When oils are inhaled, micro-molecules of essential oils travel through nasal passages to limbic system of brain which is seat of memory and emotion.

The breathing in of essential oils is thought to trigger memories and emotions within limbic system, which in turn stimulates a response within entire system.

With memory comes instant recall of associated emotion - pleasure, happiness, laughter, affection or perhaps sadness, pain, grief.

For this reason, it is important to always heed emotional responses to aroma of essential oils you intend to use. If scent is in any way repellent, then it is wise to adjust your choice of oils for your blend. The subconscious, emotional responses are telling you something of vital importance and you would be wise to listen. Otherwise, you severely curtail degree of benefit given.

Smell takes a direct, physical route to brain because they employ nerve cells as transmitters and receivers. Odours travel directly through olfactory system in nose and front part of head into limbic area of brain which processes smell.

Another important concept to consider is that we all should be actively involved in maintaining our health. It is an ongoing process and we must always be increasing our commitment to it. Most people take good health for granted - something we are given and don't have to take care of. This is a ridiculous notion, but it is convenient. By turning a blind eye to our health we have more time for supposedly important things like making lots of money.

That money of course is worthless if we don't have good health to enjoy it. It is very convenient to hand our wealth over to somebody else with demand "you fix me". This is further acknowledgement that we don't want to be responsible about our own health and this further perpetuates fantasy of "mystery illness" - germs that strike you down at random.

The Bible has an interesting comment on this. It states that "the curse causeless, shall not come". Simply put, this means that no disease happens by accident. So, sooner we accept responsibility for our health and get on with "healing ourselves", sooner we will be able to help others with their own healing process.

At present orthodox medicine is based on an entirely incorrect premise - that illness and disease are separate from you, and that you have no control over these misfortunes. This does not recognise role of body's immune system and powerful self-regenerating capacity of body. Fortunately, this incorrect thinking is changing. Similarly popular view of health and illness is that you are either one or other. That is you are either sick or you are well.

The fact is that we are all in varying stages of wellness or unwellness, depending on which way you look at it. Illness is last stage of problem. You have already ignored early warning signals of tiredness, falling energy, mental confusion, irritability, indigestion ... whatever.

You haven't been looking after yourself and your body was unable to defend itself against an invader. Or your body has been allowed to slip into a chronic degenerative state. At this point, there is little use in trying to attack invader. Your state of illness is a sign that your body is run down and not coping. It is virtually waving a red flag and saying "Please look at me, I'm not coping".

The run down state is CAUSE of problem, and disease is EFFECT.

If you only treat effect, problem will occur again either in this form or another. You have to identify problem and provide body with right conditions for it to get on with its own defence and healing.

Consider what takes place if you break your leg. A doctor sets it and it heals. But who does healing? Not doctor. But he did provide body with right conditions for it to heal itself. If you were also provided with good food and appropriate additional nutrients, task of healing would have been completed even more quickly and efficiently.

You would have provided optimal conditions to rebuild break. These points are fundamental to natural healing philosophy. Indeed, this is only true healing.

Wholeness

Health can be defined as "wholeness". This means living fully and rhythmically with every part of our being. In ancient times this concept of wholeness was called "holiness", and it is real root meaning of word.

Anyone who lives in only part of his or her being becomes unwhole or unholy : in short unhealthy. The more we are out of resonance with nature, more we suffer disease and pain.