(This blog was originally posted on February 3, 2015)
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| Photo by Rick Hustead |
After
the New Year I typically do an early “Spring Cleaning” in which I donate
clothes or other items that I no longer use to make room for new items I
received as gifts over the holidays. When I started sorting this year I came
across some old bottles of perfume that I hadn’t worn in ages. Curious, I
spritzed one of my favorites into the air and inhaled deeply. Of course the
composition of those scents had degraded by now; in their less pure form they
were actually more intense. Equally intense was the power of my memories of the
emotions I felt back when I used to wear that brand of perfume.
Good
days, not-so-good days—it all came flooding back in a rush. I remembered the
friend who introduced me to my former signature scent. Then that recollection
reminded me where I was at that time: I was living in a suburb of London and
had just started working on my post-graduate degree. In January, it would have
been much colder and wetter in London than the current weather in Southern
California. In fact, around this time twenty-four years ago, snow fell in
Southeast London and blanketed the rooftops and pavements in neighborhood for
several days….
That
unexpected trek down memory lane served as a powerful reminder of why I do not
wear perfume or use scented candles or incense when I work with hypnotherapy
clients. Olfaction (sense of smell) is one of the most powerful triggers of
memory and strong, pervasive emotional associations. As I explained in my
previous blog titled Anchors,
the mind creates a subconscious link or “anchor” between the scent a person
perceives and whatever is going on in his or her life at that moment. Even
though the details of a specific event will likely fade from the conscious mind
over time, exposure to a scent or odor can trigger an unexpected memory that
the subconscious mind associates with that moment in time.
Part
of my work as their hypnotherapist entails helping my clients to create new,
positive associations that will facilitate the achievement of their
self-improvement goals. Therefore, it is important that minimize the possibility
that something about me will unintentionally
create or trigger a subconscious association between me and a previous,
unwanted behavior that could impede the therapeutic process.
Sara R. Fogan, C.Ht. is a certified hypnotherapist based in
Southern California. She graduated with honors from the Hypnosis Motivation
Institute in 2005. For more
information about Calminsense Hypnotherapy® and to set up an
appointment, please visit http://www.calminsensehypnotherapy.com/.
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