Hello Fellow Sensuous Humans  –

I invite you to pause reading for a moment (I know we just got started!) and notice the textures and temperatures along your skin. Can you feel your weight through contact with the ground…the pressure of your sit bones or feet? Now, take a slow inhalation through your nose… notice how this moment smells. Is there a fragrance there that you only now notice because you are attuning to it? Savor this for a moment and then return to the words.

For a long time I have been a devoted student of the senses because they are such a beautiful, simple and direct way to come into the experience of being a body. It is the way I can stay true to myself even as I accompany others through their own embodiment journey. This has not always been something I was interested in or even aware of, but as I started to deepen into my consciousness studies, I realized that my body was the home to this awareness and offered the remarkable opportunity to show up here more. We are socialized to regard our bodies as objects to manipulate and decry rather than an experience to jump into and be with. 

Isn’t it fascinating that we use the term “coming to our senses” to describe coming back into ‘reality’ or coming back from a ‘dream’. Yet rarely are the senses actually meant as we have forsaken them in our worship of reason. But there are no senses without awareness and coming to the senses is a gift of consciousness to ourselves and the world around us. It is a portal into the present moment where we can be in living relationship with other…humans, more than humans, green ones and all that is alive in the world around us. And let us not forget that these sensory portals also open inwardly and invite us into a wild and vast terrain of internal aliveness.

I invite you to pause again and notice the soundscape you are currently inhabiting. What sounds are offering you their rhythms and pulses right now…far in the distance and close by? I can hear kids playing in the school yard, the hum of far off construction machinery and the bubbling melody of a fountain. Is there a taste in your mouth…a remnant from your last meal or drink? A certain flavor or note in the mouth, either pleasant or unpleasant? Take a moment to savor the sounds and the taste and then return.

As you return to these words is there any way you are more available to them? to yourself? to the vibrancy of this moment of living? I invite you to come to your senses, literally, more of the time… allow them, one at a time, to bring in more reason by way of presence and place. This is our reason for being…more presence, aliveness, beauty and feeling; even when there is discomfort and displeasure. Turn the curiosity inwards and explore the ways of being inside your skin as it mirrors back to you how your nervous system my interpret the outer environment. Our body is a conversation had through the senses and what a rich and juicy exchange is going on. Go ahead, listen in. 

May we come to our senses more and more of the time

May we find ways to invite the conversation of aliveness deeper into ourselves

May we allow the senses to teach us how to be more us and more present for other 

May we bring blessings and love to all we encounter

Practice Prompts:

• Pause throughout your day and pick a sense portal to open into. Notice what is current in the experience of your being through this sense portal. Spend a few moments bathing in the sensations and as you return to your activity notice how it impacts your doing.
• Pause through your day and turn your curiosity inwards and notice any sensations within your body. See if you can drop any labels and judgements and get more nuanced…is your tummy fluffy, ripply, or another kind of soft? Is your chest prickly, pokey, or another kind of tense? Sensations are sensations and can you be just as interested in the ‘unpleasant’ ones. When you return to our outward life exchange is there any shift?
• Advanced practice 🙂 …can you feel your bum in the chair or your feet on the floor at the same time that you are listening to another person speak to you? What happens when you give this a try? Can you try a few times?
• I offer one to one sessions in person in Bend, Oregon and virtually all over the world. If you would like to learn more about my offerings please email me or schedule a free 20 minute Exploratory Session.

Live Streaming Practice Opportunities:

• Yoga for Resilience, Mondays, 9:30-11am PT, livestream through Body of Insight
• All Levels Yoga, Sundays…Jun 25, Jul 23, Aug 27, 9:30-11am PT, livestream through Two Dog Yoga (NEW TIME)
• Continuum Inquiry Playshop, Sunday, July 23, 4-6pm PT, livestream through Body of Insight
• On Demand Yoga Practices…All Levels… through Two Dog Yoga (practice with me anytime, anywhere!)

Inspirational Wisdom:

Blessing for the Senses

May your body be blessed.
May you realize that your body is a faithful
and beautiful friend of your soul.
And may you be peaceful and joyful
and recognize that your senses
are sacred thresholds.
May you realize that holiness is
mindful, gazing, feeling, hearing, and touching.
May your senses gather you and bring you home.
May your senses always enable you to
celebrate the universe and the mystery
and possibilities in your presence here.
May the Eros of the Earth bless you.

– John O’Donohue in Anam Cara