Aromatherapy Newsletter Archives

If there is overflow from the above classes then Dr. Power will offer one or more additional classes in Atlanta or Asheville or possibly Chattanooga in late summer / early fall.

Locations:
     Atlanta GA: At hotel meeting room near junction of I-285 and Hwy 400 in north Atlanta.
     Asheville NC: At Dr. Power's 50+ acre organic farm just outside Asheville.

Cost for each two-day workshop is $345.00 Early / $395.00 Late (less than 30 days prior)

Level IV is a practicum and classes are not required.

Foundations of Aromatherapy for Healing Arts Practitioners - 15 CE hours

• History of Aromatherapy from Ancient to Modern Times
• Current Status of Aromatherapy as a Professional Practice
• Appropriate Roles and Uses of Aromatherapy as a Complimentary Modality in Healthcare Setting / Staying within Your Legal Scope of Practice when using Essential Oils
• Definitions and Characteristics of Essential Oils and their roles in the Life Processes of Plants / Basics of Essential Oil Chemistry / How Essential Oils are Extracted
• How to Evaluate the Quality of Essential Oils and Why it Matters
• How Essential Oils Enter the Body and React with the Body's Physiology
• Oral Adminsitration and the Role of First-pass Liver Metabolism (for discussion only); oral use is not taught in the course and should not be used by allied health professionals
• Inhalation (extensive discussion of the olfactory system and its connections with the endocrine and immune systems, as well as the effects of inhaled substances on memory and emotional functioning through olfactory connections with the brain's limbic system)
• Topical Application; how avoidance of first-pass liver metabolism affects the delivery of essential oils to organs and tissues of the body
• Methods of Use / Proper Dilution / Safety Issues and Contraindications / How to select a method of use
• In vegetable oils applied to the skin ("spot" application and full body massage)
• Compresses
• Sitz baths / hand and foot soaks
• Baths
• Inhalation and the different methods of presenting essential oils for inhalation
• In-depth profiles of 12 essential oils (2 chamomiles count as 1) including
• Discussion of how to use Latin names to insure proper identification of a plant and its oil
• Actions of each oil
• The common uses of each oil in healthcare settings;
• Specific safety data and contraindication for each oil

Essential oils covered in Level I:

Chamomile (both Roman and Blue) | Clary Sage | Eucalyptus | Geranium | Lavender | Lemon | Orange, Sweet | Peppermint | Rose | Rosemary | Tea Tree | Ylang Ylang

BOTANICAL NAME: Achillea millefolium

FAMILY: Compositae (Asteraceae)

FOLK NAMES: milfoil, thousand leaf, soldier's woundwort, staunchwort, blood wort, Devil's plaything, Margaret's herb, and many others

DESCRIPTION/HABITAT: The herb we know as yarrow is one member of a genus containing over 85 species. It is now naturalized in most temperate zones but is native to Eurasia. However, there is a closely related and essentially identical native species on the North American continent, Achillea lanulosa, which can only be differentiated by chromosomal examination (1). In either case, it is an aromatic, hardy, rhizomatous perennial herb with one to several stems reaching up to about three feet in height. The leaves are very finely dissected, with a feathery, lacy appearance giving rise to the plant's folk name "thousand leaf". They bear several dense, generally white and occasionally pinkish white composite flower heads. Depending on location, flowering generally occurs between May and September and as the flowers rise and bloom, the leaves shrink back and become small. Many cultivars of A. millefolium having larger, more colorful flowers are grown as garden ornamentals but don't have the medicinal potency of the wild growing plant.

Generally, Achillea is said to enjoy well drained soil and full sun. However, in the Southern Appalachians where I live it can be found happily growing wild in the partially shaded edge zones at the border of the forest and even in the dense, poorly drained clay soils of abandoned lots, waysides, and people's yards.

Today, yarrow is widely grown commercially for dried herb and, mostly in Eastern Europe, for essential oil production.

HISTORY: Yarrow is an herb with an ancient and rich history. Fossilized yarrow pollen has been found in a Neanderthal burial that is 60,000 years old (2). Together with other medicinal plants in bloom, the yarrow was apparently laid around the head of an elderly Neanderthal male who died of natural causes.(Note: some archeologists now dispute that the plants were intentionally palced and argue that rodents may have carried the pollen into the burial). Did these ancient hominids know the medicinal powers of this plant? We can only speculate as to the significance of these findings but,........ (continued on Aromatherapy School website)