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

The Nature of the Sense of Smell
The sense of smell is the oldest of our senses (hearing and seeing are younger senses). Smelling takes place through approximately ten million olfactory nerve cells of the mucous membrane at the root of our nose. This mucous membrane is the only location in the body where the central nervous system is open and in direct contact with the outer world. Its cells are brain cells and their eighty million fine hair cells can gather an unimaginable large amount of information. When we breathe, we smell. With each breath, we take in the finest information from our environment. The smell molecules cause chemical reactions on these fine hair cells, which are transmitted as electrical stimuli directly to the limbic system—the oldest part 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 scents, without the interference of our conscious mind. That means: before we consciously perceive a fragrance, it has affected us already on the subconscious level; it has influenced our emotions, heart rate, breath rate, etc.

The fragrances stimulate the release of neurotransmitters, such as encephalines, endorphines, serotonin, 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.

So fragrances of essential oils are an ideal means to influence our emotions, improve our emotional well-being, maintain relaxation, peace of mind and promote happiness.

The fact that scents 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. (More...)