Smells like wellness

By Deborah Adams

Researchers at Yale University have discovered that the aroma of apples and cinnamon has a powerful stabilizing effect on people, especially those suffering from nervous anxiety. The smell has even been known to lower high blood pressure and calm panic attacks. How can something as simple as smell affect us in such a physical way?

Our olfactory center – the area of our brain associated with smell – merges with our limbic system which controls basic drives such as hunger, thirst and sex as well as influencing our emotions, memory, creativity and intuition, making it easy to understand how odors influence both the physical and emotional aspects of us. Consider the aroma of your favorite food. The delicious vapor will stimulate your appetite, making your mouth water and your digestive juices flow. If that smell is associated with a happy occasion, then memory comes into play, adding to the pleasurable rush. It’s a natural ‘high’ if you will, filling you with a feeling of contentment and happiness.

Pleasing scents along with enjoyments such as eating, falling in love, listening to music and looking at beautiful things, cause the release of “happiness chemicals” which form an opium-like substance broadly labeled endorphins. These happiness substances not only make us feel good emotionally, they are also known to help strengthen our immune system. Good smells are actually good for you!

Our bodies will “smell” the scent even if we don’t. At Warwick University, England, researchers found that we respond both emotionally and physically to odors that are so highly diluted that they are imperceptible to the conscious mind. They discovered that our skin actually responds before our noses even pick up the scent. Our skin acts like an antenna, communicating the scent to our body’s central nervous system. So whether we smell the scent or not, our body still receives the healing benefit, especially when Essential Oils are added to bath water or our favorite body lotion or oil – our bodies drink up the healing properties of the aromatherapy or essential oil, even when it is too subtle to physically smell.

Essential Oils are the fragrant liquid components of aromatic plants, trees and grasses. The oils are contained in tiny oil glands or sacs which are concentrated in different parts of the plant such as the petals, leaves, roots, bark, seeds, or fruit. These oils, often called Aromatherapy Oils, are very different from fatty vegetable oils like corn or sunflower oil. Essential oils are more like water and are highly volatile or easily vaporized but can be extremely powerful to the human body with just one to two drops.

Aromatherapy can add another healthy option to your wellness lifestyle. Lavender, grapefruit, and sandalwood oils can be used for anxiety and depression. Eucalyptus and Frankincense help our respiratory system. Peppermint and Rosemary are great for mental stimulation. Ylang Ylang and Patchouli are natural aphrodisiacs. Just remember, the best oils are the ones that smell good to you. Even if Lavender is supposed to be relaxing, if you can’t stand the smell of it you will not be very relaxed! Picking scents that personally appeal to you will work best.

Choose a reputable place to purchase your aromatherapy oils. Oils will vary in price depending on the type and quality of the oil. Most importantly, purchase natural oils rather than factory-made synthetic oils. You may pay a few dollars more, but the outcome is worth the investment. There are many oils to choose from. Find a place where you can sample the scents to find the ones you love.

If you want a base collection of oils, anywhere from six to 12 oils will give you a great start on your at-home aromatherapy for health. Aromatherapy oils are sometimes put into categories for their health promoting properties, for example, categories such as: ‘Relaxing’, ‘Balancing’, and ‘Stimulating.’

If you wanted to follow this path, some good base oils to have would be: Lavender or Rosewood for Relaxation, Grapefruit or Bergamot to Balance the body, Peppermint or Rosemary to Stimulate. Having just these six oils will give you a great starting collection to play with and use for general health and wellness.

I encourage you to mix your aromatherapy or essential oils to create new and unique scents that also have a double-duty effect on your wellness. If you’re feeling tired and stressed, put a couple drops of peppermint into the palm of your hand to wake you up and add a couple of drops of lavender to calm your stress – rub the palms of your hands together, blending the oils, now cup your hands lightly over your nose and take three deep breaths. Not only will the oils do their job to wake and calm you, but by breathing deeply, you have just increased your circulation, started moving your lymph system, and brought fresh oxygen to your brain.

Overall result? Just what you were going for – you should feel a bit calmer and a little less sleepy.

Find scents that you love or combinations you’ve blended and use them as a natural perfume or cologne. If they are added to a tiny amount of massage or body oil, they will last longer on the skin than if they are put directly onto your skin, and some oils need a ‘carrier’ oil to help dilute them a bit before placing them on the skin.

If you are interested in Aromatherapy and using essential oils for your own personal wellness or for your family’s benefit, visit your local bookstore, natural health food store, or spa to find out more through the many books now available on aromatherapy. The smell of wellness is powerful and fun – start smelling your way to better overall health through the healing powers of aromatherapy.

Deborah Adams has been in the wellness field for more than 25 years. She is founder and owner of The Wellness Spa, Inc., Stevens Point. Reach her at spaevents@charter.net or 715-341-3333.