Memories establish the past; Senses perceive the present; Imaginations shape the future. – Toba Beta
How we interpret the world around us, and how we decipher our reality, are heavily influenced by our senses. I was reminded recently how we tend to under utilise some of them, when my brother, a sound engineer, sent me a link to a beautiful documentary set in Rwanda – from genocide to a cycling team. (Watch ‘King of the Mountain’ for a 9 minute escape here.)
He later asked me what I thought of the sound, in particular the part with the rain drops, and I was surprised to realise that I hadn’t even heard it. I’d been so engrossed in the visual elements, but as soon as my attention was brought to the sounds, I heard them loud and clear – no pun intended!
Practice using all of your senses
To really notice what is going on around you, to really maximise all communication around you, it can be invaluable to practice using all of your senses. Operating with all senses gives you the insightful edge when manoeuvring your way around critical moments.
- What more could you see if you consciously observed the person you were interacting with, noticing subtle expressions or body language clues?
- What more could you hear if you consciously tuned into someone’s tone of voice and read between the lines?
- What more can you understand by consciously imagining the world that the other person lives in – how they may start their day, the different meanings that the key moments in their day holds for them, how they feel when they get home at the end of the day?
- What more can you taste if you drank your coffee and ate your lunch with mindfulness – consciously noticing and appreciating all of the flavours and textures?
We miss so much when we don’t consciously use all of our senses – start doing so, and you’ll train yourself to pick up on so much more that you can observe, appreciate and understand which in turn will create new depths to your reality and interaction with others.
Just watch this moment, without trying to change it at all. What is happening? What do you feel? What do you see? What do you hear?
– Jon Kabat-Zinn