According to Maharishi Ayurveda, the key to our health lies in the three doshas Vata, Pitta and Kapha. If they are in their natural, individual balance, we feel well, powerful and are in good health*. If, on the other hand, the doshas become imbalanced, Maharishi Ayurveda knows various therapies to balance them.

Some of these therapies directly use our five senses, for example music and sound therapy (sense of hearing), massages and Abhyanga (sense of touch), colour and light therapy (sense of sight) or Ayurvedic nutrition (sense of taste). According to Ayurveda, we can also balance the doshas through the sense of smell. With the incredible energy of scents.

Why do scents have such a strong effect on us?

Did you know that the sense of smell is one of the oldest senses in the evolutionary history of vertebrates? We smell with every breath we take. There are about 10 million olfactory cells in our olfactory mucosa!

When we enter a room for the first time or meet an unknown person, it is usually the sense of smell that creates the first impression. Quite unconsciously, many people say: "I can't smell him/her". Our memory, our emotions, are also closely linked to scents and smells. A smell can suddenly take us back to a long ago and long forgotten situation in which we first perceived it.

When we see, hear, feel and taste, the impressions must first be processed and evaluated in the cerebral cortex of the brain. Fragrances, on the other hand, reach the limbic system of the brain directly via the so-called olfactory bulb, which also influences the control of emotions, memory and drive. So before we consciously perceive a scent, it has already touched us on an unconscious level. The limbic system in the brain is also responsible for the release of endorphins, the body's own "happiness hormones". Therefore, fragrances can release these messengers and evoke feelings of relaxation, well-being and happiness.

How does Ayurveda use the power of scents?

In Ayurveda, a variety of substances are used as aromatic substances. Essential oils, the essences, also called "life force" or "soul" of plants, are present in the flowers, fruits, leaves, woods, seeds, roots or barks of plants. Each fragrance has its own effect on the doshas. For Maharishi Ayurveda, experienced Vaidyas (Ayurvedic scholars) have composed exclusive combinations of fragrances based on the authentic texts, which can be used comfortably and effectively.

Sweet, heavy and sour aromas are used for a Vata aroma oil such as orange, geranium, basil, among others. They can help calm an elevated Vata dosha.

The Pitta dosha is soothed by cooling, sweet aromas such as sandalwood, ylang-ylang and lavender. This is why the Pitta aroma oil is particularly suitable for irritable moods and hot summer days. Our Pitta aroma oil consists to a large extent of particularly precious sandalwood oil of high and rare quality (Santalum Album).

The Kapha type is stimulated by spicy, hot, bitter and warming scents such as rosemary, eucalyptus, camphor and incense. Kapha aroma oil is therefore especially recommended in spring and for people with Kapha dominance.

Nidra aroma oil is wonderfully suitable for preparing for a relaxing, regenerating night's sleep and contains bergamot, marjoram, lavender, juniper, myrrh, and other aromatic substances.

Juniper, myrrh, peppermint: These essential oils form the balanced composition of the Meda aroma oil. Ideal in combination with Meda food supplements. In many people of our affluent society, the meda dhatu (fatty tissue) is too pronounced. Meda products can harmonise the dhatu.

Maharishi Ayurveda massage and hair oils for Vata, Pitta and Kapha also contain carefully selected essential oils whose wonderfully fresh aromas have a wonderful dosha-balancing effect even during a body or head massage. For example, Vata massage oil with lemon and Pitta massage oil with sandalwood.

It is important for Ayurvedic aromatherapy that only high quality essential oils are used.

What are high quality fragrance oils?

The highest quality and most effective aroma are found in essential oils that are 100% natural and completely pure, produced gently from organically grown plants or wild growth without the use of chemicals, and that contain no synthetic additives. Criteria that are strictly adhered to in our Maharishi Ayurveda products.

High quality essential oils should be cold pressed and gently distilled. This preserves the majority of the active components contained in the oils. The effort involved is correspondingly high: to obtain just one kilogram of essential oil, you need an average of 70 kilograms of plant material! For the production of one kilogram of lavender oil it is even 160 kilograms and for one kilogram of rose oil the unimaginable amount of 4,000 kilograms of rose blossoms.

How are aromatic oils best used?

Good oils should be stored in coloured vials, protected from the sun and in a cool place. The most effective way to use essential oils is to use a micro-diffuser, which within a short time transforms the essential oils into millions of tiny ionised fragrance particles. The oils thus do not condense and fill the entire room with a long-lasting wonderful fragrance.

Mixed with a base oil, for example almond or jojoba oil, your aroma oil can also accompany you through the day as a perfume.

Pure wellness - with Ayurvedic aromatic oils

Many customers report that they always take a bottle of Vata aroma oil with them when they travel. In the evening, a few drops drizzled on a handkerchief lying on the pillow calm the increased Vata dosha in this way. Why not give it a try?