Throughout the year I have friends, family, and students ask me what they can do for their loved ones or themselves to either help prevent them from getting sick, or help them reduce their symptoms and fight off infection. In late September my partner Heather and I journey up the mountain behind our house and harvest baskets full of elderberries for elderberry syrup, which we distribute to all of our loved ones and close friends.
A daily spoonful of this potent immunity-boosting syrup, in addition to different herbal teas and bone broth throughout the cold months help us to keep our immune systems strong. In addition to ingesting medicines and foods to build immunity against sickness, we also bring our medicine into the air we breathe on a daily basis with the help of natural incense and essential oils.
The ancient technology of incense and aromatic medicine has been utilized for thousands of years to aid a very wide variety of imbalances, illnesses, and disease; including colds, flu, and congestion in the respiratory tract and sinuses. Not only does burning incense or diffusing essential oils into the atmosphere in your home kill bacteria and viruses in the air, it also helps to clear out the sinuses, reduce phlegm, open the lungs and chest, and make it much easier to breathe.
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Also, when inhaled into the lungs, aromatic components penetrate deep into our tissues and make their way into the bloodstream. Depending on which plants you choose to use, whether they have anti-bacterial, anti-viral, or anti-inflammatory properties, they can even lend a hand killing infections in the lungs and throughout the body; helping you on the road to faster recovery.
In this video I address different methods of application that can be utilized during cold and flu season such as all-natural incense, essential oil diffusing, herbal baths, and herbal steam inhalation. I also offer a list of my favorite incense and aromatic plants that can be used to alleviate many symptoms associated with colds and flu, or be used as preventative aromatic medicine. The airways of our body have their own modality of medicine that most people neglect to take advantage of. By choosing to use aromatic medicine for healing purposes, we're addressing a whole other aspect of our being.
Article & Video by Evan Sylliaasen
Evan Sylliaasen is the founder of the Northwest School of Aromatic Medicine and Higher Mind Incense. For the past decade his incense company has been a leader in sustainability and conscious sourcing of aromatic plants. As the head instructor of his online school, he teaches aromatherapists, incense lovers, herbalists, and spiritually-minded folks the traditional art of incense crafting, incense as medicine, and the art of wild-harvesting aromatic plants responsibly.
Evan lives with his family in the foothills of the Olympic Mountains of Washington state. He channels his creative passions through writing, photography, wood working, craftsman building, and music. When he’s not working, he’s out in the garden, forest and fields, walking along rivers, beaches, or in the mountains breathing deeply.
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*The statements above have not been evaluated by the FDA, and are for educational purposes only. This article is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. This article should not be taken as medical advice. Please consult your physician before you use this information for health purposes.
