Learning to be able to spot our emotions and to learn from them.
Benefits
Often we are dominated by our rational thinking. We think that our reason has the right to prevail on the signal that our heart and body tells us. With “rising emotions” we learn to pay attention to these signals and honor the message they bring.
Example
Sit with another person, one in front of the other. One closes the eyes or is blindfolded and the other has pen and paper to take notes. The person that is blindfolded receives a bottle of essential oil without knowing the content. They start to smell and feel it by describing where they notice the smell has arrived (in the heart, the legs, the head…). Then the person starts talking about the memories and feelings that are arising, the images that are popping up and only at the end, bring the thoughts. The other person is taking notes that at the end will be given back. This process goes for two-to-three oils. Usually the first essential oil is from wood or roots, the second from flowers and the third one from spices or herbs.
Once it is over, the pair swap roles, with different essential oils. Once both have completed, there is a time for sharing the experience.
Variations
Reduced
If you have several oils, you can do it alone, by grabbing one essential oil and recording what you are saying, still following the sequence: where do you feel it in your body, memories and then images and thoughts.
Extended
In case of a group, you can at the end ask to share the highlights of the experience each had in pairs.
Possible traps
Often we are tempted to guess which essential oil we have in our hands. However this practice is not a quiz to guess smells; it is for training to sense and pay attention to our body.
When you inhale an essential oil, make the inhale at least three seconds.
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