Sandalwood Essential Oil: A Great Aroma With Science Proven Benefits

Sandalwood is both a classic scent and a classic medicine. Used as an aromatic for over 4000 years, and as a medicine in the Ayurvedic system for perhaps a millennium, the wood itself has been greatly valued by mankind. The essential oil, while only becoming popular in the last hundred years, is a truly classic scent, with important science-proven therapeutic medicinal applications. Whether it be for the body or mind, sandalwood oil can offer effective support. Here’s a look at the therapeutic applications of this treasured oil, and how you too might benefit from its medicinal magic.

The exotic oil comes from the heartwood of trees native to certain tropical regions of the world. Curiously, the sandalwood tree is only found growing on, or intertwined with, other trees; it’s considered, in fact, a parasite. Further, the trees are quite slow growing, and demand a certain amount of age before being mature enough to distill a significant volume of high-quality oil. This makes for a unique challenge in growing the wood and distilling the precious essential oil.

The very finest oil, certainly aromatically — and some people believe therapeutically as well — is distilled from the Santalum album species native to India. The essential oil has become so highly valued that over-harvesting of the trees has made a significant impact in deforestation in certain regions. So much so that the government of India made it a law that they now own all the sandalwood trees in the country! This, of course, is meant to prevent poaching of the trees, as clearly the offense is rather serious stealing the valuable resource from the government. Thankfully, there are plantations of this same species of tree underway, and other sources of very fine sandalwood oils that are now close in rivaling the quality of the Indian material.

What could it be about this essential oil that makes it so highly coveted? For starters, the wood has been pulverized and made into a paste used on the skin for centuries in India — both for ritual and medicinal activities. It turns out that, under laboratory research, the essential oil significantly reduces the development for skin cancer significantly when applied to skin before exposure to ultraviolet rays. Further, it also prevented cancers from developing from contact with carcinogenic chemicals — a very interesting therapeutic activity indeed.

Researchers at South Dakota State University, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, noted “alpha-santalol, a major component of sandalwood oil, is effective in preventing skin cancer in…UVB-induced skin cancer development.” Researchers at the University of Colorado, Denver, noted that the oil caused apoptosis (normal cell death) of cells that were on their way to becoming cancerous. Clearly the essential oil makes an important therapeutic contribution to skin care formulations for those spending a lot of time in the sun.

The original allure of the tree and its oil was its fantastic aroma. Clearly early on, people recognized there was something different about it: the oil is unique for its ability to both stimulate and calm at the same time. These effects have been the subject of research, finding that the oil managed to both heighten senses and bring about a aura of calm — a perfect combination of course for the meditative purposes for which the oil is frequently employed. Just a drop or two on the wrists or forehead is an excellent way to enjoy sandalwood’s mind-centering effects.

Interestingly, while the oil heightens awareness, it actually supports deeper, more restful sleep. Research on the inhalation of the aroma showed that study participants usually challenged to get a good rest spent much less time awake, and the total time spent in “rapid eye movement” sleep was also increased. The affect was attributed to the oil’s action in the bloodstream after inhalation, not on the sensing of the aroma. So a gentle massage with the oil may be just as effective as using a diffuser for improved sleep with the oil.

This is just a brief look at some wonderful therapeutic actions available using sandalwood. Its skin care properties go far beyond sun protection; these include care for dry skin, mature skin and acne-prone skin as well. The oil is very safe, and well-tolerated by nearly everyone. When you find yourself looking for a source of sandalwood, you’ll find several varieties available. Research has shown them to be fairly equivalent in many respects therapeutically — for skin care, the lower-cost Australian is an excellent choice. For aromatic uses, find one that you enjoy the most! And know that a little goes a long way — start with a small amount, and enjoy its subtle, uplifting nature.

The Seven Chakra Points Of Energy

With every day passing we are able to discover unknown facts that have supported the existence of homo-sapiens on this planet and have helped them pass through the test of time and reach the point where they have been able to create a civilization. Of these unexplored aspects that is not completely known by us is the impact of the cosmic energy on the lifestyle and the actions of human body. It is believed that seven chakras in our body participate in exchanging energy and hence control a lot of human activities and behaviour.

Generally, the energy we refer to is the ability to perform physical tasks due to the strength we get from food but our body demands much more than that, we also receive a lot of inner energy that is necessary for us to develop resistance against tough situations and to take decisions, this inner energy is the resultant of the positive energy that the seven chakras receive from the various planets and satellites.

The exact purpose and functions of these seven chakras are not entirely defined though there has been a good amount of knowledge that we possess about them. A strong belief suggests that it is the way that you feel that generates the kind of results, in case you are not confident about a particular task and feel very low before even trying you would come back with a negative result only where in if you have always been positive you end up getting the desired results and these things are important even when things are least/most likely to happen.

Each chakra plays its part in controlling and regulating a particular organ or habit that we possess, also the level of impact the chakras would have on their specified body part or behaviour would be different from each other.

The seven chakras that have a huge impact on our existence and on our actions can be further explained in details as follows.

The first chakra that lies towards the end of the spine is known as the root chakra, its impact is clearly visible on the character of the person, while the chakra has positive energy it develops the characteristics of strong will and determination. This chakra helps to control the organs in the lower abdomen, especially the intestine and other organs.

Above the root chakra is the genital chakra, it assists the human attempts to avoid greed, lust and other things that are referred as worldly pleasures as well as helps you to get out of narrow mindedness. If the chakra is inclined towards the wrong end then cruelty and ignorance are features that develop.

The third chakra is the Umbilical chakra, it helps a person to remain calm and stable mentally as well as helps bring out apt responsiveness to any kind of a situation that he/she faces. In case of this chakra imposing negativity the persons behaviour is not stable as he develops feelings of embarrassment and other unstable actions come along. The organs that this chakra regulates include the stomach and other organs which help in digestion.

The fourth chakra is heart chakra, an individuals aspirations, desires, likes , love etc are controlled by this chakra. On a positive side it imparts love and harmony whereas when the chakra is filled with negative energy it makes the person rude and stubborn. The chakra governs the cardiac organs of the human body.

The fifth chakra is the throat chakra, it has an impact on the functions of the vocal chords we possess. It is also said to have an impact on the language we speak, a negative throat chakra could mean the use of a lot of foul language. The chakra controls important organs like the mouth, neck and lungs.

The next is the third eye chakra. You tend to develop impressions and make perceptions due to the chakra referred as the third eye chakra and it is very important for a person!

The last chakra is called the crown chakra and it deals with taking ones own self to the divine path and reaching a stage of enlightenment.