Oud Oils & Neuroscience

 I wanted to share with you a personal trick that I personally use to make every oud oil that I have special. More special than it already is!

Scent, Time & Space:
most of us grew up with some exposure to aromatics. Grandfather's or Father's aftershave, cologne, perfumes. Maybe some incense exposure at temples or religious occasions and holidays. Agarwood at the mosques etc.
What's happening at this stage is the binding of scents all around us with the experience we're having. A connection in the brain is made between the scent, time and space.
To dig deeper into the neuroscience of scent and the brain, I highly recommend listening to Dr. Andrew Huberman.
You can click here to read the cliffnotes of Episode 25 of his podcast -which is relative to what we're discussing here-.

We all have had and still have the experience of being transported to another time/place just by sniffing a scent. and that can be anything, from the smell of a perfume, to even baked bread, or even a meal!
How many times have you encountered this feeling? The feeling of spraying a perfume and going back 20 years in time! The interesting thing is that you'd also "FEEL" like 20 years ago! All through this spray blast. This blast of aromatics gets translated in your brain into memories and feelings/emotions. That's what Aroma-Therapy is all about too! how certain aromatics have specific effects on our physical-wellbeing as well as the psychological-wellbeing.

That's all good...But where's the oud trick, man? ain't no body got time for that!
Bear with me here, I had to give this introduction. We have to be on the same page when it comes to the neuroscience.

The Trick:
nah, there's still more to cover before revealing the trick .

As human beings, we have an innate call and a need to evolve. we all would like to "improve" ourselves in one way or another. At our day and age, this has become increasingly needed with all the responsibilities and distractions we have in life.

Rituals:
Why do we have rituals? in a nutshell, rituals prepare our psyche and subconscious for something that we're about to partake in. it invokes a certain mindset. it invokes an intention and reflects it in the physical world as well as on the psychological level.
Think of prayer. Think of a Chef going into his kitchen. Better, if you have any martial arts background, think of it as putting on the Gi (the uniform), tying your belt, bowing and stepping foot in the Dojo!
Why is it that refined things are usually tied to rituals? I'll post on that in a separate post. This one is too long already.

Neuroscience of scent, Rituals,....ok...then WHAT?

When you acquire a new oud oil with a distinctive new profile, you can actually use the oil as a means to train your mind and subconscious. This can be practiced in a nonexclusive 2 ways:

1-Tie a new experience that you'd like to engrave deep in your brain with this new oud in some sort of a "ritualized" manner!
for example, you moved into a new place, use that oud in the new place! this way you'll tie the scent in your brain to the experience of freshly moving to this new place. Maybe you have started a new job! Same thing, new oud to a new experience! It can even be better if you manage to tie a new oud scent to a life memory, like getting married for example. This way, the oud is not a mere scent anymore, it's a key of transcending place and time. 15 years down the line, one whiff will take you back to that same experience in mind/emotions and body.

2- Enhance your current experiences by tying a certain oud with the experience.
I wrote about rituals, and how we tend to evoke a certain mindset and feelings while doing them. Now, you can use oud as a turbo charger for this! I should note that for this to work, you have to use the oud exclusively for that experience/act/ritual. for example, if you meditate/pray, you probably have a certain ritual. it can be ablution, dressing a certain way, or going to a certain place. if you use a certain oud/scent exclusively for this act, you'll be tying that scent to the experience. your brain will record all of this as a whole. so the next time you go do it again, and use the oil, it will put you in that same state faster. this can be the meditative state in meditation/prayer, or can even be used if you want to feel energized to run or practice a martial art for example. the scent enhances the experience and gets imprinted in your brain with the whole emotional and psychological state. Hence, once used again in the same experience, it gets you easier into that "zone".

I personally do this with a number of oils and I do feel the effects. I need to point out that this is my own opinion and conclusions, so don't take it as facts. just my 2 cents that I wanted to share.

Try it and let me know your experiences!
till next time