Stop and Smell the Flowers -- What Following this Simple Advice will do for You

by Karen Nash

 When I was a youngster I received a little plaque that read, “Take time to stop and smell the flowers” scrolled across the top and colorful flowers popping up with happy faces on them below.  I asked my mom what the saying meant, and she told me that sometimes people get too busy, and it was a good reminder to slow down and enjoy the little things in life.  Even as a child, I thought, yeah, that's probably a good thing.  Little did I appreciate the real wisdom in the saying.  Brain research and scientific studies are now showing the amazing benefits of following this advice.  It has been proven that stopping to smell the flowers helps our brains in the following two regards.

First, in order to smell the flowers, we must stop and notice them rather than walk right on by.  When we stop and notice our environment, it actually creates a shift in our brains.  Consider how much time you spend in inner dialogue with your mind chattering, creating story lines, strategizing, planning, or interpreting meaning of things.  You literally get lost in thought, on autopilot.  This leads to reacting your usual ways of reacting through life.  When you stop and notice your environment, your brain quiets and moves to a state of receiving.  It leads to a posture of being open, present and mindful.  This helps you to respond and create rather than react.   Take a moment now and notice the floor under your feet, the temperature in the room, and the sounds around you.  Enjoy the moment and let that quieter brain state stay with you.  Continue to check in with your environment every so often.

Second is the amazing benefit of smelling the flowers.  The olfactory sense is the only sense that links directly up to the brain and taps right into our limbic system, or our emotional brain.  When our limbic system is happy, we feel a greater sense of well-being.  So, the cool thing is, when we smell the flowers, it actually makes us feel happier and more settled.  That’s because pleasant scents cause the release of serotonin (the chemical that makes you take a deep breath and sigh contentedly) in our brains.   And the more you do it, the more it strengthens and builds positive connections in your brain that create positive feelings for you!   (By the way, if you can combine the pleasant smell with another sense, like relaxing music, gentle touch or beautiful scenery, it increases the release of our body’s positive feeling chemicals by up to 300%.)

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Try It
Here are several ways you can take time to smell the flowers this week in your daily schedule.  Pick one you might like to try and make it useable for yourself, or create your own.

• When you wake up, celebrate the day God has given you by seeing the sunlight coming in, hearing the sounds of birds chirping, and smelling the fresh air. 
  
• Take a walk.  Enjoy God’s amazing creation – the colors, shapes, textures, sounds and aromas all around you.  
  
• Notice yourself reacting, put it on pause and check in with your environment.
• Place a few drops of a pleasant scent on your pillow to smell as you fall asleep.  Add relaxing music too.
  
• Light a scented candle in your office and keep it burning throughout the day.
  
• Carry around a small bottle of essential oil with a pleasant fragrance. Before each of your meetings today, take it out and smell it for several seconds.  

Take time to stop and smell the flowers today!

P.S. When I told my husband about this article, he mentioned a memorable children’s book, Ferdinand the Bull, his mom read to him when he was little.   It was about a bull who’d rather smell the flowers than anything else.  It was one of Walt Disney’s earliest cartoons.  Just for fun, watch this delightful short video and see how it connects with the brain research mentioned in this article. 

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For more thought provoking ideas for change, you can visit Karen's blog at www.livingmovingbeing.com or by clicking here.