Essential oils are the aromatic compounds extracted from various components of plants - flowers, bark, leaves, roots, rinds, seeds, wood, etc. They can be cold pressed (for example, lemon oil is cold pressed from the rind of a lemon), or steam distilled (for example, arborvitae, meaning "tree of life" is steam distilled from the tree's wood).

Plants, by nature are living creatures - they have the will to live, and if you break a branch off a tree, it has the ability to heal itself. That's what makes essential oils so powerful - each has a different chemical makeup with properties that range from soothing to cooling to invigorating to calming, and more. The chemistry of essential oils is a science in and of itself - learning what each chemical component can do is one way to learn the fundamental properties of each oil.

For more information on the science of essential oils, check out doTERRA's science blog or follow me on facebook.com/rdulay (send me a friend request if you would like for me to add you to my private oilers group).