essential oils in 1930. He was fascinated by the benefits of lavender oil in healing his burned hand without leaving any scars. He started investigating the effect of other essential oils for healing and for their psychotherapeutic benefits.
During World War II, essential oils were used as antiseptics. Later, Madame Marguerite Maury elevated aromatherapy as a holistic therapy. She started prescribing essential oils as remedy for her patients. She is also credited with the modern use of essential oils in massage.
The fact that aromatherapy works best when it works on the mind and body simultaneously is one of the reasons why it is most often associated with the various massage therapies. The essential oils are massaged into the skin, inhaled directly or diffused to scent an entire room. Aromatherapy is used for the relief of pain, care for the skin, to alleviate tension and fatigue and invigorate the entire body. Essential oils can affect one’s mood, alleviate fatigue, reduce anxiety and promote relaxation. When inhaled, they work on the brain and nervous system through stimulation of the olfactory nerves.
www.naturalhealthlifesytles.com
The essential oils are aromatic essences extracted from plants, flowers, trees, fruits, bark, grasses and seeds with distinctive therapeutic, psychological, and physiological properties, which improve overall health and prevent illness. There are about 150 essential oils, most of which have antiseptic properties; some are antiviral, anti-inflammatory, pain-relieving, antidepressant and expectorant. Others can stimulate, relax, improve digestion, etc. (Synthetically-made oils do not work.)
Aromatherapy has already gotten into the mainstream. It is one of the fastest growing fields in alternative medicine, and is widely used in spas around the world – and the Bay of Banderas.
Essential oils stimulate the powerful sense of smell. It is known that odors we smell have a significant impact on how we feel. Humans can distinguish some 10,000 different smells. It is believed that smells enter through the fine hairs lining the nose to the limbic system, the part of the brain that controls our moods, emotions, memory and learning. For example, studies with brain wave frequency have shown that smelling lavender increases alpha waves (associated with relaxation), while jasmine increases beta waves, associated with a more alert state.
Each essential oil contains as much as 100 chemical components, which together exert a strong effect on the whole person. Depending on which component is predominating in an oil, the oils act differently; some are relaxing, others soothing, some relieve pain, etc. Then there are oils such as lemon and lavender, which adapt to what your body needs, and adapt to that situation (these are called "adaptogenic"). The mechanism in which these essential oils act on us is not very well understood. What is understood is that they affect our mind and emotions, and they leave no harmful residues.
A fragrance company in Japan conducted studies to determine the effects of smell on people. They have pumped different fragrances in an area where a number of keyboard entry operators were stationed and monitored the number of mistakes made as a function of the smell in the air. The results were as follows:
- When exposed to lavender oil fragrance (a relaxant), the keyboard typing errors dropped 20 percent
- When exposed to jasmine (an uplifting fragrance), the errors dropped 33 percent
- When exposed to lemon fragrance (a sharp, refreshing stimulant), the mistakes fell by a whopping 54 percent!
In Puerto Vallarta and the south coast of Riviera Nayarit, you will find myriad spas offering aromatherapy along with their other services. Go ahead, pamper yourself … you deserve it! Email to a friend
Spas Directory
• Day Spa
Cond. Club de Tenis Puesta del Sol
Local 13, Marina Vallarta
Monday to Saturday 7 am to 11 pm •
Sunday 10 am to 11 pm
Phone:221-0176 •
E-mail: cristina@smcdayspa.com
Website: www.smcdayspa.com
• Spa Arroyos Verdes
Camino Viejo al Valle No. 1099
Bucerias, Nayarit
Monday to Saturday 9 am to 6 pm
Sunday by appointment only
Phones: (329) 298-6312 & 6267
E-mail: spa@losarroyosverdes.com
Website: http://www.losarroyosverdes.com/
• Spa Body Time - Therapeutic Medical
185–A PIlitas St. & Amapas No. 147
Col. E. Zapata •
Monday to Sunday 9 am to 10pm
Phone: 222-7429 • Cell.: 322 105-1045
E-mail: bodytimespa@hotmail.com
• Spa Felipe’s - Therapeutic
183 Pilitas St. Upstairs 185-B Col. E. Zapata
Everyday 10 am to 10 pm by Appointment
Services also available in the privacy of your
home or hotel • Cell.: 322 117-2591
E-mail: felipejreyes@hotmail.com
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Each essential oil contains as much as 100 chemical components, which together exert a strong effect on the whole person. Depending on which component is predominating in an oil, the oils act differently; some are relaxing, others soothing, some relieve pain, etc. Then there are oils such as lemon and lavender, which adapt to what your body needs, and adapt to that situation (these are called "adaptogenic"). The mechanism in which these essential oils act on us is not very well understood. What is understood is that they affect our mind and emotions, and they leave no harmful residues. 