First, a mea culpa.
I took a 3 week hiatus from 5-senses Sunday because I have travelled 3 weekends in a row and just couldn’t do both. Believe me, I tried. But, after 8 years of solopreneurship, I’ve learned what my limits are and I’ve become good at predicting burn-out cycles in myself and know when to pull back.
Thank to years of building my mind/body connection and interoceptive skills, I also know when I’m ready to jump back in so here we are!
Taste:
I’ve been a sucker for halvah since I was a kid. Do you remember the first time you tried a food that literally changed your life? Halvah was that food for me. At 7 years old, I was tantalized by the creamy, flaky, sweet, salty and dense blocks of halvah my Mom would occasionally bring home.
When I was pregnant with my 3rd child, I made my husband traverse 3 neighboring towns searching for my beloved halvah craving and while it took him 2 hours, he finally delivered the goods which he found in a local ethnic market 3 towns over. That’s love right?
Scent:
Can you imagine tasting a sound or hearing a color? For a small percentage of people who have a condition called synesthesia, 2 scents can be activated at once when presented with certain stimuli.
Psychology Today describes Synesthesia as “…neurological condition in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway (for example, hearing) leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway (such as vision). Simply put, when one sense is activated, another unrelated sense is activated at the same time. This may, for instance, take the form of hearing music and simultaneously sensing the sound as swirls or patterns of color.”
I learned in my research for this article that there are many different types of synesthesia that present in unique ways.
For the curiosities I had about scent for this edition of 5-senses Sunday, I googled “Can you smell color?”
While rare, I learned that there is a subset of Synesthesia called Color-smell synesthesia where indeed colors are perceived as scents and aromas.
One perfumer with color-smell synesthesia described nuanced and layered smells associated with certain colors and some of the colors he perceived as scents he had never even smelled before.
Learn more about Synesthesia here and the color-smell subset here.
Sound:
Did you know that even space has a sound?
Thanks to a process called Sonification, scientists have been able to take wavelengths from space and convert it into sound waves. This really blew my mind and I hope it fills you with awe as well.
Touch:
I have a good friend who’s husband is in the navy and is often on tour for many months on end with very little means in which for them to communicate. The ship he’s on has spotty wifi and even emails and texts are inconsistent due to the circumstances.
While it doesn’t solve the problem of live, in-person connection, I found a device online that can support far-flung relationships. Enter, the bond-touch bracelet. This device, plus others like the touch locket and the friendship lamp are ingenious tools to help maintain the power of touch-connection in your important relationships, even from afar.
Some of them buzz gently to let their loved one “feel” when they are thinking of them. Some even simulate the heartbeats of their paramours to help narrow the distance between them.
I could see a mother/daughter sharing this while the daughter is in college. Or to instantly let a friend, living on the other side of the world, know that you are in their hearts.
Sight:
Color Therapy, i.e. chronotherapy and it’s role in stress reduction.
We have long used color as a means to evoke emotions. Consider high end brands using purple to portray wealth and a regal energy. Or a spa that displays soothing shades of greens when walking in.
Certain shades of blue is known to reduce stress and create an aura of calm, while yellows are more effervescent and give us energy and improve our moods.
Even restaurants and food establishments know the power of color in consumerism. For instance, studies have been conducted that show that food served on warm colored dishes (think red, orange and yellow) tend to stimulate ones appetite while cooler colors such as blue and green create calm and can decrease appetite and hunger cues.
In chronotherapy, a therapist will use various hues of color to support the client’s mood, energy, focus and well-being. Blues and greens create a calming sensation and blue light therapy can help those with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). Pinks have a nurturing essence to them while reds and oranges stimulate energy and creativity.
Here is an image that shows a little more about the feelings and states of being elicited from various colors.
What are your favorite colors? Better question may be….what is the color of your bedroom? That will reveal a lot to me. Mine is a sea green. :-)
Tell me. What is rocking YOUR 5-senses this week? I’d love to know.
Lots of interesting information. Thanks.
My favorite colors have always been Red, Deep Purple and Teal - guess I can see why. Love the color calendar with associated thoughts and time of year.