PURE SOUL

Spiritual Candles

How Aroma Affects the Mind

The sense of smell is indeed our most spiritually connected sense. It’s direct link to our intuition, dreams, higher thoughts, emotions, and memory add to the mystery behind the act of smelling. In every culture, spiritual belief system, and religion, our sense of smell is always associated to the divine in some way, and is considered our exalted sense.

The Many Functions of Ritual Aromatics

There are many reasons that just about every religious and spiritual practice has incorporated aromatic plants in the forms of incense, anointing oils, and perfumes into rituals and sacred offerings since their beginning. For one, aroma helps unlock the doors to the divine for us, activating something inside of our consciousness that allows us to slip into certain states of mind, or states of feeling, which you’ve likely experienced on some level with an incense or aromatic plant. At the same time a plant’s aromatic constituents literally affect our moods and how we feel. Sometimes turning on our parasympathetic nervous system and literally relaxing us or mildly sedating us, adding to our sacred experiences.

Aroma also helps us step out of time and forget our everyday tasks and thoughts for a moment so we can have greater focus in a state of prayer, ritual, or intention. At the same time aroma also does something outside of us. Something equally mysterious. Since the beginning of time fragrance has been used to appease spirit, or spiritual entities, gods and goddesses, and deities. It’s universally used as a sacred offering, most commonly in the form of incense, as the smoke travels upwards to the heavens and grabs the attention of the spirit world.

The sense of smell is deeply connected to our emotions and memories. When we inhale the aroma of a plant, its volatile compounds travel through our nasal passages to the olfactory bulb, which is part of the limbic system – the brain's emotional center`s. Smells can trigger emotional responses and memories due to this close connection between the olfactory and limbic systems, which are involved in both emotions and memory processing. This direct connection between scent and emotion is what makes aromatherapy so effective in influencing our mental state.

Aromatherapy is often used as a complementary therapy for managing stress, anxiety, and mental health struggles. Research has shown that certain aromatic compounds can modulate neurotransmitters in the brain, such as serotonin and dopamine, which are closely linked to mood regulation. For example, volatile oils in Lavender have been found to have calming effects, reducing stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms . Similarly, many aromatics can uplift mood and improve overall well-being. For example, studies have shown that exposure to Citrus scents like Orange can promote feelings of happiness and contentment, and alleviate symptoms of emotional stress .

Smells are closely linked to memory, and certain scents can evoke vivid memories and improve cognitive function. For individuals with conditions like dementia or Alzheimer's disease, aromatherapy and exposure to familiar scents can help trigger memories and potentially improve cognitive function. A recent research study found that when mice with Alzheimer's disease inhaled the aromatic compound menthol, their cognitive abilities improved. The study also highlights the interesting fact that diseases like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and schizophrenia are often accompanied by a loss of smell, suggesting that aromatics can potentially be used as therapies for Alzheimer's