Reconnecting With Your Senses
Dr. Christelle Oliver-Dussault introduces a series of short bonus episodes from Reclaim the Pink Within, created to offer gentle pauses and practical tools for mothers navigating identity shifts and the demands of everyday life. In this first bonus episode, she explores how simple sensory experiences—like scent and sound—can help regulate the nervous system, anchor you in the present moment, and guide you back to the woman beneath the many roles you carry.
About The Host:
Dr. Christelle Oliver-Dussault is a family physician with a clinical focus on aesthetic medicine, women’s health, and psycho-education. Her work is grounded in a holistic, whole-person approach that integrates medical science with a deep appreciation of the mind–body connection. Alongside her clinical practice, she is deeply committed to medical education and mentors the next generation of family physicians through her work with the Department of Family Medicine at the University of British Columbia.
She is the founder of Reclaim The Pink Within, a community created to support women through life’s most profound transitions. This project was born from personal experience. After becoming a mother, Dr. Oliver-Dussault became aware of a quiet but profound shift in her sense of self, one she had long observed in her patients, yet only fully understood once she lived it herself. What had once been a clinical observation became a deeply personal insight, shaping the lens through which she now supports and guides other women.
You can connect with her on Instagram at @drchristellemd and @reclaimthepinkwithin
Website: www.getyourpinkbackproject.com
Email: info@reclaimthepinkwithin.com
Medical Disclaimer
The Reclaim The Pink Within podcast is intended for educational and informational purposes only. The content shared in this podcast reflects the personal views and professional experiences of the host and guests and is not intended to replace medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
While Dr. Christelle Oliver-Dussault is a licensed physician, this podcast does not constitute a doctor–patient relationship. Always seek the advice of your own qualified healthcare provider regarding any medical or mental health concerns, diagnoses, or treatment decisions. Never disregard or delay seeking professional medical advice because of something you have heard on this podcast.
Thank You for Listening
Thank you for spending your time with us and for being part of the Reclaim The Pink Within community. This space exists because of women who are willing to listen, reflect, and engage in conversations that are often kept private. Whether you are in the midst of transition, questioning who you are becoming, or simply seeking connection, your presence here matters.
Your willingness to show up—for yourself and for others—is what makes this project possible.
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New episodes are released regularly, each offering insight, reflection, and shared experience.
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Transcript
Welcome to this special bonus series of Reclaim the Pink Within.
Speaker:These shorter episodes are designed as a practical companion for the
Speaker:journey of motherhood. Inside, you'll find
Speaker:grounding tools to help you navigate the tides of identity
Speaker:shifts, guided reflections to deepen self
Speaker:awareness and meditations to study your nervous system
Speaker:when life feels stretched. Think of these
Speaker:as quiet anchor points between conversations.
Speaker:Moments to pause, recalibrate and
Speaker:reconnect with the woman beneath the rolls.
Speaker:This is your space to tend to the flame within.
Speaker:I'd like to start with the senses today.
Speaker:There are seasons in our lives when we can feel
Speaker:untethered. The days move quickly,
Speaker:the to do lists expand. The responsibilities
Speaker:stack. You function, you show up, you
Speaker:perform. But beneath it all,
Speaker:there's a question. Humming in the background, where did I
Speaker:go? When you're feeling lost or out of
Speaker:touch with yourself, it can be hard to navigate the day to day without feeling
Speaker:like life's a blur. In those moments,
Speaker:reconnecting with your senses can become an anchor. What you
Speaker:see, what you hear, what you smell,
Speaker:what you feel. The senses aren't
Speaker:indulgent. They're regulatory. They're
Speaker:neurological doorways back to the self.
Speaker:Today I want to focus on two of smell and
Speaker:sound. If
Speaker:you're able to close your eyes for a moment,
Speaker:imagine you are still. Think
Speaker:back to a time when you truly felt at peace, at
Speaker:ease, in alignment with your values.
Speaker:A moment when you felt you were at the right place
Speaker:at the right time, doing what you were meant to be
Speaker:doing. Or perhaps simply a moment of
Speaker:contentment. What do you smell?
Speaker:For some of you, that moment may come easily. For others,
Speaker:it might feel distant. If that's the case,
Speaker:imagine the future instead. Picture yourself in flow,
Speaker:anywhere you want to be. What does the air carry?
Speaker:For me, it's the smell of sea salt coming off the
Speaker:ocean. That
Speaker:smell slows my breath, softens my
Speaker:shoulders. It reminds me of expansiveness
Speaker:and possibility. When I want to ground myself
Speaker:or clear my head, lighting a candle with that scent
Speaker:can gently transport me back to that internal state.
Speaker:It's not sentimental, it's neurobiology. The
Speaker:olfactory bulb has a direct pathway to the limbic system,
Speaker:the emotional center of the brain. Smell
Speaker:bypasses rational filtering and goes straight to memory
Speaker:and emotion. That's why a single scent
Speaker:can bring you back 20 years in an instant.
Speaker:Every spring, when I smell lilacs,
Speaker:I think of my mother. We had a large lilac tree growing
Speaker:up. She would cut the branches and place them in vases throughout the house.
Speaker:That scent carries tenderness for me. Safety
Speaker:home if you're in a season of transition,
Speaker:ask yourself what scents feel regulating to me?
Speaker:What memories do they awaken? What parts of
Speaker:myself do they reconnect me with?
Speaker:You can intentionally design your environment around this. Candles, essential
Speaker:oils, fresh flowers, even a specific hand
Speaker:cream in your bag. Small sensory
Speaker:cues can create subtle but meaningful shifts in mood
Speaker:and identity.
Speaker:Now consider sound. If you repeat the same
Speaker:exercise, return to that moment of peace,
Speaker:that moment of stillness. Close your
Speaker:eyes. What do you hear?
Speaker:For me, it's the rustle of
Speaker:leaves as wind moves through the trees. The
Speaker:gentle, rhythmic whisper, breeze through the branches.
Speaker:When I consciously notice that sound again, it becomes
Speaker:a cue to pause. Sound can activate
Speaker:us. A phone notification, a raised voice,
Speaker:constant bank rack noise. But sound
Speaker:can also ground us. There's
Speaker:power in silence. Sitting in a
Speaker:quiet room and simply observing the ambient sound
Speaker:around you. The hum of a refrigerator,
Speaker:the distance, rhythm of traffic, the
Speaker:ticking of a clock. There's
Speaker:also profound power in music. Music has
Speaker:accompanied every phase of my life. Certain songs immediately
Speaker:transport me back to specific chapters. Music can
Speaker:validate a mood, but it can also gently shift it.
Speaker:If you're feeling low and stagnant, you
Speaker:don't need to leap straight away into exuberant joy.
Speaker:Sometimes the bridge is the key. Choosing music that's
Speaker:slightly more hopeful than your current state can help regulate your nervous
Speaker:system upward without overwhelming it. Create playlists
Speaker:for different emotional landscapesone for grounding. One for motivation,
Speaker:one for grief, one for joy.
Speaker:You're not at the mercy of your internal state. You can
Speaker:work with it in
Speaker:motherhood, in career transitions,
Speaker:perimenopause and reinvention. We adapt, we perform, we
Speaker:survive. But in adapting, we can sometimes drift
Speaker:away from the sensory richness that wants to find us.
Speaker:Reclaiming yourself doesn't always require a
Speaker:dramatic overhaul. It can begin with something
Speaker:as simple as pausing and asking,
Speaker:what do I smell right now? What do I hear?
Speaker:What sensations are present in my body? These
Speaker:micro practices bring you back into your skin. And
Speaker:when you come back into your skin, you begin to remember who you are beneath
Speaker:the rolls. If you're feeling disconnected,
Speaker:I invite you this week to experiment. Light a
Speaker:candle, open a window.
Speaker:Listen to the wind. Create a playlist that meets you where you
Speaker:are and gently guides you forward. Notice what
Speaker:shifts. Often, the path back to yourself isn't
Speaker:found in thinking harder. It's found in feeling more
Speaker:deeply. Perhaps the woman you're searching
Speaker:for isn't lost at all. She's waiting
Speaker:in the quiet space between scent and sound.
