Using Your Senses to Change Your Health

Our five sense, the standing force providing pleasure to your life. But how often do you think about the way your senses are changing your perception? Have you ever thought about using your senses to change your health?

If we look at stress, which we know it is a leading cause of disease and death. But we also know that stress is undoubtedly an inevitable part of life. So the question becomes, how can we learn to deal with stress or manage it in a way that doesn’t cause harm?

One solution is to use your senses, taste, touch, hearing, sight, and smell to reduce your stress, calm your mind and change the way you live in the world.

I must say, I love this topic because it’s the practical solution for dealing with life. There’s no fluff on this one but the truth that could make all the difference in your health.

Today on the podcast I’m interviewing health expert Chris DiVecchio, author of the book The 5 x 2 Method and owner of Premier Mind and Body. I’m asking Chris, what our senses have to do with our thoughts and emotions. How can we use our senses to decrease stress, practical ways of using your senses in your everyday life and more.

It’s such a good episode and one you don’t want to miss!

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the power of your senses

“Stress is not what happens to us. It’s our response to what happens and the response is something we can choose.” – Maureen Killoran

Stress is an inevitable part of life.  While we can’t get rid of it completely, we do know that without controlling stress or reducing our reaction to it, we are setting our body up for a lot of harm.

Stress can cause all sorts of harmful effects in the body {long-term} such as hypertension, inflammation, decreased immune response, lower sex drive, hormonal imbalance and so much more.

So rather than trying to avoid stress, we need to learn ways to handle stress. To make stress not as stressful and this boils down to our response.

Because stress is less about the circumstance and more about our response to the circumstance.

So really, the ball is in our court. Now to learn practical ways to change our reaction which improves our health. The best way, as Chris states, is using our senses and it makes total sense.

Let’s go on the trail of reminiscing.

Think about your past and some of your greatest memories. The smell of freshly baked cookies at grandma’s house. The feel of flannel sheets the second the weather started changing. The taste of Thanksgiving dinner and hearing the sounds of laughter around the table.

Our memories both good and bad revolve around our senses. What we saw, heard, smelt, tasted and touched.

In the same way, we’ve used these in the past {even without knowing} to create memories. And we use them in our everyday life to develop healthy routines and rhythms that allow us the ability to change our response to the world.

Because let’s be honest, you could cook an entire Thanksgiving meal to enjoy any given Thursday, but I can assure you it wouldn’t be the same as Thanksgiving day, full of family and friends, fresh linens on the table, a fire roaring in the fireplace, and laughter.

what I’m doing

After reading the 5×2 method, I decided to put it into practice in my own life. To distinguish what routines and rhythms were creating more stress rather than alleviating it. From there I worked to find new ways to entice my sense to bring comfort, joy, and happiness into my life.

I’m going to break down my new routines and how I’m making the 5×2 method revolutionize my habits. And as Chris state’s in the book, “Remember, each sense has its own power.”

routines

Given the science that shows, how you start your day is often how you end it, I wanted to create my first 5×2 rhythm in the morning. When I first wake up to create the environment physically and mentally for success.

To start a process like this, you have to back up and know what you’re already doing. From there you can make small changes or recognize what you’re already doing and be more aware of the benefits of those things.

Here is my new routine involving the senses that calm me, ground me and fill me first thing in the morning:

• Heard: Worship Playlist
• Smelled: Fresh Squeezed Lemons
• Tasted: Warm Lemon Water
• Touched: Cozy Blanket
• Saw: Devotional

The Goal: Workout for 30 minutes and shower before dropping the girls off at school.

At night we’ve {my husband, and I} made a massive switch to our routine. After talking with my husband, we both agreed that our nightly Netflix binge was costing us a lot of precious time together. I mean we’re together but not really together. So we decided to forgo all TV and Netflix during the workweek {Monday-Thursday} and stick to talking, reading, and relaxing. From this, I created my new nighttime routine and I have to say so far so good {I’ll report more soon}.

• Heard: Laughter
• Smelled: Lavender and Peppermint in the Bath
• Tasted: Hot Camomille Tea
• Touched: Warm Bath
• Saw: Book

the change

I have to admit, once you start recognizing how powerful your senses are and the change they can create, you’ll recognize them all throughout the day. Never before have I been so aware of the things that I was allowed to influence my day.

But I know that being proactive is better than reactive and in all things how we perceive them boils down to a choice.

Using your senses to change your perception won’t just make you healthier but happier all at the same time. So take some time to think about it.

What senses bring you joy? What do you look forward to? Create healthy routines based on these, and that positive emotion you’re creating will give you all the drive to make change come easily and naturally.

get started

Grab the book to get all the details and in the meantime get started. Make a list of the five senses and fill in any and all positive thoughts that come to mind. Yes, really grab a sheet a paper and get started.

Think about taste – what brings you pleasure, relaxation? Now keep moving until you have a list of your five senses. From there fill in a morning and evening routine using some of these things to make sure you’re filling your morning and evening with positivity, joy, and happiness.

Remember, stress is a choice. 

Don’t forget to grab the 5×2 Method right here. 

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