Our five senses are some of our most powerful tools for enhancing our well-being. Even today, doctors are still trained to rely on their senses to help diagnose and treat illnesses. Yet the hectic pace of modern life can sometimes drown out our ability to tune into our bodies. However, by recharging our senses, we can become a healthier version of ourselves. Here are some ways you can awaken your soul by paying attention to the five senses, sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch that you were born with and meant to use to their fullest. They are so needed yet underappreciated and often taken for granted.
To make better use of our sense of sight, you can try to get into the habit of really watching and keeping track of the things that bring you joy: a scene in nature, your kids playing, or a flower blossoming. When you are down hearted, you can go back to these things that lift you up visually. Take a closer look at the faces of the people you love. Examine every beautiful wrinkle, mark, and scar. Every one of those tells a story and has meaning. To sharpen your eyesight at work, try positioning your computer monitor slightly below eye level. This is known to cause you to open your eyes less, which means less eye strain and cornea dryness. Preserving our eyesight for years to come is important, however, seeing all you can while you have sight is more important. What we see, such as colors, events, people, and things, are stored in our memories for years to come and will be there for us in the event we have the misfortune of losing this wonderful sense, through complication of age or disease or accident.
Hearing is a sense that can take us to places far away in our imaginations. You can re-live an event or go on a staycation in your mind just by hearing a sound. Pleasant sounds have the ability to bring us instant stress relief. “White noise” sounds that come from nature sound machines, cell phones or trickling mini fountains can create a blank slate for the human brain to relax. If you don’t have a sound device, try listening to what is closest to you in nature: leaves rustling, the wind blowing, rain falling or waves crashing. Turn on beautiful music while you do work, and smile. This will ease up the strain on your middle-ear muscles, which in turn softens low-frequency noises such as traffic or ambient conversation. Often those who have lost their sense of sight have enhanced hearing and visa versa.
Taste can be something that can bring you pleasure or disgust. Scientists describe five primary tastes we can identify: sweet, sour, bitter, salty and (most recently) savory. Of course, we could add to that list of something we taste that is just ‘yuck’, however, those are not the things we would willingly consume. Identify which flavors evoke positive emotions for you and then turn that taste sensation into a longer ritual. Eat and drink at a slower pace. ‘Nurse’ a glass of your favorite beverage, ‘savor’ a piece of chocolate or cheese, ‘enjoy’ your steak or main course and ‘dwell’ on what is often the most favored part, the dessert. Each taste can invoke different thoughts and reactions. Why do they make so many varieties of toothpastes, mouthwashes, food brands or drink products? Because everyone enjoys different flavors.
Smell can be a powerful sense. In fact, ninety percent of taste is actually smell. So use this sense to the fullest. When sitting down to eat, take a moment to deeply inhale the aroma of your food. This can also help you to not overeat if you have enjoyed the smell of the food fully before you ever start eating. Surround yourself with natural aromatic smells, from flowers to essential oils or candles you can use to induce the feeling and mood you want to create. Bergamot and peppermint oils, for example, have been shown to stimulate your concentration. Lilacs and lavender bring a sense of calm and relaxation to your home. Vanilla, apple, and cinnamon candles can give you a cozy feeling like when grandma bake pies at Christmas time.
Part of what is so amazing about touch is that there are so many varieties and diverse textures and temperatures we can feel. Go outside and dig your hands into the earth or snow or feel the bark of a tree. Stroke a pet. Gently massage your temples. Try not to let a day go by without getting a hug. Closing your eyes and feeling something with your hands or against your skin can enhance the sense of touch. Adding the sense of taste in with the sense of touch, there are some people who are called texture eaters. If they do not like how the food item ‘feels’ in their mouths, they say they don’t like the taste, however, they are rarely thinking about the actual taste, but the sense of touch. Children who are autistic are usually said to like to touch items that have texture, and they will just continually stroke it or hold whatever the item is that they like the ‘feel’ of. It is comforting to them. Everyone can describe things such as clothes, bed covers, shoes etc., by describing the way they feel to them. If shoes are too tight, they ‘hurt’ your feet, if slippers are soft, they ‘cradle’ your feet. If you have too many blankets on your bed you could ‘feel’ too hot, or if you’re in a drafty house you could feel too cold! We could go on and on with descriptions of our feelings and everyone would describe them differently.
Unless we have a malady, we are born with these five senses. They are innate and are used automatically, however we learn how to distinguish them and use them more precisely as we grow older. Though all of these are independent of one another, they also work together. Each one of these can evoke memories of different times, places, and events in our lives, whether they are considered good or bad, joyous, or sad, uplifting, or hurtful. We are each one integrated human being with all our senses being interconnected by our brains. However, each person’s interpretation of the same thing, whether discerned through sight, hearing, taste, smell, or touch can be diverse. As we age, we can become ill or by accident lose one or more of these and our brains will retain the memories of past experiences using these senses.
We have another sense that is known as the 6th sense. It could be described and defined in the natural world as intuition, premonition, clairvoyance, or perception. However, spiritually speaking, Christians would describe it as the Holy Spirit’s direction and discernment. I Corinthians 12:1-7 and 10 states, “Now concerning spiritual [gifts], brethren, I would not have you ignorant. Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. To one is given by the Spirit…to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits…” We can be allowed by the spirit of God to know things that might otherwise not be known. This gift is given to us as a help to others and always for the Glory of God, not to uplift ourselves to show how intuitive we are, but to show how miraculous and merciful He is.
Another comparison of the 6th sense is that women are found to be more emotional and preceptive than men. Men on the other hand are more rational and analytical. The scripture continues to say in 1 Corinthians 12:11, “But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to everyman severally as he will.” The natural and spiritual attributes of mankind run on a parallel track. A person as well as a church congregation should be both physically and spiritually healthy to minister to others. It takes both men and women, the rational, analytical and the emotional and preceptive to make a complete body. God gives his gifts in proportion to his will to each person according to their abilities. People who come to the church are drawn by their physical senses of what they have seen, heard, and felt. The church must minister to their physical needs and discern their spiritual needs.
The 6th sense of sight found in the scriptures helps us see God’s hand in every situation we face. (II Kings 6:15, “And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, a host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, alas, my master! how shall we do? And he answered, Fear not: for they that [be] with us [are] more than they that [be] with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and behold, the mountain [was] full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.” We must see the need of the visitors and lost souls and know God can intervene and save them. James 5:20 states, “Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of sins.” God can provide spiritual and physical needs.
With the 6th senses of hearing, we can hear God’s voice leading and guiding us. 1 Samuel 3:10 states, “And the LORD came, and stood, and called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel. Then Samuel answered, Speak; for thy servant heareth.” We as servants of God must hear the cry for help from the broken hearted as well. Psalms 34:18 and Psalms 147:3, “He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.” God hears us and can heal our spiritual and emotional needs.
We can use our 6th sense of taste to consume and digest the Word of God. Psalms 34:8, “O taste and see that the LORD [is] good: blessed [is] the man [that] trusteth in him.” We must feed the hungry souls, minds, and bodies. James 1:27 and Hebrews 4:12, “For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and [is] a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” God wants to provide spiritual, financial, and economic needs. He wants to quench the thirsty and fill the hungry souls.
Our 6th sense of smell should be how others perceive us. We must smell sweet to the Lord. Revelations 5:8 states, “And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four [and] twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of saints.” We must smell sweet to those searching, or they will not want to partake. 2 Corinthians 2:14-17 says, “Now thanks [be] unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ, and makes manifest the savor of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: To the one [we are] the savor of death unto death; and to the other the savor of life unto life. And who [is] sufficient for these things? For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.” God will meet the spiritual and mental needs of those who draw nigh unto him.
We must use our 6th sense of touch to touch the hem of His garment and feel his virtue daily. Lamentations 3:22-24, “[It is of] the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. [They are] new every morning: great [is] thy faithfulness. The LORD [is] my portion, saith my soul; therefore, will I hope in him.” We must touch those in need so they can feel His love daily. Proverbs 27:9 and John 13:35 states, “By this shall all [men] know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” A newborn feels our love by touch, and it must be constant. So are those new in the church, we must constantly be reaching out to them. God will provide our spiritual and physical need of touch though his mercies that are new every morning and are for each day.
HAVE YOU COME TO YOUR SENSES? Taking time to get in touch with our senses will enhance our lives and enrich our relationships. By taking the focus off the negative and accentuating the positive we can increase our effectiveness in all that we do. We will gain more confidence and self-awareness. We can begin to enjoy the simpler things of life again and by doing so become more fulfilled. We do not have to depend on someone else to affirm us when we have been given all we need by God to be our best selves. Take advantage of these great commodities called ‘senses’ that we have been blessed with at birth for no extra charge. Store all you can in your memory bank by using your sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch and God given 6th sense, so that they will be available to you to draw from if a crisis should occur in your life. Jesus has come that we can have abundant life. In John 10:10 Jesus said, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” He wants us to have fullness of life now and has given us the tools to do so. You just have to ‘come to your senses!’
This a thought provoking sermonette! It is an inspiring article which I plan to revisit often.