If I've had a particularly stressful day, I like to turn on a warm bath in the jet tub and dump in a handful of aromatherapy salts to help me to escape into relaxation. Lavender is my all time favorite, and is used in lots of different products like bath salts, bath oil, shower gel, body scrub, lotion, and body spray. There are lots of unique refreshing or relaxing aromatic scents to choose from; just try a different one each time and experience all of them!

Bath and Body Works and other such stores and websites have a great selection of aromatherapy gifts that are conveniently packaged in practical gift sets and baskets. You can visit your local store, or you can shop online. You can mix and match your own gift basket for an added personal touch, or select from one of the many aromatherapy gifts that are packaged attractively and affordably priced.

Even if you are not sure what the person's personal fragrance preferences are, think about what type of person they are, what type of life style they have, etc. There are aromatherapy gifts for every individual need and pleasure. There's not one woman I know who doesn't enjoy a little pampering every now and then, and they may not always take the time or spend the money to do it. If you make the selection, all they have to do is enjoy it.

Even if you are selecting a gift for a seasoned veteran who is knowledgeable in the ways of aromatherapy, you can select an aromatherapy gift or new fragrance or product that they have yet to try. And while you're at it, why don't you pick something out for yourself too? You deserve it, you know you do.

If you choose to shop online, check out the retail sites that specialize in aromatherapy gifts, essential oils, burners, candles, bath and spa treatments, and aromatherapy accessories. Information is provided regarding what types of properties certain herbs have, and what works best for specific needs, such as stress reduction, promoting sleep, increasing energy levels, or just making you feel better.

Many sites offer express shipping to the recipient of your aromatherapy gift selection, and include a personal message from you. They won't be disappointed, and they'll be thinking of you as they reap the benefits of aromatherapy because of your great taste in gifts.

Author: Amy Wallermen - Looking to find the best deal on Aromatherapy Gifts, then visit www.traderblock.com to get advice.

While it is through their beautiful, natural and often evocative aromas that flowers may first come to mind for alternative drug free therapies - aromatherapy - the wide range of natural colours of flowers can also be used.

Far from being a new concept, colour therapy has been employed for many years by respected practitioners of holistic techniques. Particularly useful in the treatment of stress and anxiety, colours always work to stimulate the senses, and put us in a calming and relaxing place.

Certain colours can also be used to energise and invigorate too. This can be excellent treatment for those suffering with depression, when facing a new day becomes a struggle. Having certain colours around us can also help to motivate, and increases mental activity to help us focus our thought processes.

Surprisingly though, the colour itself is not always important, but more how we as individuals react to certain colours; whether they provoke cherished memories or take us off, far away from the stresses and strains of modern day life.

While somewhat of a generalisation, bright colours seem able to lift spirits and can invigorate if used effectively. Oranges, yellows and reds have been mentioned in this vein. However, this is not to say this will be the effect for everyone of course. Relaxing colours are generally more muted, but again, this is something that varies from person to person.

Working with the colours and smells from flowers together can be excellent alternative drug free therapies ... aromatherapy treatments, with the smells also being able to relax and take us off somewhere far, far away.

Increasingly, florists are starting to realize this, and take things one step further to really help us get the most from them. It is now possible to buy especially created aromatherapy kits, which come complete with essential oils and other luxurious relaxation goodies to really pamper. Whatever your favourite colour, smell or flower type, there is sure be something available that you will fall in love with.

They can make wonderful gifts of course; particularly if you are a little stuck over what to buy a particular person.

When looking at gifts for Christmas, they are certainly something worth considering.

A company that is really exploring the benefits of therapy using flowers, and are specially designing aromatherapy packs using their sources in the auction houses and suppliers in Holland, is Mode Flowers.

With a nice and straight forward website, placing an order could not be simpler, and with their market leading rates for purchases of all types of flowers, they are sure to have something to please you. Alternative drug free therapies ... aromatherapy is something everybody is interested in these days, it is only natural that flowers should be used such are there natural benefits.

Author Adam Fowler's team at ModeFlowers.com is dedicated to providing service of the highest quality to all their customers.

No one wants a dirty home so why not use items provided by nature to clean it. Unlike store bought chemicals that can be harsh and toxic, nature provides your cleaning supplies without a negative effect on your health.

The natural cleaning supplies furnished by nature are pine oil, lemon oil, grapefruit oil, tea tree oil, frankincense oil and lavender oil. Give these oils a try instead.

Take the lavender oil, pine oil or grapefruit oil and add it to a spray bottle that has water in it. You now have an air freshener that eliminates odors, from smoking or pets, and covers them up.

Getting rid of germs is the purpose of cleaning your house. Do not purchase your disinfectants, instead make your own. Pine oil, tea tree oil and frankincense are excellent disinfectants. Simply add the oil to a spray bottle of water along with some borax or baking soda. Clean your kitchen and bathrooms with this combination.

For this next use, you will need to add more oil to the water than you would if you were using a spray bottle. Use lemon oil to shampoo your carpets instead of carpet shampoo. Chances are, you will get the same if not better results with this mixture.

The brain's pleasure center, limbic system, is connected directly to you sense of smell. Scents affect us in certain ways because this area of the brain controls sensory experiences, hunger, sex drive, emotions and memories.

To create a more stress free environment, try frankincense, lavender or rose oil.

Lavender oil can help get rid of headaches, ease depression and help you relax.

Rose oil is also a mood elevator and has a light floral scent.

To create a more relaxed and peaceful surrounding, frankincense is what you need.

Creating a mood with aromatherapy oils will stimulate your lover's sensual side, alleviating any tension.

Whether it is brings back memories or is used to smell good, colognes, lotions and perfumes are used by people all the time. It is sometimes used as a means to attract a mate.

It has been noted in the Kama Sutra that ginger, with its warmer, spicy smell acts as an aphrodisiac. However, it is not the strongest aphrodisiac available. Argarwood is the strongest but rose, sandalwood and patchouli are also known to have the same effects.

After marrying, Indonesian couples will spread the ylang ylang flower on their bed. This flower provides a sedative and euphoric effect on the nervous system.

For increased stamina and arousing the libido, try yohimbe oil. It is also used to enhance performance issues in the bedroom.

To make sure you both enjoy the experience, choose a fragrance that both of you like. Deciding which oil to use and how to use it is equally important. Whether you decide to have fun with it and heat it up, give a massage or be creative is up to you.

Author: Adam Fowler - For a wide variety of flowers to choose from for the perfect gift, visit Adam Fowler's Online Florist at ModeFlowers.com!

What Is An Essential Oil?

For the uninitiated, essential oils are the volatile aromatic compounds distilled from plants. In this way, they just happen to be a particular form of herbal medicine, just any other medicinal plant extract. At the same time, they're quite unique in terms of their health effects:

• Firstly, they are easily absorbed by our bodies, getting into the nooks-and-crannies of our physiology -- some other forms of herbal medicine are difficult to absorb, and require extensive preparation, which is really already done by the person who has distilled the essential oil.
  
  
• Second, in terms of infectious illness, essential oils can do for us EXACTLY the same thing they do for plants: prevent infection from bacteria, viruses and fungus. An excellent analogy would be extracting particular antioxidants from a plant and ingesting this for capturing oxidative radicals in our bodies -- the antioxidant serves precisely the same function for the plant.
  
  

Scientific Research: Antimicrobial & Immune-stimulant Actions of Essential Oils

For the treatment and prevention of infectious illness, essential oils are used for two purposes: the general strengthening of the immune system and the direct eradication of viruses. A great many peer-reviewed research papers have been produced showing the efficacy of essential oils for both purposes. Using the database of the National Institute of Health (www.pubmed.gov) one can review the data by searching for terms such as "'essential oil virus" (currently producing 93 results) or "essential oil immune" (producing 143 results) and the like.

Essential oils have been shown to actually increase the power of lymphocytes and increase the speed at which the immune system produces antibodies to eliminate an infection. And of course many essential oils are highly-regarded antibacterial agents (we all know about Tea Tree and Oregano), and a few of them have been shown to destroy viruses directly (Laurus Nobilis was shown to eradicate the virus causing SARS, and very recently Tea Tree was shown to be effective against the Swine Flu virus).

Cold and Flu Prevention At Home and In The Workplace

So how can you employ essential oils for the health of your family and children? Or for those in clinical settings, how can oils be used to prevent the spread of infection? There are two primary features to the oils that you'll want to utilize: their direct eradication of microbes in the air, and their ability to support our immune systems to prevent infection within our bodies.

There are two methods of using essential oils for these purposes: Diffusion and topical application. Both these methods are also useful if one has already caught a cold or flu, particularly in the early stages.

Diffusing Essential Oils: Aromatherapist's Favorite Immune Supporting Method

Diffusing essential oils into your environment provides three primary benefits:

1. First, the oils are directly eliminating microbes in the air, thus reducing the concentration of live pathogens you may be inhaling or touching at any time and reducing the load on your immune system.
   
   
2. Second, most essential oils, and particularly the strong anti-microbial ones, have an uplifting effect on the psyche. Many practitioners consider the mind-body link crucial to overall health, and specifically to an effective immune system.
   
   
3. Finally, inhalation of essential oils is thought by aroma-therapy professionals to be THE most effective means of bolstering immune system function. Because the respiratory system is often the route of infection, inhalation is the best means to implement the cellular changes essential oils can create (one result of essential oil contact is a change in the electrical potential of cell walls, making it more difficult for pathogens to get inside the cells).
   
   

Choosing the Best Diffuser Style

For disinfecting the air in any enclosed space, you'll want to use a "nebulizing" diffuser -- one that makes a fine mist of essential oils that easily evaporates. There are two styles of nebulizing diffuser: "cold air" and "ultrasonic". The cold air units make a mist of pure essential oil, while the ultrasonic units mix oils with water. The cold air units will output the highest concentration of oils of any diffuser type; though the ultrasonic units are nice for very try conditions.

Be sure to set up your diffuser with a timer system, so the diffuser only cycles on for a few minutes every hour -- there's no need to over-saturate the air. Most therapeutic protocols recommend diffusing the oils for about 7 minutes for every hour; this can be done continually throughout the day and night. Remember that for children, you'll want to keep the oil concentration to a minimum -- perhaps just enough oil in the air so the scent can just be detected.

Topical Application: Easily Absorbing the Essential Oils

Because essential oils pass readily through human tissue, topical application is also particularly effective. For this purpose, the essential oils are diluted in another oil like Sweet Almond, Jojoba, or Coconut (virgin Coconut oil is fast becoming popular for this particular therapeutic purpose, as it is considered to have antimicrobial actions even by itself -- just warm until liquid to mix with essential oils).

A 5% dilution of essential oils in the "carrier oil" is common for adults (this is 40 drops total essential oils per fluid ounce of carrier -- we'll look at some recipes in a moment). Use up to a 10% dilution if applying to the feet.

For children, use only a 1-3% dilution (the lower dilutions for the younger ones). Do not use essential oils with infants unless you're guided by a professional.

A simple aroma-therapy bath can be had just by adding a tablespoon of your formula to a bath once its already drawn, swirling the oils into the water. A deep soak while the pores and sinuses are open is a time-honored treatment method.

Simple Aroma-Therapeutic Massage

Simple massage can be performed one or two times daily to the most receptive areas of the body. The feet are reputed to be highly receptive for all aroma-therapeutic treatments, including immune-support. Simply massage both feet thoroughly with the mixture; if you have access to a reflexology chart, you can focus extra attention to the respiratory and lymph systems.

Of course, these are the important areas of the body to massage directly as well: the chest, the neck, the armpits, and being careful about sensitivity (dilute further if necessary) the sinuses and temples, and the groin area.

Antimicrobial and Immune-stimulant Recipes

The list of antimicrobial and immune-supportive oils is lengthy; here we'll narrow it down as much as possible to those that are also highly regarded as specifically antiviral as well.

• Melissa -- also called "lemon balm" may be the most versatile, all-around immune-supportive essential oil. It is well-known to make cells resistant to viral infection, and its aroma is one that has statistically significant antidepressant properties. It is thought to potentate the effects of other oils, and because of its very high potency, can be used in very small percentages in relation to other oils.
  
  
• Tea Tree is the most widely studied of the antibacterial and antiviral oils, and the only essential oil thus far shown to specifically eradicate H1N1 influenza.
  
  
• Bay Laurel -- or "laurus nobilis" has been shown to have direct action against against a highly infectious virus causing severe respiratory ailments.
  
  
• Narrow-leaf Eucalyptus has both antiviral and proven immune-modulating actions.
  
  
• There are several other important oils worth mentioning: Lavender (great for children), Hyssop, Thyme, and Rosemary Verbenone.
  
  

Taking into account both the scientific research AND the safety of oils for use with all-ages, Bay Laurel, Eucalyptus Radiata, Tea Tree and Lavender may be the most effective, safe, and affordable oils available. These oils generally have pleasant aromas and are readily available. (Note: Tea Tree MUST be from a fresh, high quality source for a pleasing scent -- otherwise its aroma can be so medicinal that you, and particularly your children, will avoid using it. If the aroma is not to your liking, try Rosalina, another highly-regarded antimicrobial Australian oil with a more pleasant scent).

For diffuser use, try equal parts of these oils. For topical application, use 10 drops of each oil in Coconut oil (you can double the concentration for application to the feet) -- this same mixture can be added to the bath.

Again, for children, reduce the concentration appropriately for their age, and for diffuser use, there should only be enough aroma in the air so the scent can JUST be detected and no more.

Essential Oils: Simple Treatments for Maximum Health

During the cold seasons, these simple uses of essential oils can have profound results for your immune system, and the health of your friends, co-workers, clients, family and children. You can be confident of the scientifically-supported benefits of these wonderful herbal medicines. And as oils have so many positive health effects outside of just supporting immune system function, you'll open the door to a new realm of natural health.

Author: Nancy Bluestone - Flower essences can help nourish adults, children, and animals. Learn more about how you and your loved ones can benefit from flowers.

Thyme

The thyme essential oil is obtained from the flowering tops by steam distillation. It stimulates white blood cell production, having an almost antibiotic effect on infections.

Thyme essential oil is helpful for:

• Colds and Flu: Inhale or blend with carrier oil and use to massage the chest, neck and head. This oil can help protect other in the family from the virus. Use in a vaporizer or burner.
  
  
• Muscle fatigue: Add six drops to your bath.
  
  
• Arthritis: Add to your bath, or use in carrier oil to rub the affected area, or make a hot compress.
  
  
• Sore throat, tonsillitis: Use in a gargle, two drops of in a glass of water, or mix in carrier oil and apply to the chest and throat.
  
  
• Whooping cough: Inhale, or mix into carrier oil and rub the chest regularly.
  
  

Vetivert

The vertivert oil is obtained from the root by distillation. It is popular in the perfume industry and has a long-lasting woody fragrance, often popular with men. In the east it is known as the oil of tranquility and is often used for meditation.

Vertivert essential oil is helpful for:

• Hysteria: Blend in carrier oil and massage the solar plexus or inhale.
  
  
• Stress: Use in a burner or in the bath
  
  
• Stiff neck: Use in carrier oil and massage the shoulders and neck.
  
  
• Tired, aching legs: Use in carrier oil for massage.
  
  

Verbena

This oil is probably better known as lemon grass. It is a fragrant grass which grows in India, and the oil is obtained by distillation.

Verbena essential oil is helpful for:

• Acne, spotty skin: Use in carrier oil (wheat germ is good for its healing properties) to massage, or dilute 5 drops in water and used to wipe the skin after cleansing.
  
  
• Digestive problems e.g. colitis: Use in carrier oil to massage the abdomen at regular interval.
  
  
• Irritability, tension: Add to your bath, inhale or use in carrier oil on the shoulders and neck.
  
  
• Poor muscle tone: Improves elasticity. Use in carrier oil for massage or in the bath.
  
  

Author: Nick Mutt - Discover natural Home remedies for common diseases. Also read the benefits of Triphala for curing constipation.