Of the five senses; sight, sound, smell, taste and touch, I’ve already written about two; sight and scent. I left you last time thinking about scent and how you can use your favourite smells to ground you, keep you mindful and potentially (hopefully) ease your anxiety.
Todays blog is all about touch. I can’t stand the feel of rough hands on material, you know when you have been gardening or something, and your hands get rough then you sort the washing and your hands catch on the material? Ahhhh!!! I can’t stand that. Also Brillo pads, yuk, I can’t stand the feel of them either. Give me a brand new fleecey blanket or freshly laundered sheets and I am all over that!
Touch is a great sense to use for grounding yourself. One of the first things I did on my mindfulness course was to feel hand cream. I can imagine confused faces right now but bear with me and try this.
Put your hand out in front of you, palm up and close your eyes. Try and focus solely on your hand for a minute or so. Then open your eyes and put a small amount of hand cream or lotion into the palm of your hand. Close your eyes again, keeping the palm open. What does the cream feel like on the hand? What sensations do you feel? What words describe how it feels?
Now use the forefinger on the other hand to gently massage the cream around the palm of the hand. Really concentrate on how that feels. The sensation in the hand, the sensation in the finger, how the cream feels. Can you feel the contours of your hand? Take your awareness fully to your hands, to the feeling of the cream on the skin. Then slowly massage all the cream into both hands, over each finger, the back of the hands, the nails. Open the palms, and sit with the sensation. What do you notice? There is nothing right now, except the sensation, feeling in your hands.
How different is that experience of using hand cream to your normal, quick application! It’s nice isn’t it? More of a meaningful, mindful experience. I love this for a way of being more mindful each day. You can try this with your face creams or body lotions. It’s all about really feeling the touch.
Another great way of using mindfulness during your day is mindful showering! This is fantastic, but just as a warning, it might make you late! How often do you jump in the shower, quick wash, dress, and you are off out the door? Most days? Try a mindful shower. My advice would be to allow a little extra time, as the first time I did this I was late for work. It is the same principle as the hand cream. You just take the time to really feel the water on your body, the shower gel, the sponge, the exfoliator. Whatever you use. Take your awareness fully to the task in hand. It will leave you extra clean and totally relaxed!
My challenge to you the week is to try some mindful showering! Just be aware that it might make you late! Enjoy and thank you again for reading. x
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