We actually have 9 senses.
“sometimes things aren’t real until they’re real.”
In quantum physics, it finds that observing things gives them power.
We smell, feel, hear, taste.. We notice. Knowing what to notice makes a big difference in what gives it power. An activity to catch us in our bias is to spend one whole minute looking around the room for things that are green. Then reflecting on how many red things we saw. We can’t recall red because our focus was green. Our senses have so much to do with how we expereince life, that i think by expanding what we sense, can open the opportunities for a greater experience in life. It starts with acknowlodging that we can grow and that our brains are evolving everyday.
Smelling something delicious makes us feel warm and connected to something positive. Feeling the windy weather brings agitation. Hearing a new song by a favorite artist brings intrigue and hope. Tasting something sour makes us wince away from the food to learn more. We notice more about the experience when we stand back and recognize what moved us.
Our body is reacting to the experience of our mind. AND we’ve subconsciously learned these senses to keep us alive and part of the experience of living our life..
Okay cool, but how does this influence our day to day? Well, even though thinking about our thinking gets us up into our head with our thoughts, it limits our awarenss into something to focus on. In moments of anxiety and depression, everything thing we’re thinking seems too big, too far away, or that we aren’t worthy of such great things. Focusing in on a few sensations our body is feeling at a time can move the thoughts of doubt, shame, and despair out of our head, and bring us into truths that we know to keep us safe, alive, and well!
A common mindful practice is the 5 senses act of noticing.. name 5 things you can see, 3 things you hear… etc.. Starts with 5, goes to 1.. and sits just in the physical sensations of the body. Now that we know we can expand, and that there is power in expansion, let’s add more power to rest and reflection.
Here is an updated sensory check in to do if the weight of our thoughts becomes too big.
0- Take a deep breath in. (Sense of Smell)
1- Notice one thing I taste. (Sense of taste)
2- What are two things I feel. (Sense of Touch, and Interoception)
3- Find three things in my environment that stand out. (Sense of sight/Vision).
4- Listen for different things around me. (Sense of Audible)
5- Remind myself five things I can do. (Sense of Self- intuition, or self-esteem).
Categorizing more sensations into our “bank of senses,” creates a familiar file of something to connect to.
Here is the big list of our 9 sensors that alert us something in our environment is changing. These influence the way and what we think.
Sight - Experience & Focus
Sound - Connection & Communication
Smell - Safe energy
Taste -Flavor, digestion, energy
Touch - Feeling grounded, physical sensations outside of us.
Balance - Upright ability
Proprioception- Location in space
Interoception - Physical sensations inside of us
Self- Values that “whisper” to guide,
Because when we can recognize all that we are physically capable of, we can know what our mental capacity can be.
Input, process, output.
Very similar to a learning model, a cycle of out and in, and observe and react is how we can transit through life in self-cultivated energy system. Notice- Realign- Go.
If our physical sensations are expanded, so is our mental ability. We now have more things to move our attention to, be in tune with, and rand cognizance what has influence to how we’re feeling.
Recognizing how we’re feeling has influence to be more resilient and provides more opportunities to adjust our mindset and work with energy we have for things we need to do.
Expanded, these influences to our life help align our life. Who we are inside, can also be outside.
Take this and go:
try the fist to 5 sensation reflection while seated without tv or music.
when you notice new sensations, “the birds are chirping extra today,” “thats a new smell!” or “my gut says no,” mental note, “sensation” and state “i feel.”
