Hello Daily Star readers! You can find my full, scientific paper on Ylang-Ylang by clicking here: Positive Effect of Ylang Ylang On Performance by Rownak Salam (PDF). The original article as posted by The Daily Star (link here) has been reprinted below. Thank you!
Aromatherapy healing: the positive effects of ylang-ylang
In many years of running a retail store and aromatherapy clinic, I have helped customers solve a variety of issues of different sizes and magnitudes. Their trust in the all-natural healing power of aromatherapy comes from its effectiveness. It may also come from how straightforward it is when compared to the costly and complicated world of drugs and medical treatment. Over time, I have noticed a large group of customers -- mostly women of Southeast Asian origin -- order ylang-ylang in all its different forms (fragrance oil for lamps, body oil, incense, etc.). From my conversations with clients, my synthesis was that the workplace and workload makes us stressed: a woman's responsibilities (according to the women I regularly talk to) does not end at the workplace as they need to go home and carry on household tasks of cleaning, cooking, serving and taking care of the elderly or children by a certain time. I felt enthusiastic regarding the impact of ylang-ylang on human nervous systems. Plenty of research has already been conducted about how the brain wave patterns gets stimulated by the inhalation of certain essential oils. I felt eager to learn more about the use of ylang-ylang. The Latin name of ylang-ylang is Canangaodorata. It is a tropical tree that belongs to the Annonaceae botanical family, which originally comes from Southeast Asia. Further research shows that ylang-ylang has a calming action on the heart, in addition to its other reputed medicinal properties.
According to many researchers, ylang-ylang is known to be an aphrodisiac as well. In the book Aromatherapy by Kathi Keville and Mindy Green, it is noted that, “[…] ylang-ylang['s …] fragrance is very relaxing, […it…] can also reverse fatigue.” Based on further readings and testimonies from the clients, I continued to gather information whether there is a direct correlation between the inhalation of ylang-ylang and mental effectiveness.
I tried the oil on myself on a few instances. During the end of the month, the workload really gets a bit too much; as I started feeling stressed, just by thinking about my piled up backlog I reminded myself to put a few drops of ylang-ylang in the mist humidifier and turn it on. I noticed that the workload that normally takes about 3-4 hours or more for me to complete with a tired mood (without using ylang-ylang) becomes possible for me to finish sooner with the inhalation of ylang-ylang, in addition to keeping a better attitude about that work. Prior to the use of this particular essential oil, there were some days when I did not even have any desire to sit myself down with the tasks due to lack of energy.
After creating a rigorous battery of mental tests, I recruited a group of busy professionals to take those tests. They were split into three groups: one was a control group (who simply had a mist humidifier with no oil added), one was given a mist humidifier with synthetic ylang-ylang oil and the final group was given a mist humidifier with the pure, high-grade ylang-ylang essential oil. My findings displayed positive result: the group which experienced the pure essential oil was able to complete the standardised test nearly three times as fast as the control group and twice as fast as the group which received the synthetic oil. Furthermore, the essential oil group also demonstrated the highest positive mood gains out of all three groups, by nearly 68 percent. My data analysis shows me that inhalation of ylang-ylang essential oil impacts people's mood positively, which allows them to complete more work, with more mental energy and less stress. I am now able to more strongly recommend the use of ylang-ylang essential oil to my clients who turn to it as an aroma therapeutic aid.