Flowers and plants emit very small molecules of perfumed substances; each odor molecule contains an enormous amount of information. This perfumed "messenger" reaches the olfactory mucous membranes, no larger than one square centimetre, located high up in the nasal cavity, approximately at eye level. There the message finds hundreds of millions of tiny antennae (ciliary protuberances) waiting for it. The cilia are connected to the olfactory bulbs and they, via the olfactory nerve, carry the message, in the form of a nerve impulse, directly to the limbic system in the brain. The Libyan system notes in the memory archive the emotional and instinctive behaviors aroused by smells. Received messages are transmitted to the hypothalamus, which controls many system functions
autonomic nervous. In fact, it regulates sleep, sexual activity, body temperature, appetite, digestion, heart rate, etc. and reacts to stimuli by telling the body whether it should relax, activate, rest, cancel painful sensations, etc., for this reason it is called "the brain of the brain".
What distinguishes smell from the other senses is that while sight, hearing, taste and touch are all sensory stimuli first passed through the various nerves and synaptic junctions and finally reached the brain, only for smell there is a direct connection between brain
(hypothalamus) and olfactory receptors in the nose.
Aromatherapy uses the olfactory archetypes of spices, citrus fruits, gods
woods, resins or flowers to which we are "programmed" to respond with certain behaviors or particular physical reactions. Many scholars, passionate about this ancient technique, have conducted in-depth investigations, ascertaining that the volatile substances of essential oils stimulate the endocrine glands to produce substances such as endorphins, adrenaline, dopamine, etc., naturally produced by our body under the influence of psychophysical activities such as sports, emotional states, psychic states.
By means of essential oils it is thus possible to harmonize the functions of the endocrine system which, by interacting with the various systems, allows our state of psychophysical balance to remain in perfect synchrony. This is the most suggestive aspect linked to the use of essences: the evocative faculty , understood not only as a memory of moods, but also of states of consciousness above normal perception. The use of incense and myrrh evokes, for example, superior subtle energies which help those who have embarked on a spiritual quest; laurel has a strong balancing power on the neurovegetative system; angelica develops courage; orange gives happiness and is an excellent nervous system tonic; basil strengthens the immune system and is an antidepressant; bergamot is useful against states of agitation, depression and fear; cinnamon develops creativity; eucalyptus and lavender are excellent stress relievers.
The extraordinary fact is that we respond to olfactory stimuli below the level of conscious awareness. Olfactory stimuli modify our behavior in a constructive way and influence our activity and our emotions without us being aware of it, precisely because when a message arrives at the hypothalamus, the hypothalamus interprets it as an operational command! In fact, the reaction to a certain olfactory impulse is already registered within us.
The essential oils of plants and flowers are, in the same way as smells, messages that bring us certain qualities of nature's intelligence. They reach the hypothalamus and their message is transmitted instantly to our entire body and mind, so that every single cell activates that type of information, behavior or emotion.
If we are sad or depressed, a certain essential oil will bring us a message of joy, of happiness, like a friend who comes to visit us humming after something went well. If we are ill, if we have bronchitis, or pressure imbalances (high or low blood pressure), suffer from rheumatic pains or insomnia, if we want to revive our eros, if we are too stressed, we can turn to Mother Nature. There are certainly plants in which the creative intelligence of nature has concentratedly instilled precious fragments of itself, very useful for restoring harmony to our physiology in difficulty or sick.
Essential oils are specific qualities of intelligence of nature ready to come to our aid at any moment.
