The Sense Check

Now, our next exercise for this session is what I call a Sense Check. I love this is one and it’s one of my favourite mindfulness exercises because it’s so adaptable and it’s the perfect tool for you to use when you feel that you need to ground yourself into the moment and regather yourself. 

I want you to think about your 5 senses for a second. You see we all experience our whole world through our senses: sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste. They help us to understand and explore our environment. They are also linked to our brains via the nervous system so these five senses that are often taken for granted can actually determine how we think about particular experiences. But, how tuned into our senses are you… 

For this exercise, I want you to ask yourself: 

• What am I seeing?

• What am I hearing?

• What am I smelling?

• What am I feeling?

• What am I tasting?

So start off with the simple stuff. What does the pen feel like in your hand? How does the chair or the cushion feel like that you’re sitting on? 

In terms of sight - what is the light like in your space? What are the objects surrounding you? The view? 

In terms of hearing - notice what you are hearing and notice what is lying beneath that. So for example, is it the hum of your computer or heater that you hear? Now take a minute to go beyond that. Perhaps, you can hear outside noises, birds or cat collars or a car. Can you notice that the noises start to stack?

I want you to do this for all of your senses. Set yourself a timer for 5 minutes and go through each of them and what you are experiencing.

Ok, welcome back. Another 5 minutes. Did this one feel longer or shorter? Did you free write or did you use the list? I want you to take notice because this will start to surface your preferences and help you to build that ritual and for you to know what you like.

Now, the sense check experience is there anytime that you feel like you're getting spun out. Take a minute, set a timer and go. You'll notice that your heart rate starts to slow. Your cortisol levels start to lower and hopefully gives you a lovely, welcome sense of calm.