Celebrating your senses: reclaiming the joy in your body

We tend to forget to appreciate true pleasure our senses can bring us into a fast-paced world like today, where so many things are constantly demanding our attention. The experience of our senses is the most basic, yet profound aspect of being human and our body constantly tries to communicate to us through our senses – be it sight, smell, touch, taste, and sound, but are we Listening?

In my experience, I have seen that my clients open the door to deeper self-awareness and joy only when they reconnect with their senses. For example, one of my clients decided to come to intimacy coaching sessions with me with the chief complaint of them not wanting to have sex and a general lack of libido. When we dug into her issue, we realised that she was so disconnected from her body, that her body had numbed up. We began the un-freezing process by removing pressure off of her to have sex, so that she stops running towards the goal, and by getting her to take time out to just tune into her senses. They are like a gateway to pleasure. So many of us jump from task to task on a day-to-day basis and we become disconnected from this natural gift of experiencing the world around us through our senses, and most importantly, experiencing ourselves.

Why do your senses matter?

Celebrating our senses is not just about sex. It is about learning how to feel again, and about reconnecting with our sexuality. In the most basic, human sense, it is about grounding yourself into your body and tuning into the sensations that life offers.

If this sounds like a bunch of hocus-pocus to you, think about the last time you enjoyed a moment to yourself. It may have been the smell or taste of your favourite food, it may have been hearing the pattering of raindrops on your window, or truly feeling the water gush down your body when you’re taking a shower after a long day. These little moments are tiny pleasures of life that we miss out on. These can truly ground us and bring us back to the present. They can remind us that no matter how things are, we are still capable of experiencing pleasure.

Right now, we live our lives on autopilot. We are constantly stressed, disconnected and anxious.
Hence, we are so out of touch with our bodies that we do not even realise what we’re missing out on. But it doesn’t take a lot to start now. When the fore-mentioned client started the unfreezing process by inculcating simple things like relishing the taste of food, smelling her favourite flowers, listening to the kind of music that makes her body want to move, touching herself softly, without any intentions and seeing herself in clothes of her choice, she discovered her sexy.

Small Acts of Sensuality

We do not need a special occasion to start experiencing our senses. It’s more about integrating small, yet meaningful acts of sensuality into our day-to-day lives. A few ways you could begin are:

• Touch – Start by feeling how your clothes feel against your body, the texture, the warmth it brings you or the coolness they provide on a hot summer day. Truly feel how it hangs from your body.
• Smell – have you ever smelt something, which takes you back to a distinct memory?
  Smell is such a powerful way of connecting with your memories and emotions. On a bad day, use your favourite comforting perfume to ground yourself. Light incense sticks or candles around your house at the end of the day, so you can come back to something that your body appreciates.
• Taste– try to slow down when you eat. Properly chew each bite you take and feel the flavours mingle in your mouth. Eat mindfully, and your body will thank you. Do not deprive yourself of anything that your body craves, but practice moderation.
• Sight – take a moment to close your eyes, take three deep breaths and look around with a fresh set of eyes. Maybe it is the vibrancy of colours around you, or maybe it’s your own curves in the mirror. Taking a moment to really notice the beauty around you, can immediately make a shift within yourself and ground yourself.
• Sound – having an extremely engaging conversation with someone you love, listening to the kind of music that makes you feel good, just tuning into listening to waves crashing on top of each other or the chirping of birds – these are things that can connect us with sound. Find whatever is soothing for you, and be present around it.

So, if you have been feeling disconnected from your sensual self, start by reconnecting with your senses. Touch yourself with gentleness, wear clothes that make you feel good, and eat for your body craves. When you nurture your senses, you will find yourself reconnecting with deeper desires, whether it’s a sexual desire, or whether it is just the desire to feel alive. Allow your body to be your guide, notice every small little thing, look at the world around you and do things that actually feel good to you.