Healing by Melody

Aromatherapy and essential oils help regulate the nervous system and serves as a complementary tool to soothe symptoms of anxiety, depression, and more.

What’s aromatherapy anyway?

Before I got licensed as a massage therapist, I used to think that aromatherapy was just making things smell nice while you got a massage. And while that’s also true, the health benefits of aromatherapy extend far beyond what you’d use a car or air freshener for.

Aromatherapy is a natural treatment method that uses essential oils derived from flowers, herbs, and other plant parts for therapeutic and preventative care through inhalation, topical application (such as through massage), and water immersion (such as a foot soak or bath). Aromatherapy has been around for thousands of years¹ and with good reason: it has the ability to improve memory², concentration capacity, cognitive performance³, quality of sleep, emotional well-being, and can alleviate stress, fatigue, pain, anxiety, and depression⁴.

How does aromatherapy work?

It can seem strange or silly that something as simple as breathing can do so much, but when you consider how 84% of weight loss occurs through the breath⁵, it can shift the perspective on just how powerful inhalation, and by association, aromatherapy, can be.

Essential oils release molecules into the air that you recognize as aromas or scents, and when you breathe in those molecules, your sense of smell stimulates your central nervous system (your brain, spine, and nerves) and activates your limbic system, or the part of your brain that manages and processes things like your emotions, behaviors, motivations, and memories. In response to the activation, your brain releases feel-good hormones like serotonin, dopamine, and endorphins, which regulate body functions like mood, sleep and digestion, and can help lower anxiety and reduce your perception of pain⁶.

What to expect when receiving aromatherapy lomi from Melody? 

I learned how to apply essential oils for aromatherapy from Kumu Nancy Kahalewai, and I combine her application techniques with lomi in the style of Kumu Dane Silva, resulting in a unique, relaxing session.

How massage therapists approach incorporating aromatherapy into their practice varies by practitioner but this is how the experience looks like with me: During intake, we talk about what you’d like to achieve through your session (relaxation, muscle tension relief, focus, emotional well-being, anxiety relief, etc.) and any scent sensitivities you might have so I can avoid those to create a blend of essential oils custom to your goals and needs. 

At the start of your session I apply the custom blend onto a small wood diffuser and clip it unobtrusively to the massage table headrest so it can release the essential oil passively and slowly throughout the entire time you’re on the table, inhaling its benefits.

After pule, which I do with every lomi session, I use the custom essential oil blend, the healing attributes of ti leaf, and gentle heat to disperse healing more deeply in the body.

Because of the additional time for preparation and application, I only do aromatherapy during 90-minute or 120-minute lomi sessions. 

Reach out to your healthcare professional to see if aromatherapy is right for you. 

Ready to try aromatherapy lomi?

1. Cooke, B, and E Ernst. “Aromatherapy: A Systematic Review..” British Journal of General Practice, vol. 50, no. 455, June 2000, pp. 493–96, https://bjgp.org/content/50/455/493. Accessed 15 Aug. 2026. ↩︎
2. Mohammad Rezaie, Sara, et al. “The Effect of Aromatherapy with Lavender Essential Oil on the Working Memory of Women with Multiple Sclerosis.” Journal of Medicine and Life, vol. 14, no. 6, Dec. 2021, pp. 776–81, https://doi.org/10.25122/jml-2020-0115. Accessed 15 Aug. 2026. ↩︎
3. Ayaz, Muhammad, et al. “Neuroprotective and Anti-Aging Potentials of Essential Oils from Aromatic and Medicinal Plants.” Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience, vol. 9, May 2017, https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2017.00168. ↩︎
4. Lizarraga‐Valderrama, Lorena R. “Effects of Essential Oils on Central Nervous System: Focus on Mental Health.” Phytotherapy Research, vol. 35, no. 2, Aug. 2020, https://doi.org/10.1002/ptr.6854. Accessed 15 Aug. 2026. ↩︎
5. McIntosh, James. “Majority of Weight Loss Occurs ‘Via Breathing.’” Www.Medicalnewstoday.Com, 17 Dec. 2014, https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/287046#Tracking-the-atoms. Accessed 15 Aug. 2026. ↩︎
6. Cleveland Clinic. “Does Aromatherapy Work?” Cleveland Clinic, 21 Sept. 2023, https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/aromatherapy. Accessed 15 Aug. 2026. ↩︎