The simplest sensory joys

Being part Polish, I’m food-centric! And while I don’t truly have a taste for a lot of the Polish main dishes, the pastries are off the charts. The week before Lent, Mom always made cinnamon sugar twisted doughnuts that had a name sounding like “poonch key.” They were huge, but that never stopped me. I’d eat 6-8 of them in a sitting in preparation for giving up desserts during Lent. I have no idea how a 13-year-old fit that much in, but the memories of yeasty, sugary, cinnamon-y goodness remain with me to this day.  Thankfully, eh? If I ate that much today, it would kill me! But, Oh! What a joy it was at the time!

Food continues to be a joy, although my tastes have changed quite a bit. I like my veggies now. I like their textures, their smells, and their tastes. I like my coffee and tea. I like fruits and gluten-free treats. I like ethnic dishes and flavors and can easily raise my vibe with a single good dish! Nibbling on the herbs like the parsley in the garden works too(see photo!).

There is so much beauty to be seen, too.  I’ve had countless experiences of being awestruck by the majesty of nature. One year, I woke up very early in autumn to get on a trail before the crowds.  The sun had not yet risen, so the forest was quiet and dim. The leaves crunched under my feet with their autumn fragrance and there was a chill in the air that felt so alive!  I sensed sunrise, climbed up a steep hill in the forest, and was treated to a sunrise unlike anything I’d ever seen. Rays of light played over the trees, at first seeming to set their orange, red, and yellow tops on fire, then as the sun climbed higher, the rays swept lower, creating swaths of radiant color in their wake. I could barely breathe. It was surreal and beautiful.

There are also so many sounds to be savored! I love beautiful music. I love the birds. I can hear the voice of the two hummingbirds in my backyard that squawk at one another, the humming of the spring bees, the chatty doves, and the rustle of the palm leaves in the breeze. Inside the house, air purifier fans create a little hum, and various random devices beep and chime throughout the day.  I could go on.

Life is a sensory symphony.

This is one of the many reasons that I can stay happy despite the world’s challenges and the pains, problems, and upsets I witness on a daily basis. This is also how I bring myself back to the moment so I can be useful when a loved one is not doing well. It is how I heal after messing up my body. This sensory beauty even prepared me for the death of a beloved dog years ago. I had been guided to go to the nearby botanical garden in the morning, which at the time was blooming in every way possible with all the little cacti showing off their finest and most beautiful. The plants were insanely gorgeous. The garden smelled earthy and delightful. The temperature was perfect.

I was so filled with goodness that by the time I got home and my dear aging dog gave me “the look,” which told me it was time, I was able to take her to the vet with only love and gratitude and a full heart. She told me, telepathically, to take selfies of the two of us on the office floor before she shut her eyes, started snoring, and left her body right before the vet arrived. It was surreal. I look back on that day, remember the magic of it all, and know the universe is always trying to offer us more grace and goodness than we can imagine.

Here are a few ways to “come back to your senses,” as the angels say:

1.  Go on a food “field trip”

We used to go on outings in school a few times a year called “field trips” to museums, parks, or various other out-of-the-box experiences. They were a lot of fun. You can easily take a food field trip! Go to a farmer’s market, an ethnic or specialty grocer, or even wander down an aisle you never frequent in your local grocery store. Look at things you might not have ever seen. Ask your phone how to use them!

Indulge in a sensory experience with new sights, smells, and tastes.  This is so much fun. I found the best tapioca I’ve ever had at an Indian grocer, learned how to make Tom Ka Gai soup with galangal (like ginger) and tiny mushrooms from an Asian grocer, and loved the rosewater a client brought me from a Persian grocer.  The farmer’s markets in the fall offer a huge variety of specialty items.

In your own city, probably not too far, you have wonderful places to explore.

2. Find your Old Favorite songs online and Time Travel

These days you can locate nearly any song online. Find one of your old favorites, turn it on, and dream or dance!  I read about a study in one of Dr. Joe Dispensa’s books where several elderly men were brought to a home for a week. It was decorated in the style of their younger days. There were magazines from that era, music from that era, and even the food was prepared as it would have been in that era.  Without any medical intervention, each one of them had physical and mental improvements that week.

Tuning into old favorites can have a wonderful effect on the body and mind. So make those 60’s or 70’s playlists and let them raise you into a happy space.

3. Sniff your way through a hike or an outing

My dog taught me the joy of sniffing. She’d go out to the backyard, sit and put her head back, and with every muscle in her body, inhale deeply. Her eyes would roll back, and anyone could see the total joy she was experiencing as she caught various fragrances on the wind—the barbecue two houses down, the birds, the neighbor’s dog, the flowers, you name it. She taught me to inhale deeply and sift through nature’s perfumed “notes.”

Now, every time I visit a store with essential oils, natural soaps, or candles, I have to stop and sniff. When I pass buckets of flowers, I pause to bury my face in them and smell. When I’m at a restaurant, I take a minute to inhale it all.  And in nature, wow, the leaves, the streams, even the rocks smell so refreshing. Ponderosa pine sap smells like vanilla, and the juniper has its own pungent smell.

Nature nurtures even with her good scents!

So yes, the world is wacky and wild, but right here and now, in these miraculous bodies, there are all sorts of opportunities to experience love. Even when I’ve been sick or in pain, there were ways to find joy and tune out the trouble for a while until things got better.  It isn’t trivial or insignificant to enjoy these simple, sensory pleasures. It is yet one more way to elevate our spirits beyond the challenges and into the realms where love abides.