Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Dreams & Scents

DREAMS AND SCENTS
Our Sense of Smell is vital to us and affects us in many ways. Some smells can be good for our health and many can be bad. Some aromas we've seen can change our mood or emotions. To relieve stress, lavender, vanilla or rose scents are sometimes recommended. For concentration, many tout peppermint, strawberry or lavender. Personally, lavender gives me a headache. No one ever believes that, but it's true. The jasmine fragrance is said to be associated with alertness. I can smell that one, as it's one of my favorites. But, we are all unique with different chemistry. Now the study of fragrance and how it can affect our dreams is a bit more curious to me.
An aside for a moment, it has been suggested that smell might facilitate learning. In a study where participants studied the locations of cards while inhaling the smell of a rose, it was found that when the subjects went to sleep; and some were again exposed to the rose fragrance and others were given an odorless stimulus, those who smelled the rose remembered 97%, compared to 86 % for the others. This study seems to suggest that odors can accelerate learning as memories are integrated in sleep.
New research 'says' that flower scents sprayed around the bedroom before sleeping result in more positive dreams than unpleasant smells or no particular aromas at all. Not only have studies shown that smelling flowers before sleep can lead to more positive dreams, but researchers are looking into the possibility that pleasant smells could reduce the occurrence of nightmares.
So you know, clinical trials have shown that lavender can help with insomnia, anxiety, stress, and post-operative pain. I guess if I choose to go with lavender for all its benefits, I'll just have to keep a bottle of headache medicine around.

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