Aromatherapy – Learn the All Natural Way to Relieve Stress and to Enliven Your Senses [VHS] (1998)
August 26, 2009 by admin
Filed under Aromatherapy Products
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While this video may be titled Aromatherapy, it’s as much about self-massage as it is about treating yourself with essential oils. Valerie Ann Worwood is an excellent guide to the benefits of aromatherapy–using scents to soothe and heal–for the whole family, and the sections on how to give yourself a massage are alone worth the price of this tape.
Worwood begins with the mixing of oils. The video sleeve contains a guide to which oils work for specific desired results (for instance, lemon oil is good for the body and soul, for use as a sedative, and for increasing concentration), and she mixes a few concoctions to illustrate. She then moves on to first aid, healing cuts and burns, stimulating aching feet, and helping a young child fall asleep. Next is aromatherapy in beauty regimes. The face massage is soothing, and she claims it will help release tension, increase circulation, improve texture, and revitalize the face. Scents in baths and showers follow, and then the section on stress, tension, and self-massage. The self-massage is demonstrated slowly enough that it’s easy to follow. Who needs a masseuse? With Worwood as a guide, you can calm the aching muscles of your shoulders, neck, arm, breasts, hip, back, and bottom all by your lonesome (note: there is a bit of nudity in the demonstration). She finishes the video with environmental perfuming–scenting your living space. Warning: after viewing this video you may go overboard on purchasing the oils. But at least you and your home will be pleasingly aromatized. –Jenny Brown
Ms. Worwood outdoes herself in this creative video. Being one of my favorite authors on the subject: “The Complete Book Of Essential Oils & Aromatherapy,” and “The Fragrant Mind, Aromatherapy for Personality, Mind, Mood, and Emotions,” she brings her knowledge, wisdom, and years of experience onto the video screen in this wonderful and informative production. This video is a must for beginners, and experienced alike. It is great to read about various techniques, but even more so to actually see it being demonstrated before your eyes. It would be an excellent teaching aid for the classroom, and small group preasentations.
The sections of her preasentation are at the right length that they don’t overload the viewer with too much information, and allow one to watch the video in increments if desired. I especially enjoyed the sections on “First Aid,” “Beauty,” and “Self Massage.” I was not at all offended by the brief nudity in this last section of the video, as my feeling is that it is a natural fact of life (not shameful in any respect), especially in light that this is a healing arts preasentation with techniques demonstrated in a mature, sober, but yet very enjoyable format.
Being one who uses aromatherapy in every facet of life (as a spiritual discipline) and in my profession, I value a video like this very highly, and would recomend it to anyone interested in this fun and exciting art.
This is a great video, especially for those just beginning an interest in aromatherapy. Ms. Wormwood’s voice is very pleasant to the ear and she begins by demonstrating how to blend a few esential oils. She goes on to demonstrate and discuss the various uses of essential oils – medicinal, relaxation, massage, etc. A very interesting and instructive segment is a model demonstrating a self massage using essential oils. (I never thought about giving myself a massage, so I tried it and found it to be a soothing experience). This video is educational as well as relaxing to watch. You may find yourself wanting to experiment with essential oils right away.
**Please see my update at the bottom of this review…thanks.
I am not a seasoned professional at aromatherapy but please correct me if I’m wrong on these points:
-There was literally more time spent on massaging oneself than on aromatherapy on this DVD
-Worwood recommended 30 drops of essential oil per one ounce of carrier oil for facial use. That is a high amount of essential oil for the sensitive facial skin.
-Worwood recommended peppermint as an ingredient in facial massage oil. Peppermint can burn/irritate the skin. Why would anyone put it on their face?
-She touched the carrier oil bottle against the essential oil bottle when she was mixing them. This “contanimated” the carrier oil which may have gotten a touch of essential oil in it. Why is this a big deal? Think of someone who has critical peanut allergies and you’ll get my point.
-She stated that heat is necessary to diffuse essential oil. This is wrong. There are atomizers available. Heat even destroys some of the benefits of many essential oils. Hence the “cold pressed” requirement that even she states.
I was pretty disappointed with this video. I would not recommend it to anyone.
***UPDATE
I underestimated the value of the self-massage section of this DVD. Every one of my clients want’s more massage than they can afford. Getting them to do self-massage is a great way to help them maintain the benefits of my work in between visits. As a self-massage video, this DVD is valuable. As an aromatherapy DVD, it is not valuable.