Remembrance through our Sacred Senses

by Deborah Maragopoulos FNP | Dec 2, 2018 | Blog, Mind/Body | 0 comments

Have you ever smelled cookies baking and are transported back to grandma’s house? Our sense of smell is key to our memories. In the ancient centers of our brain, our lives are encoded by odors.

Our sense of smell, more so than any other sense, is linked to the part of the brain that processes emotion and associative learning.

The olfactory bulb which sorts sensation into perception is part of the limbic system—a system that includes the amygdala and the hippocampus—parts of our brain that are vital to behavior, mood and memory.

One spring, my husband and I were at Lowes buying veggies for the garden. He left me with a cart full of plants to go get something in the warehouse...a dangerous thing cause I LOVE FLOWERS. Some dahlias called so I knelt down to find the one who wanted to come home with me. I was approached by a tiny, slightly bent, very wrinkled, delightfully enthusiastic ancient Native American woman pushing a walker cart.

"Come, come,” she beckoned. “You must see these flowers." Enchanted by her energy, I followed her.

"These are the flowers for you." She showed me some bright yellow annuals. "Touch them," she insisted. The flowers were dry. Perfectly preserved. I was amazed. "They're straw flowers!" she exclaimed. "They're for you." I yearned to give her a big hug. But she was so tiny and fragile, I just caressed her shoulder as I thanked her. How could I not buy one?

So I planted a bright yellow straw flower in front of the house and forgot about it. Until a few weeks later. I was on my way to finish my sculpture. The one I created for my 50th birthday. I had envisioned it during a meditation in my women’s circle. I had an uneasy feeling all weekend. Driving to my art mentor’s house I was filled with trepidation. I remembered for the first time the feeling of driving to UCLA to pick up Jarys from the NICU. My whole life was going to change when I brought HER (my sculpture) home. Just like it did when I brought Jarys home. Not that I hadn't transitioned in the time it took to create HER or the time it took to gestate, birth, and then wait for my premature baby to be strong enough to come home.

I cried the moment my mentor hugged me.

My sculpture came out of the kiln relatively unscathed (a slight crack in the horse’s neck and her left knee. We all have birthmarks and scars, don't we? The retouch staining went well. But alas my mentor did not have the right glue to attach the crystal amethyst wings to the ceramic back of the woman. So off we went to Lowes.

And she drug me right over to a lovely display of straw flowers. "Do you know what these are?" I nodded, as a matter of fact, I did and shared the story of the ancient flower woman with her. She was very excited and after getting the glue and another straw flower plant for each of us, we headed back to her house to attach the wings. Then my mentor brought out an essential oil...Helichrysum...she said was from straw flower...yet I knew in holding the tiny vial...that wasn't quite right...I envisioned a rougher plant...silvery leaves with tiny golden blossoms. I was hesitant to smell it...She wondered why and I explained that certain odors are powerful memory inducers for me. Finally, I did...

...and I was in the tomb anointing Yeshua. Then I went further back to just before the seder... opening the alabaster jar, Judas reacted to the scent of the helichrysum... not the frankincense or myrrh, but the helichrysum because... it was used to heal wounds, to revive... to resurrect... and now he had to do what was asked of him...he didn't believe and the others, well, they didn't know what was going on... Then I saw myself well before that last Passover collecting tiny dried yellow flowers from a rough lavender looking plant and simmering them in olive oil until the essence was extracted...

Tears poured down my cheeks as I remembered...

My mentor was amazed. She called the essence, "everlasting." Afterwards I looked it up online (I love my iPhone!) and found the plant from which the oil is derived. It looked like what I envisioned and the Latin name is "Immortelle"...

By the way, there's research on helichrysum for use in gingivitis. I decided to try it on my gums. Steve's reaction to the smell was strong. He said it made him feel "very upset... please don't use it again." How many of us hold in our molecular memory the crucial moments in human consciousness?

So that's where I'm at... Astride two worlds... as Jarys would say.

Oh, I finally finished my second LoveDance book - LoveDance of the Magdalen – Now looking for a publisher…

In the meantime LoveDance: Awakening the Divine Daughter – the book that healed the sacred feminine for me and many of my readers – is still available.

Love and Light,

Deborah Maragopoulos MN FNP
Intuitive Integrative Health

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Frequently Asked Questions:

Can your hypothalamus cause weight gain?

Yes. The hypothalamus is the master regulator of metabolism, controlling how your body stores and burns energy through its signaling to the thyroid, adrenals, and pancreas. When the hypothalamus becomes dysregulated by chronic stress, poor sleep, inflammation, or blood sugar instability, it defends a higher weight "set point" — causing the body to hold onto fat regardless of diet or exercise. This makes hypothalamic dysfunction an upstream root cause of stubborn weight gain.

What is a weight set point and why won't mine move?

A weight set point is the body weight your hypothalamus works to defend, calibrated over time by stress, sleep, hormones, and inflammation. When you diet, the hypothalamus perceives scarcity and responds by slowing metabolism, increasing hunger hormones, and suppressing satiety signals to return you to that set point. This is why most people regain lost weight within two to five years of conventional dieting — the set point itself was never recalibrated, only temporarily overridden.

Why do I gain weight under stress even when I'm not eating more?

Chronic stress raises cortisol, which disrupts blood sugar regulation, promotes abdominal fat storage, and signals the hypothalamus that the body is under threat. In survival mode, the hypothalamus defends fat stores and slows metabolism — so weight can increase even without any change in calorie intake. The stress chemistry, not the food, is driving the weight gain, which is why stress reduction is essential to any lasting metabolic reset.

Why do I regain weight after stopping GLP-1 medications?

GLP-1 medications work peripherally on appetite and gastric signaling, but they do not address the underlying hypothalamic dysregulation that sets your defended weight. Because the hypothalamic set point is never recalibrated, the body resumes defending its original weight once the medication stops — leading to significant regain. Long-term success requires restoring hypothalamic regulation so the set point itself lowers, rather than relying on appetite suppression alone.

How long does it take to reset your metabolism?

Genuine metabolic recalibration takes a minimum of 90 days, because the hypothalamus needs consistent signals of safety and sufficiency before it will lower its defended set point. This differs from a diet, which produces temporary suppression the body quickly corrects. A 90-day reset typically moves through three phases: stabilizing stress chemistry (days 1–30), rebuilding metabolic efficiency (days 31–60), and lowering the weight set point (days 61–90).

Why does my thyroid feel slow even though my labs are "normal"?

Under chronic stress, the body converts thyroid hormone into reverse T3, which blocks active thyroid receptors and slows metabolism at the cellular level — even when standard lab values appear normal. This means you can experience genuine symptoms of slow metabolism, such as fatigue, cold intolerance, and brain fog, while your thyroid panel looks unremarkable. Addressing the upstream hypothalamic and stress signaling often improves thyroid conversion and symptoms.

Is stubborn weight gain a willpower problem?

No. Stubborn weight gain is a signaling problem, not a willpower problem. The hypothalamus governs weight through survival mechanisms that operate below conscious control — defending its set point by slowing metabolism and increasing hunger when it perceives threat. No amount of discipline can override this system; lasting change comes from restoring hypothalamic regulation through reduced stress, balanced blood sugar, restorative sleep, and targeted nutritional support.

About the Author - Deborah Maragopoulos FNP

Known as the Hormone Queen®️, I’ve made it my mission to help everyone - no matter their age - balance their hormones, and live the energy and joy their DNA and true destiny desires. See more about me my story here...

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Last Updated: April 5, 2022