Odours in the office
Few people in Poland pay any attention to odours in their offices. Unlike their counterparts in Western Europe, USA, Canada, and Japan, who have done it for a long time, and with good reason.
Companies abroad have used aromatherapy for many years, achieving very good and scientifically confirmed results.
For example, a Japanese study revealed that after diffusing lemon oil throughout an office building, the number of errors made by computer operators decreased by as much as 54%.
Other Japanese studies suggest that the smell of jasmine stimulates the electric activity of the brain, whereas lavender aroma stabilizes it. Mint oil has been proved to enhance concentration and relieve mental fatigue and headaches.
The introduction of aromatherapy in a company leads to a significant improvement of work atmosphere and productivity. Companies that regularly use aromatherapy are well aware of it.
Manipulation is forbidden
However, there is also a negative aspect of aromatherapy, since aromas are sometimes used dishonestly and in a rather manipulative way, known as aroma marketing.
It is a strategy that uses specific aromas during marketing meetings in order to create a nice atmosphere and stimulate a client to take a purchase decision.
Such strategies (additionally accompanied by music) have recently been used in commerce, especially in large supermarkets. Under the influence of special aromas saturating the air (barely noticeable to buyers) customers buy more than they intended and stay longer in the shop than they planned.
The growing popularity of aroma marketing has been the cause of concern voiced by consumer protection organizations all over the world, who have doubts about its legality and wonder if it should not be banned.
However, let us concentrate on the application of fragrances in a company and on using them with good intentions. The aim of the above example about aroma marketing was only to demonstrate that smell is really a powerful stimulant.
The power of smell
As someone has once said, we can close our eyes and stop our ears, but we cannot stop breathing. In addition, as we breathe – whether we want it or not – we can feel smells.
This is why many aromatic stimuli have an effect on us at a sub-threshold level, i.e. we are completely unaware of their existence. For example, we may feel happier, more content, relaxed, and less tired without knowing that it is a smell that is affecting us in this way.
Aromas are an important aspect of interior decoration; they build the atmosphere of a given space and make it cooler or warmer. A subtly fragranced air arouses desires and evokes emotions and memories.
Aromas can be divided into three groups:
• smells of the mind, e.g. grapefruit, improve blood supply in the tissues. As a result, they stimulate the activity of the brain, improve concentration, and relieve mental fatigue. These properties make them particularly suitable for office use
• smells of the heart, e.g. thyme, have a positive effect on interpersonal relationships,
• smells with a rooty overtone enhance a feeling of pleasure and self-acceptance; this is why they are often used as aphrodisiacs
Aromatherapy – what is it?
Aromatherapy is a therapeutic method with a history as long as the history of civilisation. It takes advantage of the positive properties of etheric oils contained in plants.
Etheric oils have been used as ingredients of medicines, perfumes, and cosmetics for centuries. Their good effect on health and psyche has been known since ancient times. Fragrant substances were highly valued by the ancient Egyptians. Affluent women and men oiled their bodies with aromatic oils to moisturise the skin and protect it against the effects of dry climate. The Egyptians passed on their knowledge of aromas to the ancient Greeks, who used etheric oils for therapeutic body massages. From Greece, this knowledge spread subsequently to Rome.
There is also a story about an English town in medieval times whose population survived a cholera epidemic only because all its residents cultivated and distilled lavender to earn a living. The antiseptic properties of lavender oil were not confirmed until many years later, when they were rediscovered by Rene Gatefosse - a Frenchmen who used lavender oil extensively in the treatment of wounded soldiers during the First World War.
He was also the first person to use the term “aromatherapy” in the 20’s of the 20th century and was the author of the first book on this subject.
Today, aromatherapy has become enormously popular, especially in Japan, in the countries of Western Europe, USA and Canada. Slowly, this trend is catching up in Poland too.
Aromatherapy has become a widely applied therapeutic method, because it uses only natural and pure plant substances that do not produce any side effects. Aromatic oils are known for their therapeutic effectiveness and their ability to evoke specific psychic reactions, e.g. a feeling of happiness, or to produce a highly invigorating and energizing effect.
Wonderful oils
There are two forms of aromas available on the marker, based on artificial or natural components. Real aromatherapy uses only natural oils, which are unprocessed, undiluted, and unadulterated. They are much more expensive, but only natural oils have aromatherapeutic properties. The quality and origin of oils are thus essential.
Etheric oils used in aromatherapy are strong concentrates obtained from fragrant parts of plants by steam distillation, extraction, pressing, and other methods, depending on the type of plant.
They belong to the group of herbal medicinal products. However, they contain higher concentrations of active substances than traditional mixtures and herbal extracts and their action is much stronger.
It is also worth knowing that many kilograms or even tonnes of plants have to be distilled to obtain a small bottle of such a medicinal product (e.g. 2 tonnes of rose petals are needed to obtain 1 kg of rose oil).
Etheric oils have a very complicated chemical composition and often contain over 300 of different substances (the effect of some of these substances on our body has not been fully investigated yet). Synthetic oils contain fewer ingredients than natural oils and cannot compete with them.
How is it done?
The basic forms of aromatherapy include aromatherapeutic massages, baths, compresses, and aromatherapeutic inhalations - mostly used in firms.
The most popular and convenient method of preparing aromatherapeutic inhalations is by heating a mixture of etheric oils and water in the bowl of an aromatherapy lamp.
The oils evaporate and become diffused in the air. All you have to do is to pour 1 tablespoon of water into the bowl and add 4-10 drops of the oil, depending on the size of the room in which the aromatherapy lamp is used.
Oils may also be used in air refresheners, stone humidifiers suspended on heaters or pot pourii dishes, i.e. mixtures of dried flowers. In closed office rooms, they will certainly provide freshness, scenting the air with delicate fragrances of nature on grey autumn and winter days.
What fragrances should be used?
Carefully chosen and properly used etheric oils have a positive effect on our physical and mental health; they enhance the sense of well-being and improve our concentration at work. So why not experience the benefits of aromatherapy for yourself?
For example, a mixture of peppermint, rosemary, thyme and hyssop oils will lessen or eliminate apathy.
Orange, tangerine, cypress, and sandal and geranium oils can be used as an effective remedy for irritation and mood swings.
Nerol, rose, melissa, ylang, bergamot and salvia sclarea oils will relieve stress and tension, whereas roman chamomile, tangerine, marjoram, lavender, melissa, and rose oils are excellent for insomnia.
You can also buy ready mixtures of etheric oils, composed in accordance with aromatherapy rules to help you achieve the desired effects such as, for example, improvement of mood or relief of tension, fatigue, and stress. Etheric oils may also be used to disinfect the air and saturate rooms with delightful fragrances.
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Here are a few tips on mixing etheric oils on your own (there are thousands of possible combinations):
• FATIGUE (OVERWORK) - 8 drops of sandal tree oil + 5 drops of palmarosa oil + 4 drops of lemon oil + 3 drops of salvia sclarea oil.
• FOR A GOOD START OF THE DAY - 3 drops of peppermint oil (use curled mint oil /mentha crispata/ if you have hypertension) + 2 drops of rosemary oil (not to be used in hypertension) + 5 drops pf palmarosa oil.
• MIXTURE FOR IMPROVED CONCENTRATION - 5 drops of grapefruit oil + 5 drops of sweet basil oil.
• SOOTHING AND CALMING MIXTURE - 10 drops of nutmeg-apple oil + 8 drops of sandal tree oil + 12 drops of orange leaves oil (petitgrain) + 5 drops of tangerine oil.
