Medicinal Scents And How To Make Your Home Smell Healthy | Longevity

Who would think that a candle could make such a difference to the state of our health? Interestingly, every experience we encounter in our lives, we generally associate a particular smell with it, unconsciously.  Research says that both oils and candles can evoke a sense of place – like feeling at home. They can also trigger specific memories of your childhood. In fact, smells are so powerful that there are even psychoactive perfumes designed to evoke new emotions.

People are using them in their art installations, like Jean-Marc Chaillan’s Mood Cloud. This artwork explores the not too far-fetched concept of melding wellness with big data (such as well being micro sensors).  Better yet, there are countries that are using aromas to relax huge cities of people, which proves the power of medicinal scents. I bet you didn’t know that scientists have also discovered that wine tasting or smelling works the brain harder than a maths problem.

Medicinal Scents Are Underrated

Ironically, humans continue to downplay the importance of being able to smell. In fact, each time you smell you are providing your brain with a ton of information about your surroundings. This can be both physical and emotional feedback. Being able to smell an area or person also makes you feel a certain way which affects your body language, mood and even your safety mechanisms.

When researchers asked millennials about their senses and which ones they’d choose to lose. Most of them said they smell before anything else. Some of these people state that they’d even give up their sense of smell before a piece of technology. Interestingly, for centuries people have classified their sense of smell as least important or rewarding. This perception is changing, though, because many of us are slowly starting to realize the therapeutic benefits of being able to smell and how many scents can affect us.

Whether you think being able to smell is important or not, you are being influenced by it. In fact, scientists believe that 75 percent of our emotions are affected by smell. That’s why you are more likely to remember a scent over something you saw or heard. Why do you think some people invest a lot of time in making their homes smell amazing?

Haven’t you wondered why you sometimes get taken back to a particular time in your life as soon as you catch a waft of something? Research says that all humans possess a gene that allows us to remember over 10,000 different smells throughout our life. That must mean something! Scientists at the University of Rockefeller believe that humans can distinguish between up to one trillion scents.

Harness The Power Of Scent

If our nose really has all this power, then, why are we not concentrating on using it more? It does pass my mind a lot more than before. Could it be that what I smell makes me feel a certain way? If so, it makes sense to ensure our environment appeals to our noses.

In an article published by the Global Wellness Summit, they refer to a group of neuro-biologists at the University of Toronto. These scientists discovered that there’s an actual mechanism in the brain that enables us to recreate sensory experiences from memory. In addition, they could map how it connects with the part of our brain where information about space and time is stored. They realized the clear connection between the brain’s hippocampus (the part associated with forming new memories) and the olfactory nucleus. Interestingly, this connection has led to new discoveries about how scent can be used to treat forms of memory loss. These are forms like dementia and Alzheimer’s. But our sense of smell can also enhance memory recollection and improve cognitive learning.

Slow Down To Smell The Roses

This might sound like a cliché, however I think there’s a lot of truth behind this one. That’s why many wellness advocates are honing in on our sensory roots. For example, yoga classes with burning scent-infused candles or spas lit with incense. We are waking up to the importance of smell and how important it is to reconnect with our physical world.

However, it’s better to keep these fragrances natural and stay away from the artificial ones you see in fancy perfume label stores. Are you stressed? Then you need to start exploring your brain-smell connection. There’s a tremendous amount of healing you can get from certain aromas. There’s more medical information every day that supports the healing benefits of medicinal scents.

Aromatherapy For The Soul

Medicinal scents have led to an enormous trend called aromatherapy. This proves how many people are aware of the benefits of certain scents. This is by no means a new discovery and people have been using aromas to treat certain health issues for centuries. However, we have a lot more evidence now to back up its potential. Product companies are focusing on cleaner and greener ingredients and consumers care a lot more about what they’re inhaling. Especially with the rise in awareness for allergies and asthma. I am an asthmatic person and when I inhale anything artificial I immediately notice the tightness in my chest.

Beauty products need to consist of healing essential oils only. Not only does our sense of smell influence the way we are feeling. It plays a massive role in our memory, taste and even business branding. We are able to remember a specific time, place, or person because of the scent which is vital to our memory associations. In turn, we create emotions around those scents and how that situation made us feel which can be either good or bad. As for businesses, it’s very important for a brand to create a pleasant scent that people will remember because humans connect deeper when they have a recognizable scent to work with.

If you enjoy the scent, it means that you feel at ease and relaxed and that’s exactly what we’re talking about today! The healing and powerful benefits of surrounding yourself with happy, positive medicinal scents.

Medicinal Scents In Your Home

Now that we’ve spoken about science, and we understand now that surrounding yourself with good smells can be life-changing…It makes sense to start making your home smell incredible. Your home is where you spend most of your time so this is a very crucial step in the process.

I’d highly recommend getting yourself a diffuser. These are wonderful for creating smells that you love. Technology has created amazing diffusers that not only humidify the air around you but they also deliver the perfect amount of scent for better sleep, less stress and more energy at the touch of a button.

Think of your home as your sanctuary… This means that your home must smell amazing naturally. Not only will you feel cleaner, fresher and happier. But you’ll feel as if your moods are more constant and calm. The best way to create these medicinal scents in your home is by staying away from any artificial smells. Once you do this, you will notice almost immediately how less stressed you feel. According to the National Institute of Health, aromatherapy is even used to help cancer patients, based on the theory that certain scents can have an impact on the brain’s emotional center and provide sedative effects.

The bottom line: A home filled with beautiful scents is the key to feeling amazing! If you’d like to feel better, calmer and happier, try these amazing ways to make your home smell beautiful.

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