How Does Aromatherapy Help Those With a Terminal Illness? An Interview with Marika Fleri of Aroma Treasures

Today, SevenPonds speaks with Marika Fleri of Aroma Treasures. With 11 years of experience in the field of aromatherapy, Marika is devoted to her practice in Malta. She received ITEC diplomas in both Anatomy Physiology and Aromatherapy, and is currently studying for a diploma in Advanced Chemistry for the Aromatherapist with the East West School of Herbal and Aromatic Studies. She founded her company with a commendable goal: to educate others on the healing benefits of essential oils in everyday life, as well as in times of grief and mourning.

Credit: Marika Fleri

MaryFrances: What is aromatherapy?

Marika: Aromatherapy, also referred to as Essential Oil Therapy, is the art and science of utilizing natural aromatic essences from plants to balance, harmonize and promote the health of body, mind and spirit. It seeks to unify physiological, psychological and spiritual processes to enhance an individual’s innate healing process.

MaryFrances: What services does Aroma Treasures offer and what is your role there?

Marika: We can say that we are using the essence of the plant, the very core of it to bring the client to a state of homeostasis. It’s the aromatherapist’s job to identify which essential oils best suit his or her client/patient.

Aroma Treasures was born with my desire to share and teach people how to incorporate these gifts of nature in their day to day lives. I offer various workshops, which incorporate this information enabling my students to use essential oils safely and effectively at home, as well as aromatherapy treatments consisting of consultations, massages and beauty treatments.

MaryFrances: How did you become interested in aromatherapy?

Marika: It all started with the darkest event and episode in my life. I lost my dad to a massive heart attack 20 years ago at the age of 15. My whole world crumbled in a span of five minutes. My family structure disappeared and my comfort zone was stripped away in the blink of an eye.

I was attending college and enrolled in a course that would inspire me to study medicine in due course. My immunity went haywire. I was prescribed endless boxes of antibiotics, which in turn destroyed my health.

At the time in Malta, alternative and holistic therapies were almost unheard of. But one day I was window shopping and I came upon a book on aromatherapy and that was it. I was hooked. I started to manage all my symptoms using essential oils—which were also very hard to come by at that stage—and for the first time I felt in control again.

MaryFrances: What sets aromatherapy apart from other therapeutic techniques?

Marika: It reinforces our body’s ability to heal itself. The oils speak to us on a primeval level. They tap into our innate desire to be one with nature.

Marika’s 3 Tips for Those Interested in Aromatherapy:

1) Read the book The Fragrant Pharmacy by Valerie Ann Wormwood. That is a good place to start.

2) The internet opens a whole new world. Most renowned aromatherapists are now only just a click away and aromatherapists are well known for their love to share information.

3) Refer your questions to me — I would gladly explain and share my passion and knowledge to date on the subject!

MaryFrances: Have you worked with many patients who’ve suffered a loss?

Marika: All my clients and patients suffer a loss in one way or another. Any major or minor change in life imposed or planned carries with it a loss. The loss of someone dear to us, loss of a pet, changing jobs, end of relationships and countless other situations. Different people react in different ways and grieve in a very personal pattern. Grieving takes on many forms and facets and all these have to be dealt with—as once they are ignored they manifest in all kind of symptoms and emotions.

Credit: Marika Fleri

Each aromatherapy treatment is tailor made for each client/patient. It can be as simple as preparing an aromatherapy inhaler for the client to carry around, and it can be a joint effort with other conventional and contemporary treatments.

MaryFrances: How else has it impacted the way you view death and dying?

Marika: I’ve learned that every moment carries a certain amount of loss with it. There’s even loss of the moment itself, which will never be again. Every breath will not be repeated. They will be replaced by new moments, new breaths, therefore a new opportunity and a new beginning. That is what death is – An opportunity for a new beginning without the shackles of our limited physical body.

MaryFrances: What’s next for Aroma Treasures?

Marika: Aroma Treasures Malta is currently moving from a mainly home practice to a more clinical practice. From next month I will be in attendance at a new state of the art holistic center opening on the island.

Credit: Marika Fleri

I am currently part of a support group doing voluntary work at Malta’s main oncology hospital. My role is to offer aromatherapy support to patients going through or who have gone through treatment for cancer. Each month, we meet new patients, offering them treatments for a day and we then follow up. It is the highlight of my practice at the moment. I feel happy, and I feel it is where I am supposed to be.

MaryFrances: Thanks so much, Marika!

Marika: Thank you!

More SevenPonds Interviews:

• Who Takes Care of Us When We Live Longer and Die Slower? An Interview with Karla Erickson
• What Is It Like to Witness the Stages of Dying? An Interview with Sandra Fish
• How Can We Open Conversations about Aging with our Elderly Parents? An Interview with Katharina Dress