Had an interesting experience tonight. I've been practicing the Gateway Experience audio files for roughly the past month or so. Tonight was the 2nd time I noticed the distinct smell of ozone after completing an audio file.
Afterwards, I looked it up and found a thread on the Gateway Experience subReddit. Someone there mentioned that they smelled their grandmother's perfume and she had been dead for 5 years. Apparently smelling things is not uncommon as part of this practice. One person specifically did talk about how some people on that subReddit describe smelling something that they also labeled as ozone.
This made me wonder about the role that the Reticular Activating System (RAS) plays in this process, as the only sense that the RAS does NOT filter is olfactory (smell). The RAS helps to regulate wakefulness, attention, and consciousness.
The Gateway Experience is big on the use of beat frequencies played in stereo. Theta (4-8 Hz) beat frequencies are used for deep relaxation and meditation. Theta neural oscillations are what the brain goes into when one is near the boundary between sleeping and waking.
Some say that as one works with energies, the body or environment undergoes a cleansing process that can manifest as specific smells. Given the association of ozone with electricity and lightning, the smell of ozone could be interpreted as a sign of powerful, high-frequency energy at work.
