Hello Five Senses! A short introduction - how our bodies interact with the material world.

Dear Alchemist in Training,

Hi! Does it feel like spring yet? I’m restraining myself from running out and buying lots of flowers and plants. I know the temps will drop again. Neither the garden nor soil are ready… but still!

March is around the corner and that means we will be having our next Ayurvedic Sacred Daily Rituals Experience. This month we will be caring for our sinuses and sense of smell, just in time to prevent or roll back environmental allergies.

Caring for the sense of smell, new concept right? Most of the time, we don’t think about the senses just like we don’t think about breathing until we are in yoga class in a pranayama practice or using the breath to calm ourselves down.

Spring is the time when it feels like all our senses are waking up. There’s more light, colors, aromas, breezes, winds, love is in the air.

Unfortunately we aren’t taught about our senses other than they either work, or don’t, maybe they have dimmed or have crossed wires (synesthesia).

Before we can care for our senses, let’s look at their anatomy from an ayurvedic perspective. What are their components, what do they perceive? What types of incoming data are they measuring and what types of outgoing actions happens and why.

We live a 5 sensory world, the senses are turned on all the time during sleep they may be turned down somewhat but they are always on. Yeah, I agree there’s a sixth sense but let’s just talk about the material world.

Just like anything else if you overuse the senses they will get tired, like your eyes. Overuse can also lead to overload, overwhelm and anxiety. Sometimes the sensual sensation shuts off to the conscious mind. Other times the sense shuts down due to a physical malfunction or a dis-ease.

I am always amazed by the intelligence of the bodymind (not a typo - because they are combined and inseparable).

Let’s feel the sense of touch. Place your hand on your lap. At first you feel the weight of your hand and the connection between body parts. After a while if the position is comfortable, you stop feeling. It’s as if the hand an lap aren’t there.

Imagine feeling the weight and texture of your clothes, all the time! Yikes! I think I would only wear silk.

Same is true for aromas, the affirmation you put on your bathroom mirror, ambient sounds and tastes. The mind turns down the senses after connecting and assessing the sensation, it may even and perhaps storing the perception in memory.

Thousands of years ago Vedas, Sankya and Yogic philosophies came into agreement upon how to understand the senses and their components.

The senses are the interaction between the physical world and the mind.

Most of the interactions occur without conscious recognition. Occasionally we have a conscious choice of how to react especially if we want to change a mood. Quite often we simply react to sensory input without thought especially if the input signals danger or love.

Yoga and buddhist philosophies suggest we put space between the impulse and action. Tantric philosophies say to go into the sensation and experience.

Ayurvedic thought is to make the sense as healthy as possible and take care of them so that the mind has more accurate data about the sense object. Choose your philosophy later. In order to do that we need more that a working knowledge of cranial nerves and brain cortexes.

Each sense needs six components which helps navigate our surroundings.

They are the means of by which we gather knowledge. Outgoing senses are also the means by which we move and create our environments.

1. Element - mahabhuta - Ether/Space, Air, Fire, Water, Earth

2. Sense Object- tanmātra - Sound, Touch, Form Perception, Taste, Aroma/Odor

3. Sensory Faculty - jñānendriya (receiving information)- hearing, kinesthetic, vision, taste, smell

4. Sensory Organ (incoming) - Ears, Skin, Eyes, Tongue, Nose

5. Sensory Action (outgoing action) karmendriya - Speech, Giving & Receiving, Walking, Procreation, Excretion

6. Sensory Organ (outgoing creation and navigation) - Vocal Cords, Hands, Legs, Genitals, Excretory Organs

The mind with its nervous system is needed to interpret and direct it all.

Most natural objects will provide a sense of elation and grounding, merging both spiritual and earthly experiences. Some call this a peak experience. Human-made objects are usually flattened sensory experiences.

Here are a few ways to experience elation and grounding simultaneously.

1. Petrichor - Go outside just as it’s beginning to rain take a deep breath, feel the air and water on the skin don’t just smell.

2. Smell the Roses - touch the petals while smelling any flower

3. Yogic Eating - Slow eat freshly cooked well spiced food - This can be done any day. Start Look at the food, smelling, tasting, touching with your tongue or fingers, listen for the sound it makes either when cooking or as it is crushed by your teeth.

This month we will explore the sense of smell its affect on the body, mind and spirit.

Til next time.

Peace,