Author: Annemarie Lombard

How do you know you are here right now? Take a moment and really think about it. How do you know you are right here, right now, not somewhere else?

Well, of course you know that you are (most likely) sitting in front of a computer screen.  If you look around you, you can see the room you are in, the colours, the shapes, the objects. You can hear the sounds around you.  Whilst writing this, I can hear construction going on outside, the washing machine running and the sound of my neighbours talking to each other. I am aware of my body touching the chair I’m sitting on and of the clothes on my skin.

Of course I am here!
And I know this, by using my senses.

Mindfulness is a topic you might have heard a lot about, and perhaps the first thing you think of when you hear mindfulness is meditation. But that’s not all that mindfulness is.  Mindfulness is being present in the “here and the now”.  And what better way to know that we are here right now than through our senses?

• SENSORY PROCESSING – The way I perceive sensory input from the world
• MINDFULNESS – Being present in what is actually happening right now

The marriage of mindfulness and sensory processing has taken the world by storm in the form of mindfulness colouring in. If you’ve been to any bookshop recently, you will know what I’m talking about. Mindfulness colouring books are everywhere. Using our sight and touch senses when we colour in grounds us in that moment and prevents our minds from running to the past or the future. You might even have heard of Zen Tangle, which is a technique used to ground yourself through doodling, by using your visual and movement senses.

So if you think that mindfulness, meditation and sensory processing are something foreign, I have a surprise for you! Here are a few examples of how you use your senses to be mindful:

• Every time you are aware of the smooth taste of a piece of chocolate in your mouth
• When are running and aware of your feet hitting the ground
• When you are watching a beautiful sunset and you notice the different hues

This week, I invite you to become more aware of your own senses. When you wash the dishes, feel the warmth of the water running through your fingers, or when you are listening to music, take a moment to be present with every note rising and falling, when you feel stressed, take a few deep breaths. You will not only become more present to enjoy this beautiful life around you, but you will also feel more calm and relaxed!

Remember the quote by Gandhi “There is more to life, than increasing its speed”.

Want to find out more about your sensory wiring? Complete your Sensory Matrix™ now.

That’s right, forget about New Year’s Resolutions.  Try Reflective Practice instead.

Forget the pressure for everything to be perfect and to change all your bad habits when the calendar flips over to January. Instead of New Years’ Resolutions I’ve taken to a Reflective Practice for 2018. This is a more gentle exercise to reflect on what your year has been like and what the important themes are for the year to come. And the beauty of it …. they don’t have to be done on the 1^st of January. I like doing mine in the middle of January, when I’ve eased back into work and given myself some time to suss things out. You can do yours on any day where you can carve out about an hour to reflect on the past as well as the coming year.

THE STEPS TO REFLECTIVE PRACTICE ARE:

STEP 1
Find a nice spot where you feel comfortable. This can be in your favourite coffee shop, under a tree in your garden, or on your favourite couch in the living room. I recommend a notepad and pen rather than a laptop or i-pad for this exercise – there is just something about working on paper that takes us into our sensory selves.

STEP 2
It’s helpful to just go through your year quickly. Take a diary or just think about 2017 and write down the ‘bullet points’ of what happened in the year. These should include more than your traditional accomplishments – you can write down meeting a new person or starting a new hobby, or even a moment you specifically remember.

STEP 3
There are 12 important questions to ask yourself.  Here are some tips to help you along:

• You don’t have to rush through them, take your time.
• Go back to a question later if you wish.
• There is no right or wrong.
• Let go of judgement.
• Breathe.
• Write slowly. Usually, the first thing that gets into your mind is the one you need to write on.

QUESTIONS

1. What stands out about 2017?  This can be any moment, usually the first that comes to your mind.
2. Which relationship deepened last year? A friend you got closer too, a romantic relationship that deepened… anything can qualify.
3. What about your workspace did you enjoy a lot or made you feel good?
4. What about your workspace did you not enjoy or was difficult for you?
5. What did you learn about yourself during the course of 2017?
6. When was the hardest time of 2017 and how did you navigate it successfully?
7. What difficulties are you still navigating going into 2018?
8. What surprises did 2017 hold for you? This can be something big like having a baby, or a special moment like discovering a new beach or hiking trail.
9. What do you still care about too much that you want to let go of? This can be something like ‘other people’s opinions’, ‘money’, ‘worrying about things that won’t happen’ etc.
10. What was the most exciting moment of 2017?
11. Who in your life played a special role in guiding and supporting you in 2017?
12. What was your greatest life lesson for 2017?

STEP 4
Read through the answers of your questions above. Try and see if anything stands out – maybe a specific theme comes through?  Looking towards 2018, what is your ‘theme for the year’? Try and describe it in one word and then expand on it. The word can be something like “reboot”, “gratitude”, “positivity”, “action” or whatever speaks to you…

STEP 5
Take a deep breath and enjoy your coffee  🙂

May your 2018 be filled with beautiful adventures!

Do our free Sensory Quiz™ and start to discover your sensory wiring.