Our Sense of Smell &
Aromatic Plant Medicine
Exploring the nose as an intuitive organ
Throughout history, scent has been a powerful force in ritual, medicine, myth and conquest. But why?
Odor and scent have an impressive influence over our daily lives. We experience smells every moment, everyday as we breathe, yet we don’t always stop and acknowledge all of the ways they influence us. Our actions and reactions, as well as how attentive we are to our intuitive hits and sparks of creativity are all influenced by our sense of smell.
Your sense of smell provides a constant flow of data, impression, and information.
And many scents can be used to help us feel more open, allowing us to be present and more observant.
How Does Your Sense of Smell Work?
The nose is an extremely perceptive organ, capable of receiving a variety of nuances. With each breath in, minute doses from very light vaporized odor molecules from your environment dissolve in the mucus on the roof of your nostrils. The olfactory epithelium lies under the mucus and houses specialized receptor cells that detect the scent. From there, the information is transmitted to the olfactory bulb at the back of the nose. The olfactory bulb rests underneath and in direct communication with your endocrine and autonomic nervous systems via the limbic system in the brain.
Your sense of smell is where the central nervous system is in direct contact with the outside world.
The limbic system is called the rhinencephalon (meaning smell brain) because it was thought to be primarily involved with the sense of smell. It is now widely recognized that it serves a lot more functions. This portion of your brain handles impulses, regulates emotions, forms and stores memories and is involved with learning. Our limbic system is highly connected to the endocrine and autonomic nervous systems too. It is the privileged access to this part of our brain that gives our sense of smell the power to transform our perceptions and emotional states.
Your olfaction works differently than your other four senses. It does not rely on the thalamus as a relay station for its sensory input. Your touch, taste, hearing, and sight are all processed in the thalamus before relaying its sensory data to regions of the cerebral cortex and before being processed through the limbic system. We have it to thank for being able to function. If it did not, you would be overwhelmed with sensory overload. You would always be aware of your clothes touching or your tongue on the roof of your mouth. You would hear every sound at the same time, at the same volume. And you would not be able to focus on one thing in your sight. Instead of proceeding directly to our thalamus, scent signals first travel to the limbic system where emotions and memories are processed. We experience odor as a sensation before analyzing and interpreting it.
Your sense of smell has a unique pathway in your brain that does not rely on the thalamus - the filter of your senses - enabling for privileged access to the part of the brain where you really live.
How Does Aromatic Plant Medicine Work With Your Sense of Smell?
Essential oils are catalysts for profound change and tools for mindful living and self-awareness. By attuning to the emotions evoked by certain scents, fragrance becomes a transformative experience. Their scent becomes medicine for helping us achieve shifts in our emotional and energetic body that is required for bringing about a deeper, lasting change.
