It’s no secret that we can be affected emotionally, and even physically,
by the power of fragrance. The aroma of a freshly baked apple pie emerging
from the oven, for instance, or the heady scent of a bouquet of red roses
sent by a romantic admirer can elicit pleasant memories and sentiments.
The slightest hint of unexpected smoke in the air almost instantly triggers
a state of alarm, should making an escape from a burning building become
necessary. In fact, since your sense of smell was the only sense fully
developed at birth, you’ve been relying upon the S million olfactory cells
in your nose to teach you about the world around you and to protect you
from harm for a very long time.
As good as we may be at sniffing things out, there are subtle vibrations
constantly conveying messages to the brain that may not be as obvious as
sensing it’s dinner time, or that the family dog could use a bath. For
instance, mothers around the world can tell you that they quickly learn
to identify the unique smell of their own infant soon after birth. Remarkably,
babies use the same method to distinguish their nurturing parents from
other people and objects.
Some hospitals and corporations pursue “indirect perfuming” in an attempt
to speed patient recovery and worker production.
And, what about that special chemistry two people find between each other?
For the phenomenon we call “love at first sight” we can thank pheromones,
chemical messengers produced from sweat glands that relay information to
the brain about the object of our desire.
Aroma + Therapy = Healing Scents
Can the fragrance produced by certain plants have healing qualities? The
answer may be right under your nose. The perfume or cologne that you wear,
for instance, has a definite impact on those around you, and even on your
own mental outlook. Before the advent of inexpensive synthetic fragrance
oils, perfumers used pure botanical essential oils in their formulas. Essential
oils are obtained through steam distillation of flower heads and leaves
and it’s easy to see why they are valuable, since the process often requires
100 or more pounds of raw material to produce a single ounce of oil.
But, botanical oils possess more than just a really nice smell; they can
also lend their antibacterial qualities and stimulate immune function,
blood circulation, skin cell regeneration and the elimination of toxins.
The external application of these oils is of great therapeutic value since
the skin routes from 40 percent to 70 percent of a liquid substance directly
to the bloodstream, while the stomach only directs about 5% of the same
substance. And, since our olfactory center is forever on the job, the benefits
are doubled when the aromatic vapors of essential oils are inhaled when
added to a facial steam, bath or massage. In the world of aromatherapy,
essential oils work synergistically to heal the body , externally, and
on the brain, internally, to bring on feelings of relaxation, to encourage
stress relief or to promote concentration and creativity.
By, Karyn Seigel-Maier
