The sense of smell is the most
basic and crucial to life. It is associated with the
adrenals glands and tends to become more acute as stress
accumulates, until a point comes when, for some people, they
lose the sense completely, sometimes temporarily and occasionally
permanently.
I have made a lifelong study
of Ayurveda, the traditional medical system of India. According
to the ancient wisdom, there are energy centers in the vital
body that are invisible to most people but they can be seen
by people with even a slight extension of vision. These
energy centers are highly specialized to work with specific
frequencies of vibration. There are seven of them and
they have physical correspondences with the endocrine glands.
Fight or Flight Mechanism
The first energy center has
the task of maintaining life and it corresponds with the
adrenal glands which have a fight or flight mechanism. You
might say that there are two types of people: those who have
developed the capacity to escape danger and those who try
to overcome difficulties through strength and stamina. There
might actually be a third type that is dominated by fright,
paralyzed by fear, and that deals with danger by sitting
as still as a canary being stalked by a cat.
Regardless of the coping strategy
assumed by the individual, all stress triggers an adrenal
reaction, an involuntary adrenal reaction. You
might say that none of us have a choice as to whether or
not the body will be flooded by adrenaline when experiencing
a near miss automobile accident. The response is instantaneous
and the body is flooded with a surge of hormones that trigger
heightened alertness and increased short-term power to deal
with the threat. For however long this response lasts,
all other issues, such as hunger and sexual desire and countless
other everyday sensations and interests are completely displaced
by the urgency of the immediate situation.
Smell
Interestingly, each of the
energy centers correlates with one of the senses and an element. The
first center is the root and is earthy. It rules the
sense of smell. With people who are more vigilant,
the sense of smell becomes acute because it is inseparable
from the survival instinct. We smell leaking gas, tainted
food, and even offensive body odors. The more in touch
we are with our survival instinct, the more reliable the
sense of smell, but it becomes more and more subtle as the
adrenals pour more hormones into the blood stream. Many
other physiological functions are affected by this same instinct,
but smell is the most fundamental of the responses as well
as most basic of the senses.
Studies have been done of methods
of torture. People break faster under the influence
of obnoxious odors because they have to breathe so there
is less fortitude and resistance when repugnant odors are
filling our nostrils. More importantly, the sensitivity
to smell operates below the threshold of consciousness. If
we were in touch with our instincts, we would immediately
know what we are breathing and whether or not it is harmful;
however, most of us have lost the ability to transfer the
information from this part of our being to our conscious
minds.
This is partly what separates
us from animals. It is also why we have to go to doctors
to ask them what causes allergic reactions. You might
even say it's why we have to go to therapists to find out
what we do not like about certain people. I am quite
certain that animals cannot understand why this information
is so illusive for humans.
This is not the time or place
to compare consciousness between the various Kingdoms of
Nature but rather to explain how tiring it is to be exposed
to an odor that is dangerous, even if one is not able to
translate the information in the nostrils to a sensation
much less conscious interpretation. My point about
these reactions occurring below the threshold of consciousness
is that regardless of awareness, the adrenals are reacting.
Allergic Response
Because they do not use linear
or verbal communications, the adrenals trigger physiological
responses to get our attention. An allergy is a warning
that we are in danger from an exposure that is hostile or
antipathetic. Given that our personal histories are
all different one from another, we are not all allergic to
exactly the same odors, foods, or chemicals. Moreover,
because sensitive people are often the flight types rather
than the fight types, they are more prone to dramatic responses
to allergens than are fight people. It does not mean
that the substance is less dangerous to the fight people;
it only means that their habitual responses are more measured
and therefore fewer hormonal messages are sent.
I have been very observant
of this phenomenon and was in the middle of a book on adrenal
exhaustion when the mold experience usurped my field of consciousness
and forced all other projects to take a back seat.
There are many physiological
responses that are associated with the adrenals, with adrenal
hormones, and with allergies, but the bottom line is that
the person who is exposed to a threat does not have a choice
about whether or not to react. The reaction occurs
with or without the permission of the rational mind because the
adrenals operate below the threshold of consciousness. This
means that if a person is in a situation that is stressful,
the adrenals keep pumping hormones into the body.
Because they sit on top of
the kidneys, the kidneys tend to quiver when the adrenals
are active. This can result in more frequent and urgent
urination, fluid loss, mineral loss, and less distance between
the nerves so all sensations are heightened because it
is important to hear the message sent by the adrenals. A
point can come when all this hyperactivity is tiring and
eventually, opposite conditions can develop. For example,
the sense of smell may become less acute or so weak that
it seems to have been lost; the kidneys can become sluggish
so there is fluid accumulation instead of elimination; and
responses are inadequate as measured by the threat.
In Sum
The messages from the adrenals
should be heeded as quickly as possible because life depends
on our responses to situations that are endangering survival. Mold
is a relatively silent threat. The truth is, most people
can smell the metabolic wastes but they may not translate
the information and take appropriate actions to survive. To
the extent that they fail to do this, the body continues
to howl and complain . . . because of the urgency of the
situation.
It is not at all surprising
that during the acute phase of adrenal hyperactivity that
exposed individuals are sensitive to all odors, this because
the sense of smell has become more acute and because tolerance
for stress is limited. Stress is cumulative. It's
very important to keep this in mind. Experts in stress
such as Dr. Hans Selye have published extensive research
in which it is stated that stress accumulates. In short,
it is incorrect to say that we can cope with x amount of
exposure to mold and x amount of stress over finances and
x amount of stress over dwindling energy and loss of memory
as if we had a specific quota for each type of stress. The
fact is we have a quota for the total added together so countless
physiological symptoms combined with several other issues
can bring about critical mass. For this reason, solving
problems in a timely fashion is extremely important.
In the short-term, people can
take herbs that enhance stamina as well as the ability to
metabolize toxins. I discovered that hot spices are
the most useful in reducing allergic responses but many roots
support stamina. There are also very specific adrenal
herbs and tonics, such as licorice, Siberian ginseng, and
jatobá. This should not, however, replace the need
to eliminate hazards to health, merely to increase the margins
for dealing with stress.
Ingrid Naiman
12 October 2005
Updated 6 October 2006
Continued
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