Before you begin today’s challenge, this weekend our gratitude activity will be done on a walk, so start planning where you will take yours!
And while you are on your walk or out and about, be on the look out for a little, attractive-to-you rock. Maybe even a pebble. Why? You’ll have to keep participating in our gratitude challenge to find out!
Today’s activity involves our senses. Again, it would be best to silence your phone and just sit quietly while doing this. If you can sit by a window, that’s even better.
Our senses — sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste — link us to the world around us, helping us read and interpret our environment. We use them regularly but often do not appreciate them. They are, in fact, what allow us to survive in the world (!!), but we often forget about them.
Small children primarily learn about the world around them through their five senses. This allows them to actively engage with their environment, furthering their development and understanding of themselves and the world around them.
So let’s take a moment to reconnect with our senses:
Close your eyes.
Think about what you love to taste…
what you love to smell…
what makes your heart happy when you see it…
what is a skin sensation you love to feel…
what sounds do you love to hear…
Don’t rush through that list!
Recognize each sense and truly pause to think about it.
How do you experience joy differently through each sense?
After you allow your mind to explore each sense for a few minutes, today’s activity is:
Write down 2-3 things you love to sense in each of the five areas.
Focus on what makes you feel happy when you experience these things. Chances are you have a special memories associated with a few favorite things to sense.
As you write, if your thoughts take you in other directions, follow them!
Here are a few extra prompts
- TASTE: What is a taste you love? Where have you tasted it before?
- HEARING: What is a sound you love to hear? Remember, it doesn’t have to be a loud sound! Where have you heard it?
- SMELL: What smell immediately “takes you back somewhere” or makes you stop in your tracks?
- TOUCH: What do you love to feel with your hands or on your body?
- SIGHT: What makes you smile every time you see it, even if it’s not in the same situation every time?
Stay aware of your senses as you continue throughout the day. Better yet, come to to Nia class at 10:30am to use them!
See you in the studio!
Questions? Email fitnessatbodymoves@gmail.com or call 319-337-4777.
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