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Our sense of smell really is an amazing thing. Although we use our eyes and ears to process what goes on around us daily, we all use our sense of smell far more often than we think!
It's ironic that most people undervalue the power of scent. Fragrances have the ability to evoke both positive and negative psychological states of mind and reactions in milliseconds. Whether it's that warming smell of freshly ground coffee in the morning, baked croissants or the cut grass in your garden. Many of these daily scents can evoke powerful memories and emotional feelings attached.
Have you ever walked into a room and instantly been transported back to a happy memory or felt your mood or emotions change? According to scientists, our sense of smell triggers memory more than of our other senses. This is because those senses do not pass through these areas of the brain relating to memory.
Our sense of smell is one of the most powerful senses we possess and the merest hint of something familiar can trigger a special memory of a wonderful moment in our lives that we may treasure forever or a loss or mishap that happened and the accompanying feelings.
The olfactory bulbs are part of the limbic system and directly connect with limbic structures that process emotion (the amygdala) and associative learning (the hippocampus). No other sensory system has this type of intimate link with the neural areas of emotion and associative learning, therefore there is a strong neurological basis for why odors trigger emotional connections.The reason for this is simple. It’s because there is a direct link in our brains between memory and scent.
Our sense of smell is something we can improve. You can train your nose to become more sensitive to scents simply by taking a moment to enjoy the smells around you. Pause and focus on that smell of coffee before you drink it. Take a few moments to enjoy the scent of your favourite flowers or perfume or the myriad of scents from your freshly cooked meal. Becoming conscious or the scents around you and tuning into them, will help to increase your ability to recognise them again.
It was this connection that Cathy realised was a powerful part of her treatments with clients when she worked in London as a therapist. The scent and ambiance of her therapy rooms was just as much part of there therapy as the actual treatment itself.
If a client was suffering from stress or anxiety, scents such as lavender and calming honeysuckle & jasmine were used. If a client was depressed, then a more uplifting scent added the boost that helped improve their mood.
At Miller & Keane we have continued this approach and hand picked and named each of our candles based on the benefits of their different scents. Our hope is to assist you in creating the calmness you need when you need it or to offer a boost with our uplifting fragrances such as Rejuvenate or Happy Day.
Some of the benefits of each of our scents is listed below.
Mandarin – Uplifting, joyful endorphins released thanks to the citrus notes. It is known for its ability to soften feelings of nervous or anxiousness.
You can browse our full range of candles and natural reed diffusers online and start creating your happy space at home today with our special code of 'scentathome' to enjoy 20% off.
Despite our best efforts, stress is often a normal part of our everyday life. While it is something that most of us have simply learned to tolerate, it's impact on our physical and mental wellbeing is often far greater than we realise.
This guide offers 10 Tips to help move you from stress to de-stress and maintain a healthier, more balanced life that is better for you and those around you.
So many of us have been brought up to believe that we need to take care of everyone else first and foremost and that our own needs come last. This is seen as a virtue and praised as being 'kind', 'right' and 'self-less'.
However, as we have seen many times over, ignoring or putting our needs last on our list inevitably leads to burnout, ill health and often a lot of resentment.
Self-care is any activity that we intentionally do in order to take care of ourselves! Simple as the really. Our health and wellbeing is made up of our mental, physical, emotional and even spiritual needs.