Close your eyes and think of your favorite memory as a child… perhaps it is a holiday dinner with all your family sitting around the table, enjoying a great meal to which everyone had contributed, exchanging stories and sharing laughter. Your memory might tell a simpler story, one of coming home after school and smelling fresh baked cookies or bread that your mother had made that day. So many of our favorite memories are associated with, and are triggered by, smell. The bread, the turkey… you may find that when you smell them again as an adult, that smell has the power to take you back to when you were young and repaints that picture in your mind. And all of this comes from an innocent smell as you walk by a neighborhood bakery.
The power of smell is very real. Of all our senses, it is the one most powerfully triggers memories with incredible details all in an instant. Whether in a doctor’s office or a grocery store, the smells you encounter from the moment you walk in the door can affect your entire experience there.
So how does it work?
When a fragrance is inhaled, the odor molecules travel up the nose where they are trapped by olfactory membranes. Each odor molecule fits like a little puzzle piece into specific receptor sites that line a membrane known as the “olfactory epithelium.” When stimulated by odor molecules, these nerve cells trigger electrical impulses to the olfactory bulb in the bran, which them transmits the impulses to two main areas – the first which controls the sense of taste (the gustory) and the second area which stores emotional memories (the amygdale), as well as other areas of the limbic system.
Because these are all connected to the parts of the brain that control heart rate, blood pressure, breathing, memory, stress levels, and hormone balance, Essential Oils can have a very profound impact on every aspect of your life.
For example, in studies at Vienna and Berlin Universities, researchers found that “sesquiterpenes”, found in essential oils such as vetiver, patchouli, cedarwood, sandalwood, and frankincense, can increase levels of oxygen in the brain by up to 28% percent. High levels of sesquiterpenes also occur in Melissa, myrrh, and clove oil. Such an increase can lead to heightened hympathalamus activity as well as within the limbic system, which can have dramatic effects on emotions, learning and attitude, but also on immune functionality, hormone balance and energy levels.
For more information on how something as simple as an aromatic Essential Oil can have a positive effect on your health and wellness follow my blog. If you’d like to join my team I will personally instruct you on how to use these amazing God given healing oils. I will also send you your own copy of the Essential Oil Desk Reference plus tons of reference material to help you get started. Members of my team are always able to reach me for questions on the proper use of pure, therapeutic grade essential oils and I continually pass on any and all new or updated information on aromatherapy. Contact me for more information and I can walk you through the process or simply click here. Welcome to the team! Let’s chat.
-The Oily Guru
EDR – The Powerful Influence of Aromas on Both Mind and Body
The Oily Guru 