magic of frangrance

Did you ever wonder how the magic of a delicate fragrance can transform your feelings?

Here is how…

Smelling takes place through approximately ten million olfactory nerve cells of the mucus membrane at the root of our nose.

This mucus membrane is the only location in the body where the central nervous system is open and in direct contact with the outer world. It cells are brain cells and their eight million fine hair projections with specialized receptors gather an unimaginably large amount of information.

When we breathe, we smell, with each breath, we take in the finest information from our environment. The odour molecules cause chemical reactions on these receptors, which are transmitted as electrical stimuli directly to the limbic system – one of the oldest parts of our brain – without being judged by the cortex.

The limbic system is the seat of emotions, memory, creativity, motivation and regulation of the autonomic nervous system which governs breathing, heartbeat, and digestion. All these functions are directly influenced by fragrances, without the inference of our conscious  mind.

That means that before we consciously perceive a fragrance, it has already affected us on the subconscious level; it has influenced our emotions, heart rate, breath rate, etc.

Fragrances stimulate the release of neurotransmitters, which invoke feelings of happiness, upliftment, well-being, and relaxation in us.

And we all know that happiness and bliss are essential for our health, and that negative thoughts and unhappiness create ill-health.

Fragrances of essential oils are therefore an ideal means to improve our emotional well-being, maintain relaxation, peace of mind, and promote happiness.

The fact that odours and memories are stored together in the limbic system explains why fragrances can evoke memories. Probably everyone has experienced that a particular fragrance can bring back memories, for instance from our childhood, or other events from the past associated with this fragrance.