“You must learn to heed your senses. Humans use but a tiny percentage of theirs. They barely look, they rarely listen, they never smell, and they think that they can only experience feelings through their skin. But they talk, oh, do they talk.”

Michael Scott (Irish writer)

That’s right. Our minds never stop chattering, but we can disengage from the chatter by heeding to our senses. It is also an effective technique to reduce stress and anxiety instantly. If you ever feel the need to break from the thoughts that run through your mind, give this exercise a try!

The 5 Senses Countdown

– Pause for a moment.

Find yourself a calm comfortable space to fully participate with your 5 senses.

1. The SIGHT Phase – 5 Senses Countdown

In the first of the 5 senses, we are going to utilize our sight.
First, take a deep breath.

Next, look around and notice FIVE things that you can see.

The floor, table, curtains, trees, animals, anything you see is okay.

You can say them out loud or silently in your head. With each of the five sights, pause to take them in completely. 

2. The TOUCH Phase – 5 Senses Countdown

Take another deep breath.
Next in the 5 senses countdown, we will be using touch.

Notice FOUR things that you can feel in contact with your body.

For example; your watch against your wrist, your trousers against your legs, your feet on the ground, or your back against the chair.

Note them out loud or in your head, and rest your attention with each sensation for a few deep breaths.

3. The HEARING Phase – 5 Senses Countdown

The next step in the five senes countdown utilizes our hearing.
First, breathe deeply as you bring attention to your ears.

Then, listen carefully and notice THREE things that you can hear.

For instance: the sound of the wind, birds chirping outside, the hum of appliances, cars running, etc.

Listen and notice things in the background that you normally wouldn’t pay any attention to. As you listen to each sound, note the unique characteristics of the different tones and patterns.

4. The SMELL Phase – 5 Senses Countdown

As you take another deep breath, concentrate on the air going through your nostrils.
The next phase in the 5 senses countdown focuses on smell.

Notice TWO things you can smell.

Bring attention to scents that you usually filter out, either pleasant or unpleasant. Catch a whiff of the pine trees outside, food cooking in the kitchen, or the smell of your clothes. Note the different characteristics of these scents.

5. The TASTE Phase – 5 Senses Countdown

Take a final deep breath and bring your attention to the tongue.
The last step in the 5 senses countdown will focus on taste.

Notice ONE thing you can taste.

Take a sip of a drink, chew gum, or nibble on a piece of chocolate. If you don’t have anything in hand, notice the current taste in your mouth or taste the air against your tongue.

Concentrate and savor that one flavor.

Reduce Stress in a Way that Works for You

The goal is to use our 5 senses to focus on the present environment instead of our thoughts. Consequently, this activity helps to ground us and relieve anxiety. By the time most people reach the ‘taste phase’, their overwhelming emotions will fade away. This doesn’t mean the negative feelings are gone, but we do get a break from it taking over our minds. It’s human nature to worry and feel anxiety about the past and future. Therefore, bringing our attention to the present can relieve us from these thoughts and help reduce anxiety. Appreciating the ‘now’ and ‘present’ is a great way to enjoy life. Even more, what better way to celebrate our current existence than with our 5 senses!

However, there are still many different ways to instantly relieve stress. Perhaps you are looking for a more long-term solution in stress management, rather than an instant stress reliever. In that case, check out how you can better learn to control your emotions through “emotional differentiation“.

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If you’re looking for more tips on how to care for your mental health, check out some of our past blog posts!

Reference:

Harris, R. (2013). Getting Unstuck in ACT: A Clinician’s Guide to Overcoming Common Obstacles in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (1st ed.). New Harbinger Publications.

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The Mind and Body Are Connected

Our minds are deeply interconnected with our state of wellbeing. People with symptoms of depression frequently look down at the ground, and simply using facial muscles to fake a smile can reduce stress and induce positive emotions. In the same way, the largest organ in the human body – the skin – is also deeply connected to our mental state when it comes to human contact. The skin acts as the boundary between our surroundings, thus it strongly influences our self-awareness.

Skin: The Body’s Third Brain

The brain is formed from the same ectoderm (tissue layer) as our skin during development, and recent research shows that the same substances are present in the brain and skin. In addition, a very high percentage of the brain area is used to process skin sensations, and therefore the influence of skin sensations on the brain is considered to be very large. There’s ongoing research looking into the possibility of our skin processing a certain amount of information independent from the brain. For these reasons, the skin is considered by some as the human body’s “third brain”, or the “exposed brain”.

(As a side note: The gut, which can act independently of the brain, is considered the “second brain”. This is why we sometimes refer to our instinctive thoughts as “gut feelings”.)

Warming the Skin Warms the Heart

In one experiment, participants were provided with cups of either hot or cold coffee to hold. Then they were asked to give their impression of a fictional person’s biography. The results showed that participants with hot coffee were more likely to label the fictional individual as “friendly” or “generous”. Other experiments have also shown that warming the skin makes people feel closer to build trust. This is because our “insular cortex” in the brain is involved in both “skin warmth” and “emotional warmth.”

How to Perform Therapeutic Touch

The skin understands the softness of an object and this is believed to affect the mind.
For example, if you observe a baby, you’ll see them continuously sucking on a pacifier or holding a blanket. This is because they get a sense of security and satisfaction from touching something soft like a pacifier or a blanket.

The “speed” of the therapeutic touch also affects our state of mind. The appropriate speed of contact to reduce stress and promote mental stability is 2 – 4 inches ( 5 – 10 cm) per second. A good rule of thumb is to imagine gliding the hand from shoulder to wrist over the course of about 5 seconds. It’s also important to use the entire palm of the hand to apply the right amount of pressure at this time. If you are feeling anxious, tense, or stressed out, massaging the limbs with slow, moderate pressure may help calm the nerves.

Soothing Relaxation Effects of 1/F Fluctuation

When we experience therapeutic touch with another human, a vibration is emitted at a frequency called the “1/f fluctuation”. This frequency is often found in nature, in a gentle breeze or a babbling stream, and is said to soothe our minds to induce a relaxed state. When the brain feels a pleasant sensation, it releases a hormone called oxytocin. Oxytocin is closely related to our emotions of love and trust, and the secretion of oxytocin helps with mental and physical relaxation. If you see someone who seems upset or sad, you can comfort them by stroking their back or caressing their head. A “1/f fluctuation” touch is sure to give them a sense of soothing relaxation.

Human Contact in the Modern Age

In the field of psychology, ‘personal space’ is commonly understood as a requirement to avoid stress. Some people feel uncomfortable or violated if you touch them out of the blue. Especially since the spread of COVID-19, we are required to be more mindful of reducing contact with others and maintaining a social distance.

However, one thing that will never change for humanity is the fact that human contact is soothing. It’s our natural instinct to seek contact with other people. In this modern age, many of us are overstressed with relationships and social anxiety. More and more, therapeutic touch with our peers becomes an important part of maintaining our mental health. Perhaps initiating meaningful contact with our loved ones will heal our hearts and build trust in relationships.

→ Looking to improve your mental health? Try the SELFMIND app FREE for 1 week!
If you’re looking for more tips on how to care for your mental health, check out some of our past blog posts!

Image: Unsplash
Reference:
Yamaguchi, H. (2014). Healing of mind by body contact. Journal of the Japan Society of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, 64(3), 132-140. doi: 10.3777/jjsam.64.132

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