Awesome Ideas to Help Us Use Our 5 Senses to Be Mindful

Each time we use our sense of smell, sight, touch, taste, or hearing to fully experience the moment, we feel more grounded and joyful.

Post Updated 8/07/2023

Mindfulness is a self-care practice that helps us engage in activities wholeheartedly, have a greater capacity to recover from adversity, and show up for ourselves and life as it unfolds. 

Awesome Ideas to Help Us Use Our 5 Senses for Mindfulness

Breathe Deeply

If we feel anxious, afraid, or stressed we may not notice our breath is shallow. 

Nonetheless, our brain translates this emotional reaction as a threat. It triggers fast, flight or fight breathing to drive oxygen to our muscles to prepare for battle or escape. 

To regain equilibrium, we can learn simple ways to override this automatic reaction and take back our serenity. 

Here are several deep breathing techniques from Web MD to help us reduce stress and relax.

Smell Mindfully

Our sense of smell can be our most powerful "sense-asset."  

It alerts us to offensive and dangerous odors including a gas leak, fire, or rotten food. 

It also sends messages to parts of the brain that process emotion and memory. 

Our sense of smell allows us to get pleasure from the intoxicating aroma of freshly baked bread, salty sea air, and orange blossoms. 

Our nose knows. Our sense of smell helps us recall people, things, or experiences. 

For example, getting a whiff of a loved one's signature perfume or aftershave, or smelling the aroma of popcorn, wood, or pine needles can jolt our memory of things that happened many years ago.

As a key element of human and animal survival, a keen sense of smell enables living things to track food and water, find a mate, and even communicate with others of its species.

Tweak Hearing

When we pause to listen to sounds in or near our bodies like our stomach gurgling, a belch, or clothing rustling, we are anchoring ourselves to the "here" and "now."

Experiment with the concept of mindful listening.

The first day, reserve 5 minutes to sit quietly and take a break from busy-ness. 

Observe sounds around you. Perhaps you will hear noise in another room, or notice the beep or ting of an electronic device, or the rumble or purr of a fan, air conditioner, or heater. 

The next day, take 6 minutes to walk outdoors and focus on the outdoor sounds that you hear.

Later on in the day, check in with 

yourself. Do you notice when you take time to move around or sit quietly to focus on sounds in nature, your head clears and you feel refreshed and awake?

This sweet relaxation activity can be

part of your self-care routine, whenever you need it.

Savor the Flavor

Mindful eating is the practice of bringing open-minded awareness to food selection to note how, when, and where we eat meals and snacks. 

When we look non-judgmentally at our eating habits, we observe the ways certain foods impact our body, emotions, and thinking. 

We can use this information to identify times we eat on autopilot, or try to compensate for loneliness, anger, boredom, and fear with food.

Mindfulness helps us sense real hunger and select foods that taste good and deliver energy for our bodies to work at peak efficiency. 

Mindful eating can be much more. When we eat with our full being, we delight in the flavors, textures, aromas and sight of meals. For more read Favorite Foods for a Good Mood.

Try this. Make a conscious effort to slow down and eat foods with mindful eyes, nose (olfactory receptors), ears, taste buds, heart, and palate.

Then see Key Reasons to Eat Mindfully and Tips to Succeed.

Tune in to Touch

Our sense of touch helps us communicate through non-verbal expression, either by touching or not touching each other in various ways.

Touch may be the most primal or basic form of relating, and is the way things are introduced to infants, even before infants have learned anything about other modes of communication.

Touch is an important, immediate messenger for humans. All of us need loving, caring touch to thrive. So when you're tempted to text, reach out and call or give an actual hug.

A fun way to learn more about our sense of touch is to try this. 

Go for a tree hugger's walk. What is That?  Use Energy of Green to Refresh You and Your Home describes details.

See with Wonder

Young children see things with wonder, and we can take in everything with "fresh eyes."

One simple way to see things with wonder is to practice being a fully present  observer of things as they happen.

Try this. Select a piece of fruit such as an apple, banana, pear, orange, or grapefruit and place it on a table. Sit next to the table to assure the object is totally in your line of vision.

Focus on it and imagine you are seeing this item for the very first time. 

Ask yourself: do I know what it is? Can I identify its color or do I relate its hue to something I already know? 

Can I guess how heavy or light it is just by looking at its size, surface texture, or shape? Can it move or roll? Then think of other questions that occur to you and ask them of yourself. 

Our eyesight is a gift that allows us to experience the world in living colors, and see with awe and joy.

 

Instead of taking our home, career, people, or surroundings for granted, we can recognize each one as unique and appreciate it. 

When we observe people, places, and things with curiosity and interest, our pro-action helps us experience the richness in each moment.

💖

Your work life and leisure time will bring you more satisfaction, if you use your 5 senses to take in life's abundance with mindful gratitude.

Read more about noteworthy benefits of being mindful here.

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Which one of your 5 senses do you feel helps you the most? 

Are you sensitive to certain sounds, tastes, smell, touch, or light? Please explain.

Do you think you use your 5 senses to increase the quality of daily living? How?

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Noteworthy Benefits of Being Mindful Each Day

Mindfulness is the practice of purposely focusing our attention on the present moment, and accepting what we discover without judgment. 

Research shows mindfulness is an excellent way to reduce stress and increase happiness. Mindfulness meditation changes our brain and biology in positive ways, improving mental and physical health.

Jon Kabat-Zinn, scientist, author, meditation teacher and father of the mindfulness movement, is known for bringing mindfulness into the mainstream of medicine and society.

Kabat-Zinn defines mindfulness as “the awareness that arises from paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally.”

Mindfulness helps us observe our body, mind, and spirit and our surroundings just as they are, moment to moment. 

Scientific studies indicate this life skill technique can induce a relaxation response and ease pain, both physical and emotional. Continue Reading to see

Noteworthy Benefits of 

Being Mindful Each Day

When we are mindful it

1. Allows us to get off to a fresh start each day, viewing experiences with open-mindedness. Mindfulness training helps us observe ourselves, others, and happenings in a more objective way.

2. Helps us check in with ourselves and act with intention. When we do, we have the option of detaching from dramas and knee-jerk reactions, and pause to respond in a calmer, clear-headed way. 

3. Alerts us to times we feel depleted or vulnerable and need to be kind to ourselves. Restorative self-care practices including taking a nap, doing physical exercise, writing in a journal, reciting affirmations, or eating a nourishing meal mindfully, helps us feel refreshed and better able to take on the rest of our day. 

See more about Self-care Activities to Encourage Optimal Health here.

4. Enables us to notice whatever we’re feeling physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. A fun way to help us become more self-aware is to use a color visualization, Colors of the Chakras, to create greater balance and ease.

5. Supports long-term mindfulness meditators, as we experience and overcome setbacks. Mindfulness helps us cope with challenges and focus on those thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that will help us move forward. This is an effective element of flexibility and personal growth. 

Learn more about Staying Resilient during COVID and Beyond by looking at this free resiliency booklet from the National Alliance on Mental Health (NAMI). Click here.

6. Shows us how much time and energy we spend on distractions and observe how often we let our mind wander from our goals, priorities, and plans. 

Mindfulness also helps us have insights about our choices and observe how much time we reserve for people, places, and things that bring us pleasure, joy, and inspiration.

7. Empowers us to observe outmoded habits and work on replacing them with healthier ones. 

8. Can be practiced for free and as simply as taking 5 minutes to sit quietly and follow our breath. This economical self-care practice needs no special equipment or facility. Mindfulness activities are available in books, online, YOUTUBE or as apps for little or no charge. 

9. Helps us find compassion for ourselves and others. Studies show when we treat ourselves and others with lovingkindness, it increases our overall sense of wellbeing.

Perhaps by now you realize making a conscious effort to be more mindful has many benefits. They include the ability to sense the richness in life as it occurs, engage in activities wholeheartedly, have a greater capacity to recover from adversity, reduces stress, and enables us to fully awaken to ourselves.

Want to reap the benefits of adopting a mindfulness practice? It's as simple as setting the intention to take small steps each day to make mindful living a priority for 2021 and then following through. 💖

Before you go, please comment below. I'd love to know how many of these mindfulness benefits inspire you.

Do you already practice yoga, meditation, and/or use color visualizations to help you feel vitally alive? Please share about that too.

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Key Reasons to Eat Mindfully with Tips to Succeed

Most of us know it’s unhealthy to overeat and gain extra pounds or skip meals to shed weight. Yet when stressed or rushed, we may reach for comfort foods, eat on the go, or veto a meal entirely.

This post offers tips to help us become mindful eaters and ideas to help us do it.

Updated 10/24/2022

Mindful eating is the practice of bringing open-minded awareness about our food choices, and observations about the taste, texture, sound, aroma, and sight of the foods we are eating. 

Eating mindfully is also a way to pay more attention to why and how we prepare and eat certain foods.

When we notice details of the eating experience and the effect food has on our body, emotions, and thinking, we're better able to identify problem times and situations we eat to compensate for feelings including loneliness, anger, boredom, and fear.

Mindful eating studies show those who eat mindfully are more successful at sticking with a meal plan that supports wellness. The example is from Michael Greger MD.

Research about mindful eating also suggests that being present while eating assures full digestion as well as optimal nutrition benefits. 

The initial phase of digestion begins with the brain seeing, smelling, and anticipating food. 

If you are tense or distracted any place in the process, food may not be fully absorbed. See more at Mindfulness Helps Us Digest and Enjoy Our Food.

Additional studies indicate mindful eating may help reduce body mass index (BMI), reduce anxious thoughts about food and body image, and help those with diabetes get a better handle on managing symptoms.

Word of warning: Posts on this site are offered for informational purposes, and not offered as medical advice.

Tune into your body’s signals to identify real hunger. With practice, you’ll be able to discern “when,” “how,” “where,” and "what" to eat for nourishment, health, and to create a sense of well-being in you. 

Just understand, one size does not fit all. Make your goal  "progress." Through trial and error you'll develop a meal plan and follow through with methods that fit your lifestyle. See this for more tips.

Mindful Eating Can Evolve 

Spontaneously When you Do 

the 

Following:

Before you begin preparing a meal...

Clear clutter from table and kitchen counters. Mail, keys, papers, and work stuff detracts from the physical setting for an enjoyable meal. When junk blankets the dining table, it makes it tempting to eat on the couch or eat standing up. 

Take a moment or two to breathe deeply, and put aside any cares or concerns you felt during the hours before this meal. Perhaps even take a moment or two to say a thanks for the abundance in your life.

Then, gather brightly colored ingredients, lay them out, cut them up, and place them in the appropriate pot, pan, or on or in the stove.  

Notice specific details about what you’re doing in each moment. Are you following a cookbook recipe, winging it, opening a package, or cutting off the tops of radishes or carrots? 

Do you hear anything as you cook, feel air or lack of air around you, etc. How does the sauce you are simmering smell, look, taste, feel?

For fresh menu ideas, see Colorful Whole Food Plant Based Meal Ideas to simplify meal planning. 

You’re not cooking food to be eaten, you’re simply cooking the food, and you’re doing it with all of your being.

Before you actually sit down for a meal, pause to consider everyone involved in bringing your food to the table. 

Think of the loved ones or yourself who will prepare it, those who planted it, the water, soil, and other elements that were part of the creation, those who harvested the ingredients, to those who transported it to markets or will deliver it to your home. 

When you go back to the origins of the food you are eating, you’re likely to breathe easier, feel grounded, grateful, and sense you are interconnected.

Listen to physical hunger cues and distinguish between true hunger and non-hunger triggers for eating including boredom, loneliness, anxiety, sadness, joy, fatigue, and craving for love or comfort.

Set the intention to be mindful for at least one meal a day. Then branch out to two or three mindful meals a day. Expand your practice and include meals at home, with family and friends, and in restaurants.

Remember to engage all your senses and take in the colors, smells, sounds, textures, and flavors of the foods you are going to eat. 

Here's food for thought. Ask yourself whether the food you are choosing to eat contributes to your physical, emotional, spiritual, mental, community, and planetary health.

Keep your eyes on your table mates and the food. Take part in conversation. 

See this tip from Etiquette Expert Candace Smith:

“Have you noticed that table settings only include the tools necessary to assist you during dinner with others?  There are plates, glasses, forks, knives, spoons, and napkins.  Add humans and food, and you have a complete dining experience.  

This is why the table etiquette rule is: No items other than those included in the table setting are appropriate on the dining table.  Ergo, phones and other electronic devices should not make an appearance during a meal.” See more at  Using Your Phone at the Table.

When you are eating a meal solo, sit down at a table to eat without a book, electronic device or busy work. This will direct your attention where it can do the most good.

Notice the feelings, thoughts, and ideas that surface when you eat slowly, and without distraction, Give your full attention to the food you eat, and you'll be better able to notice when you feel satisfied, but not overstuffed. Stop eating then.

Eyeball your food to determine portion size, and be mindful about selecting quality rather than quantity. 

Use a luncheon sized plate instead of dinner plate, if you have a problem gauging portions. 

Keep fresh, whole food on hand. You'll be less tempted to munch on junk food and have more say about what is in or isn't in your food. 

After a mindful meal, notice how you're feeling. Are you tired, alert, grateful, hyper, or relaxed. 

The food you eat and the mindset you bring to it, has a direct impact on your mood, outlook, health, and energy level. Make it a priority to eat mindfully one day at a time, and you're sure to succeed in increasing pleasure and health.

Do you want to eat meals more mindfully? 

Why do you think that's a good thing to do? 

What tips that I've written about can help you do more of it? 

Please comment below in the space provided. I read and appreciate each one, but will not publish comments if they contain links. Thanks for understanding. 💗

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