Aromatherapy is a wonderful enhancement to your massage. I have given more aromatherapy massage than I have received but I always feel that the receiver is missing out a little bit. So today I’ll share my suggestion on how to enjoy your aromatherapy massage little bit more if you like.
First of all the aromatherapy works in two ways – one from the scent that works on the olfactory system or the sense of smell, which is decoded in the limbic system of your brain right away. The limbic system handles emotional and psychological elements and it will make you feel relaxed, uplifted or refreshed depending on the scent.
The other way is by absorbing the essential oils from your skin. The essential oils then get into the bloodstream and travels throughout your body.
Usually the therapist will have you smell the scent under the face cradle through the hole and have you take several deep breaths before the massage and maybe again after they turn you over to face up. Of course some therapists will start you face up and turn you over to face down later. During the massage however you cannot really smell the scent unless there is a diffuser in the room constantly producing the aroma.
As a client I feel like I’m missing out on the scent during the “aromatherapy” massage and as a practitioner I feel like I’m getting the benefits because I constantly smell the scent while I work on my client.
So this is my suggestion and what I do. If the place offers aromatherapy and if you want to constantly enjoy the aroma, ask the therapist if they can have the scent on the face cradle cover or put it on a small towel or tissue and place it where you can smell during the treatment.
If the place doesn’t offer aromatherapy ask the therapist if it’s ok to bring your own favorite scent and do the same. Make sure you ask beforehand because aromatherapy may not be offered because the therapist is allergic to the smell. Don’t ever start spraying the room or insist that the therapist use your aroma lotion.
By the way I once had a small towel soaked in a mix of essential oils including peppermint. And I placed it by my chin on the face cradle so I could smell it during the treatment. The massage was done using unscented lotion but within about 20 minutes I was shivering because of the cooling effect of the peppermint oil. So be careful what oil you use.
As I mentioned the essential oil gets absorbed into your system so you want to use good quality product. How I determine if it’s good is by smelling it and if it opens the airways then it’s good for me because chemically loaded products don’t have that effect on me.