Committee for Skeptical Inquiry
December 13, 2018
Essential Oils: One Weird Workshop Continuing education is part of most professional jobs. Having been a social worker for twenty years and an elementary education teacher for the past sixteen years, I have experienced ongoing training throughout my professional careers. However, nothing prepared me for the workshops my colleagues and I were required to attend this past winter. This continuing education day was billed as a “health day” and was different from any other of the professional workshops I have attended.
My colleagues and I were given many options to choose from, including courses on topics such as self-defense, cooking in healthy ways, mindfulness, and essential oils. Having been a skeptic my entire life, one of the courses I knew I had to sign up for was essential oils. I am constantly hearing about people who claim that essential oils have changed their lives, cured many ailments, and provided overall physical and mental happiness. I wanted to experience what all this buzz was about.
In conducting some research in the days before the workshop, I found that aromatherapy and essential oils can be defined as using plant life to improve well-being. These two terms are sometimes used interchangeably, and I found this a rather vague definition, so I decided to hold back the rest of my research until after the class.
Upon entering the classroom where the course was taking place, I couldn’t help but notice the softly lit diffuser in the back of the room. The instructor, “Anne,” identified this as an “immunity booster” combination of oils. She explained that she chose this due to the enormous number of germs found in schools during the winter months.
Anne introduced herself to the crowded all-woman class, explaining how she began her c
Them All!
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