Episode 145: Essential Oils and Nervous System Regulation: Using Smell to Heal Grief and Trauma with Jodi Cohen

Listen to Episode 145 with Jodi Cohen →

The Most Direct Pathway

Why does the simple act of smelling essential oils directly regulate the nervous system during trauma and grief? How can practitioners support clients who struggle with feeling their bodies?

What if smell is the most underutilized tool for creating safety and embodiment in your body right now?

Seven years ago, Jodi Cohen's 12-year-old son died suddenly in a car accident without warning or preparation for loss. Her 14-year-old daughter about to start high school needed her mother. Needed her mother to stay present through the unimaginable grief.

This episode shares Jodi's journey of daily choosing what helps and what hurts, discovering that smell became her most accessible pathway. Most accessible pathway to nervous system regulation when everything else felt overwhelming.

You'll learn the science of why our sense of smell is our most direct connection to the limbic system in brain. How rose essential oil counteracts the fear response in brain specifically. And why smell allows us to titrate our emotional experience carefully. In micro-moments rather than getting flooded by feelings all at once.

Whether you're supporting clients through loss or learning to regulate yourself, you'll discover how to use essential oils as deliberate cues of safety. That shift your state without anyone noticing what you're doing.

The Science of Smell

Of the five senses, smell connects most directly to limbic system. Because it alerts us to food, water, predator odor, and fire. Making it the most critical sense for survival we have. And the most underutilized tool for nervous system regulation available.

No other sense has this immediate pathway to emotional center. To the emotional center of brain where trauma gets stored.

Rose Counteracts Fear

Research on olfactory receptors shows specific mechanisms for how rose works. Rose essential oil directly counteracts the fear response in your brain. The fear response triggered by predator odor in the brain specifically.

Making it a powerful tool for trauma healing and embodiment. Science-backed intervention that's been proven effective through research.

Jodi's Daily Practice

"It's not like I am fixed or I found this thing. It's that every day I live with chronic pain. I live with hard things, and every day I make a choice. I make a choice to deal with it."

Not about being fixed or healed completely from grief. About daily choice to use tools that work for regulation. While parenting through devastating grief needing to be present for daughter.

Why Your Stories Follow Your State

Thoughts and narratives automatically shift with your nervous system state. In calm aliveness you notice beauty around you everywhere. In stress you spiral with worry about everything going wrong. In shutdown everything feels hopeless and impossible to change.

Same situation, completely different internal experience based on your state. Shifting state is often easier than changing thoughts. Work with biology first before trying to change thinking.

Parasympathetic Blend Behind the Ear

Applying essential oils on the vagus nerve regulates sympathetic dominance immediately. Behind the ear in the divot where vagus nerve is accessible. Jodi's Parasympathetic blend with clove and lime formulated specifically for this.

Regulates sympathetic dominance during overwhelming moments you're experiencing. Direct stimulation of vagus nerve through topical application on skin.

When Flooding Shuts Down Your Brain

"When you're flooded, it turns off your access to prefrontal cortex. Which is kind of your problem solving skill you need."

"And so you need to regulate your nervous system first. So that you can problem solve what's happening to you."

Must regulate before trying to think through problems clearly. Biology before psychology every single time for effectiveness.

Bedtime Brings Up Everything

Stillness at night surfaces all the grief and feelings you've avoided. No more distractions keeping you busy throughout your day. All the grief and feelings we've avoided all day emerge when you're still trying to sleep.

Can feel overwhelming when trying to sleep and rest your body.

Creating Neutral Space

Using oils to observe feelings without reliving trauma all over again. Creating safe distance where you can witness without being overwhelmed. Space where you can witness without being overwhelmed by intensity.

This is titration that makes healing sustainable over time safely.

Titrating With Smell

Feel for 30 seconds, then shift attention to something else. Small doses of emotion followed by grounding action immediately. Then do something grounding building in safety immediately after feeling.

Building capacity without flooding your system with too much emotion. Gradually increasing what you can handle in your body safely. Titration makes healing sustainable preventing retraumatization from too much intensity.

Three Systems Work Together

"The nervous system, lymphatic system and the fascial network together. Are all woven together like a marriage between them."

"The fascia is kind of the feminine aspect of system. And the vagus nerve is the masculine aspect of system."

"And I think they're married and they work together." Integration creates coherence in your body's functioning naturally.

Where to Apply Essential Oils

The divot behind the ear where vagus nerve is accessible. On and around belly button as center of body's energy. Bottoms of feet for grounding with multiple nerve endings there.

These locations provide maximum nervous system regulation through topical application.

The Critical Pause

Essential oils provide the easiest accessible tool to create pause. To create that critical pause between what happens and your reaction. Allowing us to move from automatic survival responses to conscious choice. From automatic to conscious choice in how we respond.

This space is where healing happens and where you have choice.

Go Slowly With Parasympathetic

People who've been sympathetic dominant for years will start detoxifying. When they finally feel safe enough to let go. The body begins releasing what it's been holding for years.

Start with smelling before topical application to prevent overwhelming system. Can be overwhelming if not done gradually with titration needed.

Daily Practice, Not Being Fixed

Healing from trauma and loss isn't about being fixed completely. "It's not like I am fixed or I found this thing."

"It's that every day I live with chronic pain. I live with hard things, and every day I make a choice. I make a choice to deal with it using tools."

Making a daily choice to lean into tools that work effectively. Even when you don't feel like using them.

This Episode Is For: 

✓ People navigating grief and loss

✓ Anyone struggling to feel their body

✓ Practitioners supporting traumatized clients

✓ Those needing accessible regulation tools

✓ People experiencing chronic pain

✓ Anyone flooded and unable to problem-solve

✓ Those struggling with nighttime anxiety

✓ People wanting science-backed somatic tools

✓ Anyone interested in essential oils for trauma

What You'll Learn

Listen to Jodi Cohen share how losing her son led to discovering smell as the most accessible pathway to nervous system regulation. Understanding why of the five senses smell connects most directly to limbic system. How rose essential oil counteracts fear response in the brain specifically. Why your stories follow your state making state-shifting easier than changing thoughts. Applying Parasympathetic blend behind the ear on vagus nerve for regulation. Why flooding shuts down prefrontal cortex preventing problem-solving until you regulate. How stillness at bedtime surfaces avoided grief needing to be felt. Creating neutral space to observe feelings without reliving trauma. Titrating with smell through 30-second micro-moments of feeling followed by grounding action. Why fascia, lymph, and nervous system work together creating coherence. And where to apply oils for maximum regulation of your system.

Smell creates space between stimulus and response—where choice and healing live.

Listen to Episode 145 with Jodi Cohen →

Disclaimer

This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical or mental health advice, diagnosis, or treatment. The information shared reflects my clinical expertise and research, but every person's biology and healing journey is unique. Always consult with qualified healthcare providers before making changes to your treatment plan or starting new interventions. If you're experiencing a mental health crisis, please contact emergency services or a crisis helpline immediately.

Join the Conversation

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode. What resonated with you? What questions came up?

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