Relationships
“Ointment and perfume delight the heart, and the sweetness of a man’s friend gives delight by a hearty counsel» (Proverbs 279).
The usage of aromas for curative purposes goes back to the most ancient cultures. In ancient history, the Chinese used fragrant compounds as incense for medical purposes; the Romans used balms for their baths and treatments. The term aromatherapy was coined by the French chemist René-Maurice Gattefosse (1881-1950) in the 1920s to name the use of the different essential oils as remedies to diseases. In more recent times, it was noted that sweet and soft smells produced harmless effects over people’s moods and behaviors. People exposed to such fragrances had less anxiety, were more relaxed and felt better. The sense of smell has such a powerful effect on us because the nasal membrane carries the odor molecules through the olfactory nerve to the limbic system, the source of emotions in the human brain. This center is directly connected to the hippocampus, a key organ in the formation of new memories. That’s why we know that the memories of certain smells can be stored for decades. If they appear again, they can evoke detailed memories of the original situation.
But the effect is not limited to emotions; smells also trigger kind actions. Nicolas Guéguen, from the University of Southern Brittany in Lorient, (France) worked with a team of eight young people who casually pretended to search for something in their bag in front of a passerby in a mall. At that moment, they would «unintentionally» let a glove drop and observe if the passerby informed them about the «loss.» They repeated this experiment two hundred times in an odorless environment (clothing stores’ area) and another two hundred times in an area with pleasant aromas (bakery/ pastry area), keeping the rest of the variants constant. The rate of politeness and kindness was significantly higher in the environment with pleasant smells compared to the odorless area.
Job compares the scent of perfume to the heartfelt advice of a true friend. It seems logical, given the results of these studies, that pleasant smells can improve the mood and foster kindness. Likewise, an ideal friendly relationship and a friend’s good advice and support can act like a pleasant smell: they produce a mutual cycle of kind words and actions. Practice today this principle of spreading the aroma of your good advice or just lending your ear to support a friend. The result may be even better than you expect.
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Taken from: Daily Devotions for Junior 2020
“A Cheerful Heart Is Good Medicine”
From: Julian Melgoza-Laura Fidanza
Colaboradores:Ricardo Vela & Emmanuel Tapia
