The Pumpkin Spice Effect

UPDATED: October 30, 2024
PUBLISHED: October 4, 2024
hands holding a pumpkin spice cappuccino in fall colors

It’s that time of year when the leaves start to change and the familiar smell of pumpkin spice is in the air. When you catch that first hint of cinnamon, you feel your body reflexively relax. But what if this season is about more than just special Starbucks drinks and the Sanderson sisters? Can you use the scents of the season to harness your focus and productivity to end the year strong? 

The “pumpkin spice” rage grew out of the familiar and comforting scent of spices used to make pumpkin pie during the holiday season. It’s a mix of cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and cloves. According to wellness physician Dr. Russell Jaffe, these scents “can evoke feelings of nostalgia and happiness. When we smell these spices, our brains often associate them with cozy autumn memories, like family gatherings, pumpkin carving and Thanksgiving dinners. This emotional connection can have a positive impact on our mood.”

Seasonal scents

Scents, like cinnamon, allspice and clove, have a powerful impact on our brain, allowing us to instantly recall specific emotional states associated with experiences we’ve had. “Your sense of smell is one synapse away from your memory storage…which is why it can be so powerful and which is why I think it’s one of the most underrated things,” says performance coach Clay Moffat.

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These autumn scents don’t just induce happiness from good memories, though. Both the smell of these scents and including these spices in your diet can have a positive impact on your physical and mental health. Preliminary studies suggest that cinnamon has anti-anxiety-like effects on the brain. Cinnamon has also been shown to improve cognitive and memory function. Vanilla, another popular autumn scent, has been shown to increase theta brain waves, which are often associated with deep meditation. Cloves have been shown to reduce feelings of stress and relieve mental fatigue due to their positive impact on the body’s circulatory system. “They [cinnamon, specifically Ceylon cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, sage and peppermint] trigger the release of…our body’s natural mood lifters,” says Jaffe, also noting they can  help reduce stress and anxiety while increasing feelings of happiness and relaxation.

Use autumn aromatherapy to improve productivity and focus

Using scents that trigger a sense of calm or happiness in the nervous system can allow us to access more productivity and focus. “If you’ve got [a scent] that is powerfully conditioned, it will be able to take them from a fight or flight response into a ventral vagal response, which is your safe and social response” explains Moffat. “And that starts giving you your entire brain back.”

By stimulating the nervous system to move from our sympathetic (fight, flight, freeze or fawn) nervous system—where we are in survival mode—to our parasympathetic nervous system through the inhalation of these smells, we are able to inhabit a condition known as “alpha block.” “Alpha block is…where your brain inhibits the ability to have alpha brainwave dominance, which then prevents you from being able to think creatively, because alpha brain waves are what allows us to get into these states,” Moffat shares. “It’s like a bridge between the conscious and subconscious.”

Tips for making the most of these seasonal scents

  1. Be present in the moment. As you sip your hot apple cider, pumpkin spice latte or chai tea, take a moment to slow down and be fully present. Feel the warmth of the cup. Slowly breathe in the smell, and allow yourself to be grateful for the memories that come up. Doing so will “start triggering more of the emotion. More emotion gets more brain involved. [The] more the brain [is] involved it’s going to start…a self fulfilling prophecy…it’s just going to trigger more positive emotions and more positive things,” explains Moffat. 
  1. Connect the smell to the happy memories. Next time you light your cinnamon candle or inhale the scent of your pumpkin spice latte, take a moment to remember the happy moments you have connected to those smells. Remember how Grandma would bake you snickerdoodles. Recall the moments of laughter and fun in the pumpkin patch with your friends or the feeling of gratitude to be with your family around the Thanksgiving table.
  1. Create rituals. To get the strongest conditioning from your favorite autumn scent, create routines to have those scents present during certain tasks. Sitting down to write emails? Light your vanilla candle. Grab your pumpkin spice latte before you walk into your work meetings. Pop a stick of cinnamon gum after lunch as you sit down to work. “Rituals can create a sense of predictability, which can reduce anxiety,” says Jaffe.

If you’re not a fan of the pumpkin spice season, or this time of year doesn’t evoke positive memories for you, choose a different scent and smell it every time you find yourself in a productive or focused state. This will create an anchor between the scent and productivity so you can induce that focused state anytime you need it.

Photo by Torre Annunziata

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