← The Neurodivergent Experience
The Neurodivergent Experience
Mindful Mondays With Ashley Dupuy: Smell, Taste, Memory & the Neurodivergent Nervous System
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Acast.com. Welcome back everyone, to Mindful Mondays. I'm your host, Ashley Dupuis, and this is your weekly space to soften, to breathe, and to meet your inner world with a little more understanding and care. Right here on the neurodivergent Experience podcast. So whether you're neurodivergent, highly sensitive, or simply curious about the mysteries of consciousness and transformation, you are so very welcome here. And before we dive into today's episode, a little reminder on how my private practice work is changing. If you've been listening to these podcasts and thinking, gosh, I'd love to explore this work more deeply, I wanted to let you know about a special final opportunity to work with me one to one. So I'm gradually bringing my regular one to one practice to a close so that I can focus more on group work and recordings and other new exciting projects. But before I do, I'm taking on a small final round of one to one clients for a six session journey running from May to the end of July. So if this work has been resonating with you and you feel called to work with me directly, now is your last chance to do so, and I'd love to hear from you. You can register your interest by emailing me@integrativeiomail.com so let's dive back into today's episode. Today. Today is a continued exploration of looking at our senses through a neurodivergent lens. We've explored sound with its music and misophonia, light with its healing sun and harsh LEDs, movement and touch with all their regulation and complexity. And today we're turning toward two of the most emotional senses we have. Smell and taste. These might seem small compared to vision or hearing, but they're quietly some of the most powerful. A single smell can drop you straight back into childhood. A single bite of food can soothe or overwhelm your nervous system in seconds. So before we dive into the good, the bad and the ugly, a very short bit of neuroscience to frame all of this. Most senses take a fairly long scenic route through the brain. They pass through the thalamus, the brain's relay station, before reaching the cortex, where we consciously process them. Smell is different. When scent molecules reach the nose, signals travel directly to the olfactory bulb, which sits right next to the limbic system, the region governing emotion, memory and threat detection. That's why smell is so tightly tied to memory and feeling. There's no long logical path. First, it goes straight into the emotional center. And taste works closely with smell. And both plug into the brain's reward systems, the networks that release dopamine and comfort hormones and those, mmm, yes, feelings. And for neurodivergent nervous systems, which often process sensory input more intensely or differently, this direct Wiring means smell and taste are unbelievably powerful for both comfort and for distress. So before we go through the good, the bad, and the ugly today, remember, your reactions are not random. They're woven into the architecture of your brain. So let's start off with the good. Think of a smell that instantly makes your chest soften. Fresh cut grass on a summer afternoon. Or lavender on your pillow. Or the perfume of someone you love on a scarf. Or the smell of bread baking or a specific shampoo from childhood. In an instant, you're not just smelling something, you're remembering. You are there again. That holiday, that house, that hug. This is olfactory limbic wiring in action. Because smell bypasses some of the usual filters, it can transport us back to stored emotional states with almost uncomfortable accuracy. And for neurodivergent beings who struggle to access emotions through words, that's alexithymia, or emotional shutdown, or just not having the right language. Smell can be an incredible doorway. You might not be able to say, I feel safe. But the smell of your favorite tea or a specific laundry detergent can make your body feel safe anyway. And taste has its own version of this. Think of your favorite food. Not the ideal healthy meal, but the one that makes your shoulders drop. When you think about it, food can be so beautiful. Spices, layers of flavor, texture, temperature. All combining into a full body experience. There's a reason we talk about comfort food. When we eat something associated with warmth or belonging, we're not just feeding our stomachs. We're nudging the nervous system toward connection and safety. And for many neurodivergent people whose social worlds may have been complicated or painful, food sometimes becomes one of the most reliable ways to access comfort and predictability. So this is the good smell and taste as regulation tools. A favorite candle when you're overwhelmed. A particular herbal tea as a ritual before bed. A simple, safe meal that says, we know this. We can handle this. We are okay. There's nothing trivial about that. It's nervous system literacy in action. So of course, as with sound and light and touch and movement, there's also a bad side. The moments when smell and taste feel like too much. Many neurodivergent nervous systems are exquisitely sensitive to smells. Others barely notice. Certain cleaning products, air fresheners, scented candles, perfumes, cigarette smoke, or even the detergent someone uses on their clothes can feel like being hit by a wall. Maybe you've walked into a shop and immediately thought, nope, because the synthetic fragrance was a physical assault. Or you've sat Next to someone in a waiting room whose aftershave gave you an instant headache, or you've noticed body odor, bad breath, or pet smell long before anyone else does. I remember a neurodivergent friend of mine visiting when I had an elderly dog living with me. He stepped through the door and within seconds he said, you have an old dog. He could smell it instantly. These sensitivities can be funny in hindsight, but in the moment, they can be overwhelming and fatiguing. Strong smells can trigger headaches and nausea, irritability, or that I need to get out of here feeling. And because smell goes straight into the limbic system, if your nervous system is already activated or overloaded, a strong scent can feel like an outright threat. You're not being precious here. Your brain is just taking scent information very, very seriously. And taste can be very similar. A bad taste, a food that's off or too bitter, too slimy, too intense, can feel far more overwhelming to a neurodivergent eater than a neurotypical one. We don't just mildly dislike it. Our, our whole body might recoil. And this is especially true when taste and texture interact. Certain textures, like mushy or gritty or stringy or mixed textures, can create instant gag responses or shutdown. So if you grew up being told, stop being so fussy or just eat it, those experiences can be quietly traumatic. The message becomes, my body's signals are wrong, I can't trust my own mouth. So the bad isn't just I don't like that, it's I feel invaded by that, or my body doesn't feel safe with that. So we've looked at the good and the bad. How about the ugly? The more intense edges of smell and taste. For some of you, smells don't just give you headaches. They can trigger migraines. Certain perfumes and cleaning chemicals, or even strong food odors can be the match that lights a full blown migraine attack. And for others, particular foods or additives can do the same. When your brain is migraine prone, sensory input is processed very differently. Light can be painful, sound can be excruciating, and smell can feel like poison. Living inside that kind of body changes your relationship to the world. And on the taste side, things can get ugly in a different way. A really bad experience with food, choking or vomiting or being forced to eat something your body strongly rejected can leave you feeling genuinely traumatized. This is why safe foods are so important. Safe foods are the meals you know you can tolerate and predict and control. And it's not Being childish here. This is being adaptive. Over time, though, some people find their world of acceptable foods shrinking until eating becomes a constant tightrope walk. And on the complete opposite side of this, food that tastes too good can become obsessive. When your brain lights up around certain flavors. Sugar, salt, fat, and specific processed foods. When your life is already stressful or lonely or dysregulated, it's very easy for those foods to become the main source of pleasure and comfort. And this can slide into disordered eating and bingeing and shame and health issues, especially when diet culture messages pile on top of. So we end up in this double bind. Some foods feel dangerous and others feel dangerously compelling. And then we blame ourselves for what is, at its root, a nervous system trying to regulate and a brain trying to find relief. If that's you, you are not weak. You are not greedy. You are human. Your system is reaching for what works, even if it has side effects. So how about when our senses cross wires? This is the perfect time to mention synesthesia, where our senses cross talk or blend. Some people can literally taste words, and others can see sounds as colors or feel textures when they hear music or associate specific smells with numbers or days of the week. Synesthesia can involve any of the senses, including smell and taste. And for some, it's delightful. Music tastes sweet and certain names smell like cinnamon. But for others, it can be distressing. Specific sounds can taste bitter, or certain words smell unpleasant. We don't often talk about this much, but many neurodivergent people experience mild synesthetic tendencies, like associating specific people with particular flavors or feeling like certain emotions have taste. Again, this isn't weird. It's just another way a richly wired brain experiences the world. So we've also been weaving the literal and metaphorical parallels throughout this senses series. And smell and taste give us some beautiful ones. So we talk about taste not only in food, but also in preferences and behavior. She has good taste. In music, that outfit is in poor taste. The way he spoke to that waiter was in bad taste. Taste is technically subjective. One person's trash is another's treasure. But we often project absolutes onto it. And. And this mirrors what happens with actual eating. We treat our own taste as right and often feel judged or shamed when it doesn't match the cultural norm. And smell can show up in metaphor as intuition and discernment. Something smells fishy here. Or he sniffed out the real reason. Or she was sniffing around the wrong person. We use olfactory language to describe emotional or social scent. Tracking. And in a sense, that's what many neurodivergent people do incredibly well. Picking up on the subtle cues, inconsistencies or atmospheres that others miss. You sniff out dynamics in a room the way a dog sniffs out rain. So when you think about your own sensitivity to literal smell and taste, it might be worth asking, where else do I have good taste or good nose in my life? Where is this sensitivity a burden? And where is it actually a kind of wisdom? So given all of this, what do we do? The temptation is often to swing to extremes. Either resign ourselves to a shrinking world of safe foods and environments, or push ourselves brutally in the name of flexibility and end up re traumatizing our nervous systems. So the invitation here is to be gentle with ourselves as we work on cognitive flexibility around food and smell. And that might look like honoring safe foods is valid, especially on difficult days, but then also experimenting with tiny expansions when your nervous system is regulated. Adding one new element to a familiar dish, or taking one mindful sniff of a previously overwhelming scent and then stepping back and noticing which smells and tastes genuinely support your regulation and deliberately weaving them into your routines and being honest about foods or environments that reliably dysregulate you and then reducing exposure where possible, without shame. And for those of you who recognize yourselves in the food tastes so good it becomes obsessive category flexibility might mean adding more sources of comfort and reward into your life so that food isn't carrying the whole load. It's not about taking pleasure away, it's about giving your nervous system more options. And as always, we remember our core framework of state, story and strategy. When your state is highly activated, smells and tastes will feel more extreme. And the stories you carry I'm just fussy or I have no self control or I'm broken around food. These will all shape how you interpret those reactions. The strategies that actually work will be the ones that respect your biology and your lived experience rather than fighting them. So the goal here isn't trying to fix anything. You are gathering data. Learn your sensory profile the way you'd learn a dear friend's preferences. Because ultimately, that's what this whole series is about. Turning toward your beautifully wired, sometimes overwhelming, sometimes exquisite, neurodivergent nervous system and saying, I want to know you. I want to understand how you work so that we can walk through this together with a little more grace and presence. So before we move into today's guided practice, if you are currently driving or operating heavy machinery, please ensure to pause the recording now, until you can safely come back into stillness. And just take a moment to find whatever position feels most supportive for you today. You might be sitting in a chair with your feet on the floor, or you might be lying down, propped up with some cushions, or you might be curled on your side. There is no correct posture here. There is only what is kind to your body, right here, right now. And whenever you're ready, feel free to gently close your eyes. And let's start with a deep breath in through your nose. And letting it out through your mouth with a sigh. Good. That's right. Let your shoulders drop, let your jaw soften. And feel the weight of your body being held by the chair, by the bed, by the earth, underneath everything. You don't have to hold yourself up in this moment. You are allowed to be held. And let's just take a moment to orient yourself. Notice three points of contact between your body and what is supporting you. Perhaps you notice your back against the chair, or your hips on a cushion, or your feet and legs resting on something solid. Now, let's notice three sounds in your environment. They might be nearby. The hum of a fridge, clock. Or sounds in the distance. Cars, birds, people. Just let your nervous system register. I am here in this room right now. And for these next few minutes, I am safe enough to explore. And let your awareness return to the gentle rhythm of your breath. And let's begin with the sense of smell. We're going to work with your beautiful imagination now, with memories that you choose. So bring to mind a smell that for you, feels safe or comforting. It might be fresh cut grass in summer, a favorite tea or coffee. Fresh laundry. A familiar shampoo or soap. Or the smell of rain on dry ground. And if nothing comes to mind, you can simply imagine the idea of a soft, gentle smell, like a hint of something carried on a breeze. And now imagine that this scent is very faintly present in the air around you now. Just enough that if you lean in with your awareness, you can catch it. And notice where you imagine it sitting. Is it right under your nose or drifting in from one side? Where is it filling the whole space? There's no right or wrong here. You're simply allowing your brain to recreate the sensory trace of something it already knows. And as you breathe in this imagined scent, notice what happens in your body. Does your heart space feel different? Does your face soften? Do your shoulders drop even by 2%? Does a memory arise? A place? A person? A time? You don't have to follow the story. Just notice that the pathway between Smell, emotion and memory is alive. And for a few breaths, just stay with this imagined scent. Let it be a quiet ally. And if at any point it becomes too much, you can change the scent or imagine it fading away like mist and sunlight. Good. That's right. And now we'll invite taste into this inner landscape. Again, purely imaginal. Bring to mind a food or drink that feels kind to you. Something your body recognizes as safe. It might be a favorite warm drink, a simple meal you've loved for years, a childhood treatment, or maybe even a plain, predictable food that your system relaxes around. We're not thinking about whether it's healthy or ideal here. We're just looking for something that when you picture it, makes your body soften a little. And see it in your mind's eye. Notice its color and shape, or maybe the container it's in. And now imagine the very first moment of bringing it toward your mouth. You might picture holding a cup or lifting a spoon, or taking a bite of something that you can hold in your hand. And imagine that you can smell it faintly as it comes closer. And just noticing any anticipation. You're just watching. And now, in your imagination, allow yourself a tiny taste, a sip, a small bite, just enough to notice the flavor. What does your brain tell you about this taste? Sweet, savory, Salty, Warm, Cool. And where do you sense it the most? On the tongue, or the roof of the mouth? Or the back of the throat? And notice what your body does in response. Does your jaw soften or clench? Does your stomach feel calmer or more alert? Does your breathing change at all? And remember, as there's no actual food here, you can stop or switch images at any time. You're simply letting your nervous system know that taste lives here in this landscape too, and that you are allowed to approach it gently and step back gently. And if the taste you choose feels nourishing, you might imagine taking another slow, small sip or bite. Just let the imagined flavor sit on your tongue for a moment and then fade away. Or you can decide to not imagine taste at all for now and and simply rest with the breath. You are in full charge of this inner table, As smell and taste are deeply linked with memory. We're going to weave them together now. And a way that feels resourcing. Can you bring to mind a moment from your life, however small, where smell or taste made you feel even slightly more okay? Maybe it was taking the first sip of tea after a stressful day, or eating toast in bed when you were unwell. Or the smell of your grandparents kitchen or the smell of your partner's shampoo when you hugged them. There might be complicated feelings around it, and that's okay. Just see if you can zoom in on a single felt moment of even slight comfort, relief or familiarity. And then allow the scene to become a little more clearer in your mind. Where were you? Indoors or outdoors? What time of day was it? What was the light like? Now imagine reinhabiting that moment for just a few breaths. Sense the smell that was present. Sense what your body felt like. You're simply borrowing some of that sensory code and letting your nervous system remember. There have been moments when I felt a little more held. My body has known snippets of confounded it and those pathways still exist. Good. That's right. And now dropping all effort and just returning your attention to the simple feeling of your breath in and out and noticing your body's contact with the surface beneath you supporting you, notice the temperature of the air on your skin. You've just let your nervous system play with smell and taste in the safest way possible through memory and imagination at your own pace. And before we finish, just take a moment to silently thank your body for any information it gave you about what feels soothing and what feels overwhelming and the memories that are linked to your senses. And you might like to place a hand over your chest and quietly say, I'm learning how my senses work. I'm learning what helps me. I'm allowed to go gently. And take one more comfortable breath in and a soft sigh out through the mouth. And begin to wiggle your fingers and toes and maybe move your head from side to side. And whenever you're ready and not a moment before, you can feel free to gently open your eyes. Thank you so much for joining me this week on Mindful Mondays and for being willing to explore the quiet power of smell and taste, those ancient emotional senses that shape so much more than we realize. And if today's practice landed with you, you'll find many more ways to work with your nervous system. Over on my Insight Timer channel. Just search for Ashley Dupuy. That's D u P U Y. There you'll find my Nervous System Regulation Mastery course, my Morning Mind Mastery course, guided practices like today's yoga nidras and bedtime stories. And as a reminder, my usual one to one coaching is winding down, so if you'd like to take this final opportunity to work with me one to one, make sure to reach out to me via email on integrativeiomail.com so we've just explored the senses of sound, light, movement, touch, smell and taste, and all of the ways they shape a neurodivergent life. And next week on Easter Monday, we'll be playing a favorite episode from the last six months. And the week after that we begin a whole new season inspired by the book I'm writing From Mask to Map. What happens when we organize our whole selves around being too much or too little, and how we start to find our way home to something more authentic. I can't wait to share it with you. Until then, remember, we are all just walking each other home.
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The Bleacher Report app is your destination for sports right now. The NBA is heating up, March Madness is here, and MLB is almost back. Every day there's a new headline, a new highlight, a new moment you've got to see for yourself. That's why I stay locked in with the blue Bleacher Report app. For me, it's about staying connected to my sports. I can follow the teams I care about, get real time scores, breaking news and highlights all in one place. Download the Bleacher Report app today so you never miss a moment.
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