Connect a Higher Level Using Smell by Cat Wilson
Garden. Beach. Woods. How do you connect using smell? Walking through a pine forest can energize, strolling through a blooming rose garden can arouse, or sitting on a beach and smelling salty sea air can open you up? Each location has smells that may connect you to happy, motivating, relaxing or invigorating moods by the simple function of smell. Odiferous wisdom can make you more masterful. Which place brings you what you need and want in the moment? Smell is a mind-body connection and you can use it to enhance your life.
Scented Research
Would it make a difference to have different smells during different activities? People want to perform better and be more alert when they play games, work, dance, and they enjoy being around places that create a sense of relaxation when they want it, too. Smell can help. Studies have shown the benefits on physiology, mood, game performance and task load using peppermint scents. The North American Journal of Psychology reported on how using physiologically arousing scents such as peppermint can further promote cognitive performance. Using knowledge of smell can ignite you! Connect a higher level using smell and become a better athlete, dancer, or student.
A Little Dab Will Do Ya
You can use your sense of smell to connect to what you need. Oxford Journals created mood mapping to measure mood associations of aromas. In the morning you may want to wake up and at night to rest.
Following are useful scents:
- Peppermint, Spearmint – invigorating – wakes you up
- Citrus – stimulating – perform with alertness
- Lavender & Jasmine – relaxing and restful – helps you sleep
- Vanilla – peaceful, happy, relaxed, pleasurable – good for weight release
How Odor Communicates
Connecting with Horses
Animals, such as horses, pick up on smells which can tell them whether to trust. Nature has an elaborative way to bring species together using odors. Actually the chemical sense is one of the most basic methods of communication. Some creatures are so well developed in their olfactory (smell) sense that if you are a moth you can find a mate who is two or three miles away.
How did you feel in your last meeting? Culturally, we interpret information about each other in smells. I remember years ago at Bell Northern Research when the manager of my department held meetings in his office. The mix of body scents was so strong that I placed a timed mechanism in his office that would squirt freshener every hour. After a couple days he asked what was going on in his room, and I told him about my thoughtful gesture of saving him from the odiferous atmosphere.
He explained to me that the mix of international employees “liked” the mix of human smells. The timed mechanism was creating confusion as the scent was masking body scents filled with information that this European mix appreciated when they met to discuss projects. Under the skin we are biologically attuned to interpret the secret messages of scent that the body gives off. Excitement and fear can be chemically emitted and perceived on an unconscious level. I took the mechanism out and cultivated a sense of appreciation to connect a higher level using smell.
Connect a Higher Level Using Smell
Architecture and Smell by Rick Wilson
Scent marketing pioneers have found that smell can ignite you. It’s shown the value to be so high, that businesses are using “scent marketing” to create their identity. If you notice that one insurance company makes you feel safer, you might notice the smell. Maybe you get the sense of freedom, and then there may be ocean smells. Bloomberg BusinessWeek reported on scent-marketing pioneers to connect at a higher level using scent. When used in some bank branches “Customer satisfaction shot up 20 percent, to 99 percent.”
Learn to Connect with Others
I wonder how all this new information will smell to you … now that you are more aware? Want to learn more about your senses and how we use NLP to connect a higher level using scent and more? Arrange an NLP session with us or sign up for a class. We look forward to smelling you soon! Call us at 503-525-0595 or email catwilsoncoach@gmail.com.