Robyn Latman Coaching

Your nose can detect thousands of different scents.  In an instant, your smell receptors send information about aromas to your brain where the messages get sorted.  Certain smells can make you calm, energize you, relax you enough to put you to sleep or stimulate you to perk you up.  Different smells can ease your pain, lower your stress and improve your mood.  Let’s make sense of some everyday scents.

Ever wonder why so many sachets are filled with lavender?  It isn’t only because lavender keeps the moths and other insects away.  Lavender has a soothing scent that reduces stress levels, relaxes you and helps you to fall asleep.  Stash some sachets in your clothing drawers and some more on your bedside table.  You can spray your sheets and pillows with a lavender scented spray for a calming smell as you doze off to sleep.

Why do many household cleaners smell lemon fresh?  In addition to their natural antibacterial properties, lemons are energizing, refreshing and natural mood lifters.  Need a boost?  Cut open a fresh lemon, and take a whiff.  Grind lemon rinds in your garbage disposal to freshen the drain and scent the kitchen.   When you do your Spring cleaning, notice how the scent puts an extra spring in your step.  The clean smell will linger throughout your home and lift your mood for days to come.

Feeling tired or the workday is dragging?  Reach for the beans.  Smelling coffee or chocolate perks you up and helps you complete tasks more efficiently.  Keep a package of coffee on your desk, and take a whiff when you catch yourself in a yawn.  It will heighten alertness so that you can focus on the tasks at hand.  Need a cognitive boost to finish a difficult project or the Sunday crossword puzzle?  The scent of chocolate helps you to process visual information more quickly.  Keep a box of dark chocolate on hand and inhale deeply when you need help concentrating.

When you want to change your mood, consider changing what you smell.  A simple sniff can transform how you feel, reduce your stress and get you through the day.  Now that you know how lemons, lavender, coffee and chocolate affect you, what other smells will you start to notice?