Annemarie Lombard, Author at Sensory Intelligence Consulting

If you live in or close to Cape Town your bathroom is littered with buckets. You wear the same pants for a week. You’ve become a mini-engineer with water-saving gadgets in your kitchen. Your car is dirty. You’ve even tried dry-shampoo (and maybe let that one go…). You are definitely saving water.

Here at Sensory Intelligence® Consulting, we started to wonder about the impact of the water crisis on your sensory thresholds. If you are anything like me, you might have run into some of the following scenarios:

Running and exercise have become slightly more difficult for me. It already seems like a mammoth task to drag myself to the streets for a run, but the water crisis added an extra element – now I need to think about when and how I will get myself clean afterwards. I usually exercised after work and then took a quick shower before going to bed. Now I’m unable to shower twice a day.
The solution: Hopping out of bed early in the morning for a lovely jog on the promenade.
The benefits: I now see a different sunrise every morning – each one more beautiful than the last. I take a moment or two to enjoy the rhythmic waves of the ocean. And to be honest, I also enjoy moving straight from the couch to the bed in the evening, bypassing the shower altogether!
Shower vs bath: Part of my sensory diet used to be a long, relaxing bath over the weekends. I love lying in the bath with a book or simply closing my eyes and taking deep breaths. The drought has definitely thrown a spanner in my bathtub.
The solution: I’ve measured out the amount of water my 2-minute shower takes. Over weekends I measure out the same amount for bathwater. It’s not ideal and by no means fills the tub, but I prefer this far above a quick lather-on, lather-off shower.
The benefits: I now enjoy my bath time so much more than in the past and treasure every moment of it …
Let’s talk about smells – office smells, body odour, drains and even perfume. Our smell sense is particularly sensitive as it connects directly to the emotional centre of the brain. Some people are more sensitive to smells than others and pick up smells very easily. Strong smells can lead to nausea and poor concentration. I’m not sensitive to smell but even I have noticed the rise of certain smells since we’ve been asked to save water. Some come from flushing toilets with greywater or in shopping malls, not flushing at all. Some people are showering only 3 times a week. Others are wearing the same clothes a few times to do less washing. Even the way we clean our homes has changed to become more water-wise. Along with this, there is a natural rise in unpleasant smells. And along with that, comes the smells (perfumes, room sprays, deodorisers) to cover the unpleasant smells. This can become quite overwhelming for someone with a low smell threshold, in other words, someone who is very sensitive to odour.
The solution: Spray a little of your own perfume or a drop of essential oil you like on a scarf and wrap it around your neck.
The benefits: Having your favourite smell so close by will not only cancel out some of the unpleasant smells, it can also help you to stay calm.

Now it’s your turn. Please share with us your water experiences. How has the water crisis impacted your sensory threshold? And what creative solutions have you come up with to deal with it?

Do our free Sensory Quiz™ for an introduction to your sensory style.

Classrooms can quickly become noisy and overwhelming, leading to inappropriate and challenging behaviour by children. Understanding the impact of sensory input from the environment is important in helping a teacher make the necessary changes to create a stress-free classroom for focused learning. There are many aspects to consider when looking at creating a sensory smart classroom, but today I want to focus on the benefit of having a quiet space for children to escape to when it all gets too much to cope with.

A quiet space is a designated space that children can retreat to when they feel overwhelmed and overloaded by the sensory input from the immediate environment. It gives them time and space to calm their sensory systems and take control of their emotions again. An effective quiet space should always be used exclusively for calming down. It needs to be away from the desks, in a quiet corner if possible. It can be as simple as a very large box with one side cut out to allow the child to get in and out, it can be a small tent or even a desk that stands to one side, covered with a large blanket or sheet.

There must be a clear way for a child to indicate that he or she needs to “chill out”. There must also be a set of rules around the use of the quiet space and all children should show the necessary understanding and respect for the users of this space.

Setting up your quiet space:

Choose calming colours, like shades of blue and/or green.
Use comfortable “furniture” like large fluffy cushions and soft blankets to create a calming and cosy atmosphere.
Have a variety of soft toys – hugging a bear can go a long way to calming a distressed child.
Books can help a child distract him- or herself from the emotional state that he or she is experiencing.
Art and colouring can be very therapeutic in helping one to calm down and express feelings.
Have a CD player/iPod with a set of headphones nearby, loaded with classical or other calming music.
Make a Fidget Tools Box with some of the following calming tools in:
- Stress balls – squeezing stress balls help channel negative emotions
- Calming bottles – looking at water-filled plastic bottles with glitter or jelly beads will help children settle their breathing and emotions
- Small puzzles to help them refocus
- Elastic bands or Thera-bands of different colours and strengths so that they can pull and stretch
- Pipe cleaners to bend, stretch, twist and turn
- Noise-cancelling headphones to block out overwhelming noise, and to help the child self-regulate
- Sunglasses/eye covers to escape from bright light

At some or other point, most of the children in the classroom will need some time out from the overwhelming environment. Having a safe and peaceful place to go to, helps the child take ownership of his or her ability to self-regulate emotions and sensory systems, which are crucial for focused learning.

Discover more sensory strategies to address your sensory needs, by completing your Sensory Matrix™.

Author: Annemarie Lombard

How being water-wise affects your senses

Benefits of a “Quiet Space” in your classroom

Setting up your quiet space:

Who has benefited