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Sight, touch, taste, smell, hearing – they can be developed and stimulated to brighten life in your body. Follow the advice of our sensation experts.
When we are just born, our attention is open to the world: we absorb its smells, tastes, sounds, touches and images and at the same time listen to our own body – hunger or drowsiness, the desire to move, how we feel wet, dry, warm… But over time, our attention changes direction, the symphony of impressions subsides, we think more and perceive less. This is how each person develops, because it is simply impossible to constantly perceive the flow of information from all the senses, it is incompatible with life! But the point is also that we live in a stream of visual images and easily stop appreciating the importance of other senses. Such neglect of them is typical not only for our era. Since the time of Plato, who called to leave the dark cave in order to get closer to bright ideas, “thinking” and “seeing” are almost the same for us, so it begins to seem that sight is quite enough … However, habitually refusing a variety of sensations, we we lose not only a significant part of the world, but also the opportunity to get to know ourselves better. “Our sense organs are the doors to our own essence,” said existential psychotherapist and philosopher Karlfried Dürckheim.1. Fortunately, we can open those doors again. Here are seven easy ways to reconnect with each of your senses.
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1. Rediscover your hand
Vladimir Baskakov, thanatotherapist and body psychotechnician:
“Dedicate all your attention to the hand of one hand. Slowly move it, move your fingers, observing the sensations of heat, cold, humidity. At the same time, consider its shape, note the color and texture of the skin. Now stretch your lips with a tube and slowly blow, as if blowing a light breeze over your hand. What are your feelings? Now breathe to warm your hand, as if it were frozen in the cold. Put your hand under a stream of water, compare the impressions of air and water. Most of the time, this exercise is enjoyable, but you need to be prepared for more complex emotions, depending on your personal history. And of course, this exercise is applicable to different parts of the body.”
2. Become a sound hunter
Marik Khazin, psychotherapist and coach:
“Turn your morning walk into a sonic discovery trip: noises, sounds, voices, music… What do you hear? Be more attentive, try to listen to the soundscape that surrounds you every day and accompanies you every morning. If you have children, share your discoveries with them: they love it, because they are real sound hunters!
3. Play with spices
Svetlana Krivtsova, psychotherapist:
“During a friendly dinner, put on the table fresh basil, parsley, mint, put cumin seeds … Ask everyone, crushing them with a mortar or scissors, add them to your dish. Fragrances will immediately reveal their power, which we usually do not notice. Then, when tasting, try to find each of the spices in your dish: what is left of its aroma? Feel its texture, interaction with other ingredients … This will allow you to realize that smell and taste depend on each other.
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4. Feel your body
Oleg Deev, kinesiotherapist:
“Prepare a soft ball about 8 cm in diameter. Lie down (belly up) on the floor and try to press the lumbar region against it. This will allow you to understand which parts of the body are actually in contact with the floor, while others you only think are lying on the floor. Then place the ball under the sacrum. Lie on it motionless for 15 minutes. Do nothing: just be aware of the moment of inhalation and the sensations that appear in the body at the same time, then in the same way the moment of exhalation. And with each exhalation, lean harder on the ball. If you suffer from lower back pain, don’t put in too much effort! When a quarter of an hour has passed, remove the ball by rolling slightly on your side, and let your body immediately fall back onto your back. Feel yourself lying on the ground. You may be surprised by the presence of unusual experiences. I will not name them, but I leave you to discover the effect of this transition from the idea of the body that I have to the experience of the body that I am.
My history
Lydia, 26 years old “I got new impressions”
“I did the arm exercise for 10 minutes. At first it was strange to consider her and it was not clear whether she was hard or soft. When I blew on my hand, and then breathed, it dawned on me: with the same breath you can both cool and warm! Before, I didn’t think about how it works. Then there was a feeling as if the hand lives separately and has its own desires: she touched various objects, she liked to stroke the cool surface of the table with her palm, and she touched the sheet of paper only with her finger, moving it back and forth, so that the pillow tickled. The jet of water is unlike anything else, it pokes into the skin with many sharp wet tongues. It was interesting not to “wipe your hands” as usual, but to dry one hand with the other, wrapping it in a towel, like an animal. I love new experiences and often travel for them, and then suddenly I made so many discoveries without even leaving home!
5. Travel through your sense of smell
Svetlana Krivtsova, psychotherapist:
“When you walk down the street, pay attention to what your nose feels. Without trying to pinpoint the smell, guess which category it belongs to. Food, industrial, some other? What memories does it evoke? About what time? Who were you with then? And gradually try to enter into this memory, as if into newsreels. The sense of smell is stronger than all other senses and is able to make us travel in an emotional space-time in which all senses come alive.
6. Wake up sound memory
Tatyana Potemkina, art therapist:
“Better listening is also developing your sound and musical memory. It persists for a very long time, until old age and even in those who suffer from Alzheimer’s disease.
- Think of some music. Play it to yourself, then sing it softly. Then compare with the original version. The more you practice, the better the result will be.
- Recall a pleasant noise or sound from childhood that accompanied a state of peace and joy. Perhaps it is the chirping of birds, the rustle of waves, a quiet favorite voice or soft music. Children’s impressions are especially vivid. You can mentally return to these sounds to bring harmony into your emotional state.
- Take courage and talk to those around you about your treasures: the sounds you love, the sounds that take you back to your childhood—we often talk about music in this way, but not sounds—and ask if they have similar memories.
7. Find a foothold
Michèle Freud, psychotherapist:
“Stand up straight, close your eyes, relax your face and lower your shoulders. Place your feet shoulder-width apart, bend your knees slightly, without straining. Spine in natural position: chin, solar plexus and lower abdomen should be in line. Good posture helps us feel better about our body and gives us a sense of who we are. Fix this position; feel confident and comfortable, feel your fulcrum. With each breath, visualize the beneficial energy rising through your body. As you exhale, try to hold these sensations. Do the exercise regularly (it will take no more than 5 minutes), and you will feel new strength in yourself.
1 C. Durkheim “On the dual origin of man” (IPAX, 1992).