How To Meditate On The Senses

Oh, my gosh. Hello. Hello, Cadre. Happy Friday. It's a beautiful Friday where I am in Minneapolis. Hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful Friday. If it's not beautiful, I hope it the weather turns up for you. And I hopped on a call earlier this morning and I saw if it was Lindsay who said, hey, Amar. Hi, Rosie. Lindsay said that the day of the week doesn't affect me anymore. And I love that. I was like, yes. I rolled that in my journal this morning. I was like, I look forward to my future mindset of not needing it to be Friday to feel a little bit better.

Yeah. What's up, Rose? 612. I assume you're in Minneapolis. Me too. Let's go. Let's go. Hey, Amar. Good to see you again. So today I wanted to dive into our senses. I first of all, with the month of August being our save saver month, one of the best ways that I have found to savor the moment, but also to come back into the moment when I've noticed my mind is kind of taking me elsewhere is to utilize my senses. I have always been a smeller. And I know that sounds weird, but hear me out. I love smelling flowers.

I loved baked cookies. I have always been really sensitive to smell. So, like, if somebody has really strong perfume or cologne on, it's kind of like abrasive. Or if you walk into a casino or a hotel and they're just like pumping that fragrance, whatever it is, I'm always just like, that's a lot, you know? And the caveat is, yes, sometimes it smells. You don't want to smell. I. In fact, I'm a hot yoga teacher and boy, I have smelled some things in that class for sure. But the smell of sweat is always a good feeling because you know that people are working really hard with it.

My dogs are looking at something out the window. But anyways, whenever I notice a smell, it always makes me stop and think. It always makes me step back. And yes, sometimes I judge it if a bad smell, but if it's a good smell, I'm always just like, ah, right. Like I get that sense of relief, that sense of awe. And we can do this with all of our senses if we want. In fact, research shows that one of the best ways to fulfill yourself with a sense of awe or this feeling of wonder is by looking up at the starry sky at night.

And I can relate to that, given I'm obsessed with astronomy. I adore the fact that there are places we can't see and we don't know anything about it, nor can we go and visit it. It's just such a mind blowing mystery. Yeah, let's go. Hot yoga. Up yoga. Oh yeah, up yoga in Minneapolis. One of my. That's awesome. I love that. So sorry, I totally lost my train of thought here. Senses sight. So seeing the sky at night can give you a sense of awe and wonder. Touching really soft things like touching my dog's head right here, like immediately like soothes me and calms me down.

Or lotioning after a shower is like a really like good sensual way to like massage my muscles and kind of really break up some of the muscular tension. And it helps with lymphatic movement and drainage. So that's a practice I've done a lot too. Additionally. What is it? Sight. Sound. Oh, sound. Where we are listening to, whether it be music, whether it be a friend's laugh that you are just like, oh my God, I love their laugh. That is amazing. And you just want to hear it more. And by hearing their laugh, you laugh more.

One of those moments are just to die for. So you just are. Everyone's laughing and it's such a good time. So sound is really, really helpful. I love music and I know a lot of people on here can go deep with music here too. So that's always very healing. And there's sometimes just those songs that it strikes a chord so much that you either like listen to it three times in a row or. Or you can't stop humming it after you've listened to it. Those are all variations of savoring through your senses. And we don't necessarily have to meditate to feel alive or feel this sense of awe.

We can just use what we have, use what's in front of us. And yes, it is a good practice to meditate on the senses and we will do that here in a second. But I just wanted to share that all these mundane things that we can kind of take for granted and that go really fast, like this moment is coming and then it's going just like in. In the blink of an eye. We really can savor the mundane through these smells that are familiar. Maybe it's like the old perfume your grandma used to wear or just the smell of a rose.

And you're like, how beautiful is earth to create such a fragrance and a beautiful flower. You know, it's our choice to choose to make miracles out of the mundane and to use our senses to keep us sensational, to keep us here, to keep us in alignment. It's hard because our Mind wants to chit chat all the time. It wants to have its opinion or its preference or it's coming up with excuses or you're spiraling down and feeling like you're unworthy or you've just taken. I didn't do it. Right. Whatever the situation is, it can be so tough.

It can be really, really tumultuous in there sometimes. Right. And so I've found that trying to just stop and use what I have, AKA my senses really has helped me come back to my body, come back to the moment and come back down to earth a little bit. You know, sometimes we just get a little caught up in mini chill. Sorry. That's the other dog we have. She's a French bulldog and she is trying to be a bully. Come on, calm down. She's trying to be a bully a little bit bully. Pun intended. And so those are some things that we can do to savor through our senses.

The last one I want to touch on is food. Food is a really big one. Just being patient and like I remember when I was first learning how to mindful eat, where you took a bite, ate your food, put the fork down, chewed your food slowly for like 10 seconds, swallowed it, savored it, remembered and could literally taste it through your saliva after you've swallowed it and then you could pick up your fork again. It was a huge training lesson for me at that time because I've never eaten like that. I'm always just like, I'm so hungry, I'm gonna eat.

And ever since I learned that in yoga teacher training, hey, Andy Mack. I definitely have tried to slow down. I don't do it all the time. Good, better, best. I'm not perfect. But when it's like a really good meal, especially like a home cooked meal, my, my smell goes off the radar and I definitely try to savor, savor the taste and really dive into like what spices am I tasting? What is that hint of X, Y, Z, whatever It could be. That being said, like I hope we can use. Oh with the eating. Yep. So Rose612 says he is done that with the therapy with a therapist and it's super awakening.

And Omar said that he eats way too fast too and I can relate. Yeah, it's, it's tough. Eating is such a difficult thing as humans to really conquer. I feel like it's a lifelong journey because we have to eat to survive. But we also, in, at least in America, we are bombarded with advertisements of just terrible food we probably shouldn't be eating. Definitely shouldn't be eating multiple of. And so it gets tricky. A lot of the food is addictive, and it's. It's a whole rabbit hole. I could go down on that, but.

And we can choose what we eat. And it's important for us to have that mindfulness going into our meals so that we are eating the. The things that our body wants to be fueled with and feeling good about it. And, yes, I love sweets. So, like, brownies or like cookies, whatever. I'm not gonna, like, deprive myself of those things, but I know that I shouldn't eat them every day, you know, and that's the journey that we're all on, is learning, you know, what smells. Everyone has their scent. And what smell goes good for you.

What. What clothing looks good on you for your eye colors or your skin tone. Like, different things like that. We. We can be so creative with how we utilize our senses and how we can maintain this presence with them. And so, super quick, I want us to relax and get deeper into our bodies through our senses. And we're actually gonna go into our sixth sense today, not seeing dead people, but a different sixth sense, which is our intuition and maybe seven and a memory. I think memory is a really strong power that we have as humans, too.

So I encourage you to get comfortable. Just take a seat. You can put your feet on the ground. Try to soften your arms. Try to loosen up your jaw a little bit. Relax. Take a deep breath. In through the nose and out through the mouth. You can sigh it out. The sound of a psychological sigh is very, very relaxing and calming to the nervous system. So you can do that again. I know I look like a dork, but it feels really good to let that stuff go. Maybe you've had a long week. Maybe you've had a stressful morning, or maybe you're feeling great, but you just want to be even more relaxed.

Wherever you are, just meet that without attachment, judgment, or resistance. You can seal your mouth and notice the breath go in and out of your nose. And then start to bring your awareness to your upper lip. And feel the texture from the air coming from your nose on your upper lip. Notice the temperature, the texture, and feel your skin. Now extend the feeling of your skin to your torso and feel your shirt on top of your torso. And just how your skin is touching your shirt. And how cool it is that our meat skeleton allows us to carry these fun, artistic clothes.

And then focus on what you hear. Maybe it's the background of an air conditioner or a bus going by or it might just be your breath. Tune into that. Now take a swallow in your mouth and notice if there is a hint of a drink you had previously or of food you've had. Obviously, taste is more fun when you have something to eat, but you can still get a taste of what's inside. Bring your awareness to your nose. And as you come in, see if you smell anything. And if you don't smell anything, you can just bring your shirt up to your nose.

Or you could bring your hair or your skin and just notice what you smell. Then finally you can open your eyes. Look around, use sight. One of the best ways to orient ourselves into a room or when we enter a room is to look around. It's actually an old. I can't recall if it's the Navy SEAL or army, one of those, but that's how they would scan for safety, orienting to the room. And then I'll invite you to close your eyes if you feel safe to do so. And try to see within. When we look within, we unlock our inse, which is an Icelandic word for our intuition, our sea within.

And what can you see inside? It might be colors, it might be textures, but what's truly amazing about us as humans is if I tell you to think about an elephant, visualize an elephant, and now you can see an elephant. Like, we are so magical. We have superpowers. It's crazy. But now I'd love for you to recall a memory, a good memory, a positive memory where you felt like you were just like, wow, this moment is just. I am in marvel about this moment right now and maybe you don't want it to end. Like, for me, it was like a good example.

Be seeing a beautiful sunset or seeing one of my loved ones after a very long time and I gave them a hug. Any memory that feels good to you and think of that memory, what did it feel like? What did it sound like? What did it look like? Do you remember a particular smell? You remember tasting and savor this moment. Express gratitude for this moment. Feel your heart space and you can let go. You can open your eyes and know that you can always go back to this moment at any time. We can scan our body using our senses, or we can scan our memory and bring our senses into these beautiful experiences that we've had that are still living inside of us.

We can just access them through our insei, our sixth sense, our intuition, our memory. And I invite you to go outside or the next time you're outside, or the next time you have a really good memory where you're just like, oh, man. Like, oh, I wish this could last forever. Put it in your memory bank and be like, I'm going to come back to this. And I'm savoring this moment. And use your senses to savor it. You'll remember it more. In fact, the. The number one sense associated with Emory. Does anyone know what it would be?

It would be smell. Smell is one of the greatest senses that bring us back to a moment in time. And so that's why, like the. The saying goes, the smell of grandma's cooking, like, because it brings you back to a child childhood and the. The simpler times, right? So with that, I want you all to know that your senses are your friend. Even when something smells terrible or even when your skin is itchy or you are got a ton of stuff in your eyes you can't see, right? Whatever it. It will be okay? And please utilize them while you have them.

There's an acquaintance of mine that found out that he's. He's going blind and we have no control. There's no cure for this, for his situation, and we have to use our senses while we have them. You know, savor your senses. Savor the experiences that they give you, the joy that they give you, and share it with others. With that, I'd love to hear any of your stories of places that brought you awe, that made you feel happy to be alive, and where you felt like you were in alignment. Would love to hear it in the comments.

And if there's anything else that you'd love to discuss about savoring. Hope to see you next week. I'll definitely be. Be here same time, same place on Friday. But as always, if there's any questions or any topics you want me to cover, I'm super happy to incorporate that. But I hope everybody has a great weekend. Everyone uses their senses to savor. Savor the moment, friends. Enjoy. And thanks so much for tuning in. We'll see you next time.