When a child shuts down his painful emotional side, he also loses the ability to express his joyous side. Emotions are a whole. With anger comes the ability to express delight; with sadness comes the ability to express lightheartedness. This is the breadth of emotion that allows an adult to experience intimacy with a spouse, with God, and with his children.”
David Carder et al., Secrets of Your Family Tree: Healing for Adult Children of Dysfunctional Families
The Power of Smell to Heal Trauma
Odors take a direct route to the limbic system, including the amygdala and the hippocampus, the regions related to emotion and memory.
In this powerful episode, “The Power of Smell to Heal Trauma,” I get to introduce you to one of my favorite clinical psychologists and friend, Dr. Ben Perkus.
In January 2019, I was introduced to him through a vivacious friend and life hasn’t been the same since. There are those times in our lives when a day changes the trajectory of one’s course.
She said to me, “You have to know about AFT.”
I said, “AF-what?”
She then shared everything she knew about Aroma Freedom Technique + how it had helped her resolve some deeply rooted, trauma-related issues in her life.
Two days later, I had signed up for the practitioner training and became certified in AFT six months later.
It changed my life.
It changed my practice.
It changed me.
Today, I pray it brings a beautiful change into your life. Or at least the beginning of one.
In this episode, you will:
- Learn all about Aroma Freedom Technique and how it works.
- Listen to Dr. Perkus’s story and how the “idea for AFT” came to him.
- Be schooled in the four parts of the memory complex.
- Be inspired to trace God’s hand in your own life story.
- Be invited to use the power of smell to heal trauma that might be keeping you from freedom.
- Experience a beautiful heart-centering exercise.
- Start your HEARTLIFTING JOURNEY today.
This week’s resources
Sometimes the story we tell ourselves is not really true. Sometimes the story others tell about us is not really true. On “Today’s Heartlift with Janell,” Author, Trauma-informed, board-certified marriage and family specialist, and Professional Heartlifter, Janell Rardon, opens conversations about how emotional health and mental fitness effects absolutely every area of our lives. When we possess and practice healthy, strong, resilient emotional health practices, life is so much better. Read Janell’s newest book, “Stronger Every Day: 9 Tools for an Emotionally Healthy You.”
”Growing in our relational knowledge of how to connect and love requires a lot of practice. And it requires deliberate practice. We need to focus on specific outcomes that stretch us beyond our current relational knowledge and spiritual maturity level. We need to rely on methods taught in Scripture and developed by spiritual masters further down the road” (Todd W. Hall, The Connected Life). Â
In the early morning hours, Janell found herself tossing and turning. With a God whisper in her ear, she released her desire to stay nestled under the comforter and instead got up and found her Bible. In this unplanned, unexpected episode, Janell shares the deep love of God in the words penned in Psalm 63. She found herself asking, ”Do I really believe these words?” In true Lectio Divina fashion, Janell reads Psalm 63, inviting you to ask yourself the same question, ”Do I really believe these words?”
Read Psalm 63
Listen to Season 12, Bonus, ”What Are You Longing For?”
Listen to Season 10, Episode 2 with Jan Johnson, ”Everyday in the Secret Place,” for a gentle reminder of the role of contemplative prayer in our daily lives.
Listen to Season 11, Episode 6 with Pastor Terry Smith, ”Spiritual Amnesia: Have I Forgotten the Blessings of God?”
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Today's Heartlift with Janell is currently fully supported by Heartlift International, a 501-3c committed to making home and family the safest, most secure place on earth.
Every resource developed, every podcast recorded, and every book written has one goal: To help families become stronger every day.
Learn more about Heartlift International and help support this podcast: https://www.janellrardon.com/heartliftinternational/
Connect with Dr. Perkus & Aroma Freedom Technique
- Dr. Perkus’s Training Vault
- Order Dr. Perkus’s book, Aroma Freedom Technique
- Article on “Why Smells Trigger Such Vivid Memories”
- Article: How scent, emotion, and memory are intertwined
- Aroma Freedom website
- Become a Certified Practitioner
- Order Your Aroma Freedom Essential Oils Starter Kit
- Schedule your FIRST AFT SESSION with Janell