In the past 5 to 8 years, there has
been a growing list more & more pet care professionals & pet owners
that have begun to implement aromatherapy into their alternative pet care list.
For us as humans, we can clearly see the benefits of aromatherapy, but for our
canine counterparts, who cannot directly tell us how they are both physically
& emotionally feeling or how they feel about something we are doing for
them, a simple and gentle method of supportive care such as aromatherapy, can
be greatly beneficial. You can now read
of Veterinarians who offer holistic services including aromatherapy and flower
essence therapy, Animal Massage Therapists who implement herbal & flower
therapies into their care, and pet stylists or groomers who offer these
services for a wonderful spa experience for their clients. Aromatherapy is
especially important for calming nerves and focusing and directing positive
energy, so one can easily see that aromatherapy and herbal therapy has a
multitude of applications for your pets, all of which are positive and
beneficial.
For canine massage, I have a few
blends that I keep on hand for all types of massage, but often I will add a
couple of essentials to them or make a simple mix at the massage session. The reason for this is because yes, no
massage and no canine are ever exactly the same. More importantly
however, I believe that for the most part, massage in itself
isn't nearly so much about the essentials used as it is the practitioner
properly reading the animal's movement and structure and energy with
their eyes and their hands, to read the dog's body like a map and decipher
where there are issues and what they are. We have to do this is a fairly short
amount of time, with limited explanation from their human counterparts, and if
we have traveled to the pet’s home, as a new addition to the pet's living
environment this always has them acting differently than they otherwise would.
So, we have a lot to overcome to even get to the beginning of a massage session
in hopes of having it be a productive one. Essentials can help to bridge
these gaps so each session goes smoothly and positively.
Essentials in a carrier oil are
not nearly as important to canines as they are with humans because we are not
covered in fur and our skin makeup is obviously quite different. So,
oil as lubrication of the practitioner's hands can actually be a
disadvantage as the animal's natural oils really work best to offer the correct
amount of "drag" or resistance of the fingers moving freely through the
fur. Too much fluidity can make a practitioner have to work harder to
create the right amount of pressure or friction and make a mess of the
pet’s coat. Therefore, essentials in their pure form become our tool for
setting the very important mood of the dog and our own energy, and not so much
a tool for the physical application of a massage.
Essentials do obviously play a
role in the animal's receptiveness to the experience and overall willingness at
times to receive a massage as well as their perception and therefore their
memory imprint of the experience. We have, as professionals, a clear
disadvantage that the pets' owners do not: we are a stranger to their daily
activities, their daily schedules and their behavior cycles that ebb & flow
and make dogs either more or less receptive to massage at different
times. So, coming from their owners, educated massage sessions will
usually be far more successful at a faster rate as the circle between an owner
and their pet is, for obvious reasons, much more relaxed and mutually
receptive. Not that we as CCMTs or Aromatherapists do not build a bond with our
canine clients, we certainly do, but we would rely more on the ability of
essentials to help align the environmental energy and set the outcome of the
sessions by way of emotional state. So, with that fact, essentials for us
are quite important because they help to align both our moods and secondary responses
to the massage session as well as the emotional state of our canine
clients. In essence, aromatherapy
becomes a bridge of senses and energies between the pet and the caregiver.
For topicals used in massage, there are a few different blends that can be used, and they are both for different
types of massage (addressing different care needs) as well as different types
of personalities, and a pet owner may have to tweak them a little, nearly every
session entered into, because both the dog and yourself might be in a different
mood that day. Or that you will be caring for your pet for slightly different
care each time, even though you may be working on the same issues for many
sessions.
If your Canine Massage Therapist
is caring for your pet, they would likely be implementing aromatics in the same
ways, but along with their licensing and certification, they have applied their
taught medical knowledge to how to use aromatherapy, herbal remedies, and many
other modalities for wellness and treatment of the pet’s physical and emotional
self. As one so compliments the other in terms of overall health, well being
and quality of life.
~First an Aromatherapist would
address the emotional state of the dog and secondary to that, the physical
needs.~
Overcoming massage anxiety- for
initial meetings or with dogs that are overwhelmingly fearful of new
surroundings or experiences:
Please note here that dogs that
are fearful or internally coping with their own reaction mechanisms are much
more harder to have a productive session with. If you think about it, a
dog that is happy and excited to meet you is FAR more receptive to seeing what
you have to offer it in terms of "What have you got that I can have”?,
or “What do you have for me today that I can have fun with"? Basically,
they are much harder to "win over". Here flower and herbal essentials
can help you a lot more on deeper levels than what you would implement to just
calm or relax simple anxiousness or play energy. And they are important to use
whether you are helping your own dogs to overcome certain emotional hurdles, or
for treating physical ailments of your pets.
Here are some of those essential blends- addressing first the emotional state and secondly the physical needs of your client.
Emotional
Relaxing and aligning energy: Chamomile, Bergamot, Ginger, & Geranium.
Calming and supporting:
Chamomile, Lavender, Eucalyptus & Clary- sage.
Stronger sedative effect: Lavender, Chamomile, Clove & Frankincense.
And follow up the massage with a
neat drop on each cheek of this blend-
Energizing:
Rosemary, Lemongrass, Thyme & Basil.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Relaxing the playful dog: Lavender, Chamomile, Vetiver, Clary- sage, Marjoram.
Focusing the excited dog: Geranium, Chamomile, Lavender, Clary- sage.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
* There are more but these are
the most important!*
Physical
Circulation, anti-inflammatory, muscle tension, muscle
fatigue active sports recovery massage:
Eucalyptus, Peppermint, Geranium, Rosemary & Clove.
Skin irritations and muscle atrophy due to lack of
circulation: (also hot spots if they are
not open) Helichrysium, Evening Primrose & Naiouli.
Deep tissue, tendon fatigue and sprains: Ginger, Nutmeg, Clove, Thyme, Vetiver &
Black Pepper.
Arthritis and Rheumatoid: Clove, Cinnamon, Ginger, Nutmeg & Black Pepper,
Clary- sage, Birch, Rosemary, & Juniper, Frankincense, Marjoram,
Chamomile, & Lavender (3 different blends for symptoms from severe to mild).
All over relaxation massage & pathway massage for
geriatric pets: Geranium, Clary- sage
Lemongrass, Bergamot & Lavender.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~You can see, there are so many
essentials whose properties compliment each other- it is also just as important
to mix oils that are simply pleasing to your personal tastes as this will
affect how you give the massage and therefore the physical benefits for your
client.
Suggested reading materials to learn about aromatherapy:
The Complete Book of Essential Oils & Aromatherapy by
Valerie Ann WorWood.
Essential Aromatherapy by Susan & Valerie Ann Worwood.
The Aromatherapy Bible by Gill Farrer-Halls.
*Remember to educate yourself thoroughly on any holistic or
alternative care methods before working with them with your pet.*