It’s spring! This is the season when we fling open the windows and let the fresh air into our winter-stuffy homes. The air is redolent with the fragrance of spring – flowering trees and blossoms, the rich, deep aroma of turned earth, the revitalizing, refreshing smell of a light breeze.
Yes, spring is a feast for the nose as well as the eyes. We respond to its wake-up call by getting outdoors more, whether that’s spending time in the garden or simply strolling the neighborhood, breathing in the lilacs and the honeysuckle.
Spring is also when we clean out the dusty corners, change our wardrobe, and bring in spring’s loveliness to make our indoors feel as fresh and revitalized as the beautiful world outside.
Now that you’re awake to the rich fragrance of the season, MrSteam suggests that you indulge in the vibrancy of spring scents in your steam shower through the power of aromatherapy.
Your nose is a highly sensitive organ that has a greater impact on your day-to-day life than you might realize. It doesn’t take much of a shift in smell to alter your mood, how you act, and even the choices you make. Smell is a trigger for various emotions and for memory.
Showing a house? Your real estate agent is apt to ask you to throw a batch of cookies in the oven or brew a pot of coffee. And have you ever noticed how the scent of citrus makes you want to start cleaning? Students during a Dutch university study thought so, even without registering that a citrus-scented cleaner had been hidden in their dorms.
What is fascinating is that our reaction to smell is almost completely from a combination of personal associations. Some researchers feel that we react to a phenomenon they call odor "imprinting." Certain odors remind us of our personal world: people, places, specific objects or events in our lives.
This may be why the scents of spring are so revitalizing to us – because we link them to our memories of what spring means to each one of us, and the way the earth seems reborn during this season.
There is science behind the fact that smell is so closely tied to our memories.
The olfactory bulb, the part of our brains that process odor, works together with the regions that house our emotions. As we repeat an experience that is paired with a specific aroma, we come to link that smell with that particular experience, person, or time period. Often, we don’t even know why certain images – good or bad – pop into our minds when we smell something.
According to researchers, some of these imprinted memories may even develop in embryo!
Aromatherapy has been recognized for centuries as having potentially profound healing effects. Aromatherapy was mankind’s first medicine, a holistic practice of caring for the body using botanical oils. Archeologists believe that the Egyptians first created oils infused with herbs that they used in religious rituals, and as medicine, perfume and cosmetics.
During the classical Greek era, Hippocrates (approximately 450-380 BCE), the “Father of Medicine, studied how essential oils affected the body, promoting their use as a form of medicine.
Essential oils can help awake and stimulate, or relax and promote better sleep. The MrSteam aromas are a unique collection of natural fragrances that enrich the steam experience.
Each aromatic oil offers a distinct fragrance with characteristic benefits:
Evergreen: A refreshing blend of spruce, fir and pine reminiscent of a forest on a crisp morning, evergreen essential oils have deep-rooted healing properties, helping to ease the pain and soreness often present in overworked or tired muscles. Adding Evergreen to your steambath or shower can evoke that refreshing feeling of a walk in the park. What better way to celebrate the spring?
Energizer: A blend of mint, citrus and herbs that may stimulate and invigorate, the energizer essential oil can give you the get-up-and-go that you need to contend with all the things you have to do during your busy day. A few drops in your shower or steambath can help you feel like you’re ready for anything!
Breathe: A tropical combination that may help clear chest, nose and sinuses, Breathe is the perfect essential oil if you are feeling congested due to those pesky spring allergies! This deep-acting scent, reminiscent of the balmy tropics, can make you fast-forward to thoughts of summer, right around the corner.
Eucalyptus: If you’re spring cleaning your home, you might also want to spring clean your body! A deeply refreshing aroma with cleansing effects, eucalyptus may help open air passageways. Eucalyptus is the ideal essential oil to help you breathe deeply, bringing oxygen to the brain and the body. Add a few drops to a steambath or shower for a memorable and enlightening experience.
Lavender: The perfect scent to evoke the beauty of spring blossoms! A sweet, lightly floral scent, lavender essential oil may help soothe anxiety with its calming and restorative properties. This oil can work wonders as you breathe in its delicate bouquet, helping you let go of the tensions of the day and prepare yourself for any challenges ahead.
Bring spring inside your personal spa sanctuary with these delightful essential oils. Mix the aroma with steam by adding it to the oil well of your steamhead.
Or finish your shower or bath by the inviting fragrance of a warmed towel gently scented on a MrSteam TowelWarmer. Breathe deep!
>> See How To Add AromaTherapy To Your Steam Shower To Invigorate Mind And Body