The Right Smells Can Make You Feel Healthier And Happier

Scents can greatly affect people.

Walk into your old high school or Grandma’s house and take a deep breath. You are instantly transported back to a time long ago, full of memories and emotions.

Some scents are purposely designed for reactions: Step into a house for sale, ready to show potential buyers. A savvy seller might fill the house with the smell of freshly baked bread, cookies or a bouquet of fresh flowers to remind shoppers of a loving, caring home.

Aromatherapy is an art and science that uses essential oils - pure oil extracts from flowers, fruits, plants and herbs - to trigger responses and enhance well-being.

Inland Northwest residents use aromatherapy for a variety of reasons. Janice Newell sets the mood in her house and reduces cold symptoms. Linda Cook relieves joint pain and alleviates stress. Karen Wilson creates an atmosphere of relaxation or stimulation. She also makes cosmetics.

It’s all done using a variety of single and combination essential oils in massage oils, skin-care products, perfumes and cosmetics. The volatile oil molecules are absorbed through the skin, lungs and olfactory nerves in the nostrils. They immediately connect with the brain’s limbic system.

Breathing in the scents of essential oils will trigger certain biochemical reactions in your body, says Wilson, who is working toward certification as an aromatherapist. The oils can act as analgesics, antiseptics, aphrodisiacs, antidepressants, disinfectants, anti-spasmodics and energizers. And they have other properties as well.

“When you trigger the memory and the emotional part of the brain,” explains Wilson, a physical therapy assistant, “it can also bring on changes in your body, such as body temperature changes.”

Diane Roche, owner of Palouse Prairie Herbs & Everlastings on North Monroe, sells aromatherapy products as well as bulk herbs, herbal teas and handmade gifts. She also offers classes in aromatherapy, taught by Wilson.

Roche believes in aromatherapy’s positive effects. “I use everything from eucalyptus and pine to lavender when I’m sick or for sinus infections,” she says. “I use juniper and birch for achy, sore muscles. We also use (aromatherapy) in the house when we have company, so it’s comforting and soothing when they come over.” Janice Newell is a newcomer to aromatherapy but an enthusiastic advocate of its benefits. She uses a diffuser to send the essential oil molecules throughout her house.

“What we’ve noticed is that it only takes a very few minutes, after turning the diffuser on, to start smelling it and feeling the energizing effect, the clear head,” says Newell, whose family recently suffered with colds. “We can feel pretty congested and put the diffuser on, and 20 minutes later, we’re all breathing more easily.”

Aromatherapy also has therapeutic uses for more serious conditions. Linda Cook was involved in an accident in 1989, resulting in injuries to her knees, back and neck. A number of surgeries are still in her future.

She relies on aromatherapy to relieve pain, including pain from arthritis. With a collection of 80 to 120 essential oils, she is a gold mine of information.

“When I use the oils, I usually mix things with a purpose in mind,” says Cook, who identifies lavender and chamomile as the two most versatile essential oils.

“There are fun things that you can do and interesting things. You can use energizing essential oils - like rosemary and myrrh - that give you the energized, rejuvenated feeling. Frankincense, properly mixed, helps reduce wrinkles and aging, as does sandalwood and a lot of others. They have found that having rosemary going (in a diffuser) with someone in the initial stage of Alzheimer’s helps mental clarity.”

Aromatherapy also helps in non-physical ways, adds Cook. “It helps not only with physical things, but the emotional, the mental, the intellectual, the spiritual.”

With aromatherapy, people can pamper themselves, says Roche. “It’s good for people to take time to take care of themselves, to relax.”

MEMO: Looking for information on aromatherapy? Check out libraries and bookstores for a wide selection of books, including Valerie Ann Worwood’s “The Complete book of Essential Oils & Aromatherapy” (New World Library, 1991). For more information about classes at Palouse Prairie Herbs & Everlastings, call 327-0430.