Exploring The Many Benefits And Science Around Inhaling Essential Oils To Improve Mood, Memory And Wellbeing. Why our sense of smell has such power over our mood, emotions and memories than we could possibly imagine.
The Science Behind Inhalation And The Olfactory System
Our sense of smell depends on our olfactory system which has thousands of olfactory receptors in the nasal cavity help us to identify thousands of different smells and detect when something is off or repugnant to us.
Surprisingly humans have between 5 – 6 million smell receptors and dogs even more.
Every single person has a different level of heightened sensitivity to certain scents or smells, in relation to genetics but this tends to lower as we age.
Smell, Mood And Memory.
Smell is a powerful and important sense in relation to our sense of taste, memory and mood. Because the olfactory receptors are directly linked to the brains emotional centre the limbic system. Which send signals that stimulate different emotions, memories, mood and behaviour.
That is why smells can trigger all sorts of positive and negative emotions, scents can be very nostalgic at helping bring back lost memories, invoke happiness, joy and deep relaxation.
A big reason is why the use of scents and inhalation of essential oils has became so popular in various form of therapy and stress relief and as an aid in enhancing the memory recall of Alzheimer’s and Dementia sufferers.
An area of of work that I was occasionally contracted to provide as an aromatherapist and relaxation therapist.
What Is The Inhalation Of Essential Oils
The inhaling of essential oils is using specific pure essential oils to create certain mental, emotional, physical and behaviour changes such as feeling more relaxed, calm, grounded, more refreshed, energised, focused…
The Instant Benefits Of Inhaling Essential Oils
The big advantage of inhaling essential oils compares to many other forms of therapy and medication is how fast it works and of course totally natural and its level of safety.
Various research on olfaction demonstrates how quickly and powerfully certain scents and the inhalation of essential oils provides an instant emotional reaction.
That is why when you choose the right oil not just for its therapeutic properties but it’s personal alignment for that individual on memory level, a huge shift in consciousness can happen for the individual.
The Scientific Research On Inhaling Essential Oils For Wellbeing
Inhaling Essential Oils For Anxiety And Stress Relief
There is a variety of research on the positive benefits of inhaling essential oils to reduce anxiety, stress and increase productivity.
Aromatherapy with inhalation effectively alleviates the test anxiety of college students: A meta-analysis – published by Frontiers in Psychology
Benefit of inhalation aromatherapy as a complementary treatment for stress and anxiety in a clinical setting – A systematic review published by Pubmed
Essential oils for treating anxiety: a systematic review of randomized controlled trials and network meta-analysis – published by Pubmed demonstrated that Jasmine and Citrus aurantium L bitter orange to be the best essential oils for treating anxiety.
One of the most important things any fully qualified aromatherapist knows about choosing essential oils is how important it is to choose the right essential oils suitable for that client in relation to what smells right to them and in relation to safety and suitability. Another way to help clients to choose the right essential oils for themself is through muscle testing.
Inhaling Essential Oils For Boosting Mood
Some of the most common essential oils used to help boost mood, energy and increase focus are the citrus oils.
In-fact factories in Japan have used the inhaling of essential oils specifically lemon essential oil through their air conditioning for at least 40 years to improve productivity.
Here is some research on the benefits inhaling of essential oils for treating mood disorders naturally without prescription medication.
Therapeutic Effect and Mechanisms of Essential Oils in Mood Disorders: Interaction between the Nervous and Respiratory Systems published by PubMed.
Inhalation Aromatherapy via Brain-Targeted Nasal Delivery: Natural Volatiles or Essential Oils on Mood Disorders.
Improving Memory And Recall Using Essential Oil Inhalation
So much research has been done on the benefits of inhaling essential oils for improving memory recall especially in dementia and alzheimers especially using rosemary and lemon oil.
Certain essential oils are very useful at helping at improving memory recall for example research at the University of California on Overnight olfactory enrichment using an odorant diffuser improves memory and modifies the uncinate fasciculus in older adults.
Improving Learning And Memory In Alzheimer’s Disease
This study demonstrated “a 226% improvement in their performance on the Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test—a word list recall test used to assess verbal learning and memory.”
As well as “improved functioning in the left uncinate fasciculus, as assessed by mean diffusivity — the average water diffusion rate within brain tissue. The uncinate fasciculus is a brain pathway that plays a crucial role in learning and memory. Trusted Source and deteriorates Trusted Source with age and Alzheimer’s disease…”
In other studies such as Effect of aromatherapy on patients with Alzheimer’s disease we see a significant improvement in cognitive function in those with Alzheimer’s Disease.
The Benefits Of Inhaling Rosemary Essential Oil
In the research Effects of Essential Oils and Aromatic Plants on Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementia we see evidence that rosemary oil increased the participants’ capability of completing tasks by increasing their agility and accuracy.
Different Types Of Essential Oil Inhalation
Although steam inhalation is one of the most traditional forms of inhalation in aromatherapy, in recent years the simple art of sniffing essential oils has become more common.
Safe And Effective Use Of Essential Oils
Essential oils like all natural remedies have a variety of properties and should always be used appropriately. Although inhalation of essential oils is generally regarded to be safe. Some essential oils are not suitable for inhalation especially steam inhalation for babies, children, pregnancy and in those with certain medical conditions.
For more information about the safe and effective use of essential oils for you and your family use check out my Essential Oils For Home Use Ebook
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