See the world differently: 9 unusual sensory exercises

To look at things from a different angle, get out of the comfort zone, become a different person for a while – we need new sensory experiences every day. They help to overcome stress and depression, to become more conscious and happy. Here are some exercises for this.

1. Imagine being a cat

The author of this sensory experiment, the philosopher Jacques de Coulomb, once realized that he was jealous of his cat. She lives a carefree life, takes her time and enjoys comfort.

How to turn into a cat? Sit comfortably, close your eyes, be aware of your body and breath. Imagine a palace and a cat sleeping on a pillow, curled up in the most beautiful room. Identify with the animal.

Cover your ears with your hands and purr, making your vocal cords tremble. Feel your body relax and enjoy the moment. Then open your eyes, sit on your knees and stretch forward, reaching out behind your fingertips.

If you practice this exercise regularly, it will help awaken sensuality, become calmer and softer.

2. Walk in the dark

Ask a loved one you trust to blindfold you and take you through an unfamiliar area. It would be better if it was a park. You can’t talk while walking.

Pay attention to the experiences that you will experience in the beginning. It could be anxiety, fear, irritation, or impatience. Then concentrate on the physical and sensory sensations. Try to imagine in colors the places you pass through. Then go the same route, but with your eyes open, and compare with reality the picture that you drew in your imagination.

This exercise has a triple benefit. First, it sharpens hearing and smell. Secondly, it develops the imagination. Thirdly, it helps to check the degree of your closeness with another person and teaches you to trust him.

3. See the world through the eyes of a child

This exercise is recommended by psychiatrist Christophe André to all new parents. To look at the world through the eyes of a baby, it is enough to get on all fours and explore your own apartment with him, like a mysterious terra incognita.

This activity stimulates observation and revives childhood memories. Pay attention not only to the dust on the carpet, but first of all to interesting secluded places. Remember how great it was as a child to crawl under the bed or hide under the table, imagining that this is a real house.

4. Play hide and seek

Did you know that children’s fun in some countries has turned into a real sport and even the World Cup is held on it? Gather two teams of like-minded people from 3-5 people and organize a game in your favorite park. The first team players are trying to get to the base without being detected. The participants of the second search for them and try to capture them. This game helps not only to feel happiness, but also to burn a lot of calories.

5. Fly in a wind tunnel

Not everyone is ready to skydive. Fortunately, the feeling of weightlessness and flight can be experienced with less risk to the nervous system. A few minutes in the wind tunnel will allow you to become free on the mental, emotional and physical level, experience the feeling of childish delight and feel like a brave paratrooper. In the future, this will help solve tasks that previously seemed impossible.

6. Leave the room

Adventure quests in the style of “find a way out of a closed room” are popular all over the world today. Large companies even pay for such tests for employees. Such experience works no worse than corporate training. Quests develop teamwork skills, train the ability to find unexpected solutions in a limited period of time and increase stress resistance.

7. Swim in zero gravity

Float therapy is a recognized method of correcting the psycho-emotional state. It is wet and dry. In the first case, a person plunges into a pool with a high concentration of salt solution and a temperature of 35 degrees. Floating in silence and darkness allows you to achieve a state of sensory deprivation. One session lasting about an hour promotes deep relaxation, normalizes blood pressure and heart rate, improves blood circulation and lymph flow, stimulates the production of endorphins.

During dry floating, there is no direct contact with the liquid. It is separated from it by a film that transmits heat and transmits vibrations of water. The hydromassage effect and the absence of external irritants give the nervous system a respite, as during deep sleep.

8. Cook to the music

If you love to cook, you will find it interesting to connect taste sensations and sounds. Think about what soundtrack is right for making your favorite Greek salad. And under what melodies the taste of tuna tartare will be more fully revealed. The idea seems quite simple, but in fact, this experience will help you to feel your favorite tastes even more.

9. Pick a fragrance for sleep

In 2009, a group of German scientists led by Dr. med. Boris Stak conducted an experiment that proved that smells affect our dreams and the state after waking up. Half of the participants in this experiment fell asleep under the scent of a rose – they had pleasant dreams. Others inhaled the smell of rotten eggs and had nightmares.

“We have long believed that during REM sleep, the brain is completely disconnected from the outside world. But it is not. The brain analyzes odors, and through the limbic system they go through emotional processing, ”comments neurologist Arnaud Aube on the results. So spray a couple of drops of your favorite perfume in the bedroom and treat yourself to pleasant dreams.