Enjoy the scents
To write this article, I set myself the goal of living an especially sensory week: I wanted to notice the feelings stirred up by the different scents I came across.
One of the first things I do after getting up is take my two dogs for a walk.
It’s a very special moment. Taking on this first responsibility of the day gets me going early and lets me feel I’m contributing to my own wellbeing and my family’s.
Today, as soon as I step outside, I notice the damp in the air and how easily I breathe, and I’m lucky enough to catch the wonderful scent of the cypress trees. It puts me in a good mood and makes me want to stretch out the walk to take in what’s happening around me in more detail.
This first reconnection with my everyday activities helps me feel more awake and open to the day bringing me more pleasant things to smell, making them more present and evocative, filling them with meaning.
When I get home, the first thing I notice is the smell of freshly made coffee. A big smile spreads across my face: it’s lovely to know I have a calm moment ahead to enjoy a warm breakfast.
Then I spend a moment smelling the clothes I’ve chosen to wear today — that fresh, pleasant scent of fabric softener that makes me want to hold the garment to my face and feel how soft it is.
Since I’d decided to enjoy every olfactory opportunity all day long, I had no excuse not to use my detangling spray or the creams a friend recommended. All those products I usually forget to put on, blaming lack of time or laziness, I enjoyed enormously today, thanks to my aim of discovering what they smell like.
Another fragrant moment of the day is waking my two children. One of my rituals when I get them up is to go and smell their little faces, their little necks and, on my more playful days, their little feet. Every one of those scents is magical, lovely and tender.
The butter melting into the pasta I’ve made for lunch; a freshly baked sponge cake.
How can paying more attention to everyday scents help us?
Just as our sense of smell helps us enjoy the nuances of food, it can help us notice details we had overlooked until now. It also makes us take our time and slow down a little, so we can observe and savour each moment.
When I pay attention to the scents around me each day, I need a conscious intention to be more present. I look for more information; my curiosity and interest in what surrounds me come alive.
Trying to work out what a scent brings me can help me remember, bring back an image from the past or a pleasant feeling I once had; it may relax me, or help me see opportunities to act.
I invite you to spend three days paying closer attention to every scent that reaches you, and to notice the feelings it brings.
This exercise will help you become more aware of the present moment: you’ll notice more details, find yourself more awake and curious about your surroundings, and your day will be richer in content and sensation. It will also help you see what supports you — and what doesn’t so much — in your routine and your habits.
If this practice helped you feel better, I’d love you to tell me about it — and if it didn’t, I’d love to hear that too. Every experience helps us discover what can contribute to our wellbeing.