The five senses connect us to the world around us, they are one of the best ways we can intentionally create closer bonds and a positive foster relationship with others. Thus, I created a workshop about them. Our senses are our connection to the world around us, so we need them to perceive our environment and to interact with other people. They are also essential for our enjoyment of many experiences such as eating a meal or listening to music. But also, they are closely connected to our emotions and memories, so they can have a very dramatic impact on how we feel.
The idea of a workshop about the senses, came up when I realized all above qualities and connections. Sometimes social media is a great means of connection, so I used it as a tool for that process. Posts with relative info, tests, questions or photos were regularly posted, usually asking participants to do something or focus on something. Additionally events about group gatherings were created, in order for people to enjoy a specific performance, exhibition, etc but also interact with each other.
The first impression I was given was that several people wanted to join, although it was the first time they joined a group like that; some of them were curious or wanted to have fun, while others wanted to offer their knowledge and time; there were also people that didn’t interact in a visible way for the rest of us or didn’t interact at all.
Connect Through Sight
Sight plays an important role in our daily life, if we consider that 75% of the stimuli we receive are visual, which can affect our emotions!
Pictures have a wonderful way of connecting us to family and reminding us of our significance. Many of us take photos on our phones. However, those shots stay in our digital galleries, never to be enjoyed in a tangible way. We need those simple visual reminders.
Don’t wait for big events. Capture the everyday, mundane occurrences. For example, when you go to a coffee shop to relax, notice the warm lights and neutral tones in the decor that create a feeling of relaxation, away from the hectic life out there.
Connect Through Touch
Touch is a great way to focus on the present. The casual touches not only help us grow into more balanced, healthy individuals, but they also help us attach more securely to others. So, how about cuddling with friends, family, beloved pet or wrapping yourself in a fluffy soft blanket in winter?
If you’re not the type who likes a lot of hugs, then a warm bath, or shower, is another great way to stimulate your whole body; it’s less restrictive but still provides the warmth and love that a hug would offer. Or you could wear your most comfortable clothes, or whatever makes you feel comfortable!
Connect Through Sound
We rely heavily on hearing to survive as well as enjoy. Sound can help us detect something or locate objects we can’t see! Oral communication is also based on sounds. The truth is that we usually use all our senses at the same time, without realizing it. But close your eyes for a moment and listen. Closing your eyes helps you focus better on other stimuli, such as sounds.
There were participants, who noted that some sounds can calm us down. Additionally others mentioned that music can build powerful bonds with people and introduced us their connection with music!
Connect Through Taste
Does art have anything to do with food? In fact, art has dealt with this issue many times. I recently watched ‘Délicieux, the First Restaurant’ (yes the first restaurant in the world was made in France, although the film confuses us a bit from a historically point of view)
Back in 2004, the French businessman Edouard de Broglie founded “Dans Le Noir”, a restaurant where guests are served in total darkness! He explained that by limiting the sense of sight, the other senses are heightened: so the customers explore the table by touch, while smelling and tasting their food to identify flavors. (To be honest, I wouldn’t want to eat food with sauce there.. )
Most of us can think back to our childhoods and remember that special meal or dish someone made for us. What about your favorite food as a child?
Also a pinch of salt can flavor food for some, make it too salty for others and enhance other flavors for others (salt usually ‘tones down’ bitter notes in food, creating the impression that other flavors are ‘enhanced’ ); this is how it happens in life.
Connect Through Smell
Our sense of smell can strongly connect us with memories! There are scents that remind us of loved ones, a certain time and place, and others that can induce a sense of calm or relaxation.
Most of us would probably agree that it’s often the little things that make the biggest impact. Think of the smell of coffee in the morning that awakens your senses, of lunch when you’re home, of your favorite perfume. When participants were asked to refer to their favorite smells, they mentioned about street food, the smell of rain, the smell of books, the smell of spices and flowers! So many different smells that were connected to specific memories, how amazing!
Conclusion
To be honest, I was skeptical to implement an idea about senses into a workshop. Who cares about senses and connections anyway? But at the end I felt that everything I did was too little comparing to the things I received and I’m so grateful for that.