If you're looking for a gift that will help Mom relax, give her the gift of lavender. Studies suggest that the smell of lavender may increase feelings of relaxation and reduce mental stress in some people. You can find the scent in essential oils, sachets, and lotions, or ask your florist to include a fresh spray of lavender flowers in a corsage or bouquet. Studies regarding the mind-body effects of certain scents are ongoing. In one study, participants who took a math test after three minutes of lavender aromatherapy performed better and felt more relaxed compared to people who took the test after rosemary aromatherapy. Certain scents will probably inspire different reactions in different people, so if you are interested in winding down with some soothing smells, experiment until you find the one that works for you. Aromatherapy positively affects mood, EEG patterns of alertness and math computations. EEG activity, alertness, and mood were assessed in 40 adults given 3 minutes of aromatherapy using two aromas, lavender (considered a relaxing odor) or rosemary (considered a stimulating odor). Participants were also given simple math computations before and after the therapy. The lavender group showed increased beta power, suggesting increased drowsiness, they had less depressed mood (POMS) and reported feeling more relaxed and performed the math computations faster and more accurately following aromatherapy. The rosemary group, on the other hand, showed decreased frontal alpha and beta power, suggesting increased alertness. They also had lower state anxiety scores, reported feeling more relaxed and alert and they were only faster, not more accurate, at completing the math computations after the aromatherapy session. RMotomura N, Sakurai A, Yotsuya Y on reduction of mental stress with lavender odorant. The effect of the lavender odorant on a Japanese version of Cox and Mackay's stress/arousal adjective checklist for three groups was studied. One group of 14 was placed into a (2 x 2- x 3 m) sound protected room for 20 min without the presentation of an odor, an analogous group of 15 received the odor oil, and one group of 13 received a nonstressful condition. Analysis suggested that lavender odorants were associated with reduced mental stress and increased arousal rate. Benefit: Taking care of your emotional health and well-being can make your real age up to 16 years younger. Diego MA, Jones NA, Field T, Hernandez-Reif M, Schanberg S, Kuhn C, McAdam V, Galamaga R, Galamaga M. University of Miami School of Medicine, USA. Publication Types: Clinical Trial Randomized Controlled Trial PMID: 10069621 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE] Department of Health Science, Osaka Kyoiku University, Kashiwara City, Japan. [log in to unmask] CHEERS! Gambians Online " Designed With The Gambian People In Mind" http://www.gambiansonline.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~