Sense of Mind

I see things before I hear, smell, taste or feel them. I’m definitely a visual person.

While my eyesight isn’t what it used to be, years in the visual neural groove mean I’ve become adept at looking. I can describe a face, a room or an outfit in detail. I see colors and patterns, wide vistas, and micro details. I can tell someone’s mood by looking at their body language.

Until recently, I could never have told you what music was playing at a restaurant, whether my airplane seatmate was wearing a fragrance or the water temperature in a pool. I didn’t notice those things.

What I saw was what I got.

But in the past few years, I’ve had experiences that have forced me to dial up other senses and rely less heavily on what I see.

My eyesight has declined, and I’m not always able to function without glasses. (TBH, I’m sending a big “fuck-you” to that part of the aging process.)

On top of that, a couple of recent vestibular migraines (brought on by a virus) made my brain feel like it was spinning unanchored inside of my skull. While the spinning has finally subsided, I’m now easily motion-sick.

Motion sickness affects my life a lot.

As an avid erg-er (rower), sliding back and forth triggers nausea and dizziness, so I’ve had to start rowing with my eyes closed. I can’t rely on tracking my pace in the way that I’m used to.

You’d think that my experience would be dramatically diminished without the visual cues, but I’ve found that I prefer the dark process.

Instead of watching the clock, I now listen more deeply to music or play games with myself to guess how long I’ve been rowing based on the number of songs I’ve heard. I can tell whether one leg is stronger than the other, and I can think about the timing of the pull based on when the rowing bar reaches my knees.

Other times, I use the dark to think through life’s challenges and tasks, and I “see the light” to find my way through obstacles and challenges stroke after stroke.

In my pilates practice, open eyes often lead to distraction (What’s out the window? Do I look fat in my reflection?) while closed eyes help me sense whether my hips are square, whether I’m working from the correct set of muscles and whether my balance seems equal.

Closed eyes help me visualize the expansion and contraction of my ribs as I breathe and allow me to activate muscles to move body parts in ways I didn’t know were possible.

In my world as a “maker,” blind clothing design and construction just doesn’t work.

But for my latest creative obsession, ceramics, some crucial components like centering the clay and throwing a pot actually work better when the emphasis is on touch instead of sight.

Without looking, I can feel whether the clay has twisted, is too wet or dry, or contains hidden air bubbles that could lead to a collapse or kiln explosion. I can tell whether something is off-center or just has an irregular rim - the former is problematic, and the latter can be easily fixed.

In social gatherings, listening and feeling shed incomparable insight and often contradict visual cues that might have led me to pay attention to the wrong thing.

By tapping into multiple senses, I’m now hearing what is not said and feeling what is meant, offering a hug that conveys more than words. With my eyes closed, I can feel someone else’s exhale and know they are letting go of something important.

Tapping into all five senses has not only made me more aware, but it has also helped me become more connected.

Not to sound woo-woo, but being more in touch with each of my five senses is helping me tap more deeply into my sixth sense.

The sixth sense is a form of intuition that isn’t explicable in terms of normal perception or conscious reasoning. Psychologists say that the sixth sense (or subtle intelligence) happens when people have developed emotional intelligence and empathy, and those traits stimulate the mirror neuron system. That system helps them pick up on emotional cues, value their gut feelings, and tap into subconscious knowledge.

Psychology Today published a paper that said, “Using imagination and practicing the creative arts can also enhance subtle intelligence for one is consistently facing unknowns, practicing trust in one’s instincts and making unexpected connections.”*

For me, that subtle intelligence is helping me form better, deeper and more meaningful connections.

It’s helping me manage my stress and develop a growth mindset.

Using all five of my primary senses and tapping into the sixth makes me better aware of my surroundings and able to trust my instincts at times of uncertainty.