The SENSES Strategies for
Coping and Calming
The Body-Mind Connection
Our senses can be used to help us relax and to calm down; they can be used to make us more alert, and they can also be used to help us feel more organized and in tune with our body. Sensory preferences are very individual, what calms one person may irritate another. Sensory input is especially helpful when our brain is not helping us out, for example when we are upset, distracted, stressed out, or ill. I call this the Body-Mind Connection as opposed to the Mind-Body Connection.
Examples
Here are some examples that you could use if you were feeling stressed out (calming) or in need of some pepping up (alerting). Sensory activity examples are provided for both the external senses: taste, smell, vision, hearing, and touch and also for the internal senses that are less familiar to some people: oral motor sense, proprioception (joint and muscle sense), deep pressure touch, and the vestibular or balance sense.
Smell
Calming: Soothing scented candle Alerting: Strong perfume Taste Calming: A cup of mint tea Alerting: A glass of fresh lemonade Oral Motor Calming: Sucking on a sweet lollipop Alerting: Sucking on a lime Popsicle Vision Calming: Watching fish in an aquarium Alerting: Looking at blinking lights Hearing Calming: Listening to a relaxation tape Alerting: Listening to a rock concert Touch Calming: Having a massage Alerting: Being tickled Proprioception Calming: Doing Yoga Alerting: Brisk walking Vestibular Sense Calming: Rocking slowly in a rocking chair Alerting: Dancing around the room |