How to Explore Nature Scents for Health & Fun!

By Caryn Gehlmann

Picture yourself at your favorite outdoor spot. Maybe it’s your favorite beach, the wooded park by your house, your flower garden… Can you see yourself there? Now ask yourself, what does it smell like? How does your body react to nature scents? Do you breathe deeper and your muscles relax?

What is it about nature that makes us feel better? Could it be natural aromas? And how can we benefit even more from scents that make us feel more relaxed? We’re going to explore this topic in this month’s “Just for the Smell of It” column.

#1 Science Explores How Nature Scents Drives Our Behavior

For years researchers have known that spending time in nature can lower heart rate and restore focus. However, Marcus Hedblom, an ecologist at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, wanted to identify the physiological mechanisms, and perhaps even the specific sensory stimuli, that drives stress reduction in natural environments. He set up a study where participants experienced one of three virtual environments: a city, a park, or a forest.

Of course, people responded more positively to the more natural environments. However, the researchers were surprised to discover that smells might have a much more profound effect on reducing stress compared with sights and sounds. This makes sense since according to the study’s coauthor, neuropsychologist Johan Lundström, our sense of smell is “unique among the senses.” This is because it’s not first processed by the thalamus, instead, the smell signal is sent straight to the hypothalamus, a brain region involved in stress responses.

You can read more of the details in the article, Smells of Nature Lower Physiological Stress. And if you really want to do a deep dive into the science of scent, read this article, The Secret Workings of Smell Receptors, Revealed At Last. It walks you through brand-new research on how smell receptors bind to odor molecules—yielding new insights into our mysterious and versatile sense of smell!

#2 Appreciate Nature Scents As You Explore Your Natural Environment

Our sense of smell is constantly at work but sometimes we don’t “listen” to what it’s telling us. So I encourage you to listen to your nose the next time you’re at your favorite outdoor spot. Yes, the sights and sounds are relaxing too, but what about the nature scents? Pause and think about the salty, briny scents near the ocean, or the woodsy, earthy aromas of the forest, or the floral, herbal scents in your garden. Take a deep breath and enjoy your aromatherapy moment!

Another fun thing to do is to purposely take an aromatic adventure. Here are 3 ideas:

1. Like my sister Sue and her family, you can go to the woods and smell the different trees. Which tree smells the best to you?

2. Go to the florist shop and smell the freshly cut flowers. Instead of choosing your bouquet based on how it looks, choose it purely based on your favorite scents.

3. Visit a herbal garden or farm. Here in Southern Oregon, we have local lavender farms. You can take a class with me if you want to explore the different lavender scents to determine which one is your personal favorite.

When you get home from your adventure you might want to see if you can replicate the scent in your diffuser at home. Essential oils come from nature! You can often find that very same tree scent, floral scent, or herbal scent that you love.

#3 Explore Answers to Your Essential Oil Questions

Another thing I encourage all aromatherapy lovers to do is to explore answers to your questions. You can use the search bar on our e3 blog to find a wide variety of topics or you can take a look at our e3 guide to aromatherapy. And if you don’t find the answers there you can always ask us, as clinical aromatherapists, we’re happy to respond to your questions.

Recently I had a customer ask, “I want to make a hand sanitizer and use citrus oils, is this safe? Which citrus essential oils are not phototoxic?”

First, what does it mean for an essential oil to be phototoxic? Certain essential oils can cause skin reactions in sunlight and UV light. These essential oils contain furocoumarins, which are heavy molecules that are less volatile than many of the other components in essential oils.

According to the research reported in Tisserand and Young’s book, Essential Oil Safety, the following citrus essential oils are not phototoxic: Mandarin essential oil, Wild Orange and Sweet Orange essential oil, and Tangerine essential oil.

Here is a list of phototoxic essential oils you wouldn’t want to use on skin that is exposed to sunlight.

Bergamot (Citrus bergamia)
Lime (cold pressed) (Citrus medica)
Bitter orange (Citrus aurantium)
Angelica root (Angelica archangelica)
Cumin (Cuminum cyminum)
Grapefruit (Citrus paradisi)
Lemon (Citrus limon)
Rue (Ruta graveolens

Another factor is the method of distillation. A cold-pressed essential oil (also called expressed) from Bergamot is phototoxic while steam distilled, like e3’s Bergamot FCF, doesn’t have the furocoumarins and is safe to use in the sun without risk.

If you’re in the mood to explore more nature scents, download our free guide, The Art and Science of Blending Essential Oils.