As you journal in the pursuit of greater self-knowledge, there's an aspect of your basic existence that can always provide endless clues. When in doubt, when solutions or answers
evade you, when confusion reigns and you can't think of a single helpful thing, you can always turn to your senses for advice.
That sounds odd, doesn't it? How can your senses give you encouragement, or make suggestions to you, or help you feel better?
We take our senses for granted and hardly notice their amazing contributions. That we can see, hear, taste, touch, and smell is nothing we think a whole lot about. Nor do we need to, until we find ourselves seeking answers. It's when you're questing, looking for understanding, comfort, hope, or the like that the signals your senses provide take on new value.
Whether your search is simply for something to write about, or more seriously looking for life solutions, tuning into your senses is a ready and rich way to access forward progress.
Be Still, and Receive
To see what I mean, choose one sense and focus your attention on it intensely. Maybe you select hearing, for example.
Still your voice and movements and concentrate on what you hear right now. If your attention wanders, gently bring it back to what you are hearing. Let the sounds register in your mind without analyzing them. Spend a full minute on this part.
Then allow your feelings and thoughts to participate in the game. Among the layers of sound that your ears are taking in, which one scares you, which one comforts, which one tempts, which one makes you smile? What new information do you now possess, having listened so carefully and absorbed what your environment is saying?
Finally, begin to write the sensations you're experiencing. Describe them and your reactions to them.
More examples
Or maybe today you choose to focus on aromas. You go to a place that's full of noticeable scents (your garden, a restaurant, a city street, a park in spring). Again, the first order of business is to slow down and breathe, just noticing the sense of smell and fixing your attention there.
After a little while, start letting your mind play with the sensations. Recognize your bodily responses to certain smells. Name the aromas and begin to identify connections between what you smell and how you feel and act. Then write in your journal about the experience. You might make a sketch of the sensation, or a small collage to deepen the benefits of the exercise.
Other scenarios:
Touch – put your fingers and palms on items around you and notice how they feel. Then let that feeling register in your mind and heart. Write the resulting impressions.
Taste – choose one food and taste it. Chew it twenty times, very slowly, noticing the sensations. Repeat with another bite, this time letting your mind make connections between the taste and how you are feeling emotionally. Write about the experience.
Vision – by now, you know the drill. Let your eyes wander over what's before you without thought. Then eventually let mind and feelings respond to what your sight is showing you. Journal the story.
Seeking out clues your senses are providing is an easy way to escape writer's block as well as to ferret out material from your subconscious that can supercharge your process of self-discovery, anytime, anywhere!
Need some more ideas? Have a look at this Journal Writing ideas page!
image from http://www.flickr.com/photos/scalespeeder/2652863086/
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