We’ve been digging deep, so now is the time for some comic relief. The fae tell me that the body is here for us to experience “pleasure,” maybe because that rhymes wth treasure. Our body temple indeed is a treasure and needs to be treasured. And being in the physical, with a physical body, gives us five senses to really experience pleasure. And that is something to treasure.
However, how many of us slow down enough to really appreciate our body. Most women spend a lot of time cursing their bodies because they aren’t the same perfection as the models on the catwalk.
So let’s take these five physical senses and look at them more deeply with a sense of fun and play, and a focus on the positive.
1. Sense of Smell
There is a wonderful scene in Harold and Maude where Maude takes Harold into her home, and shows him a smelling machine. He is in bliss as he smells snow, etc. And the look of delight and wonder on his face is everything this module is about.
I love the smell of healthy animals. My dog’s paws smell like Mother Earth, I love the woolly smell of sheep, and the smell of horse. I love the smell of the eucalypt trees and sea air, and I love the smells of cocoa, coconut, and vanilla in soaps and creams. I love all the essential oils I work with, and lately I have discovered a new range of smells in natural house cleaning products, which makes cleaning a joy rather than a chore.
A smell can transport us into memory and wonder, make us feel pampered, and lift our frequency.
Think about what you love to smell, and how it enhances your life.
Here’s the Harold and Maude clip:
2. Sense of Hearing
We are blessed to be able to hear the world, but we don’t always want to listen. And during this course, I ask people to listen a lot.
But let’s listen playfully. Close your eyes and focus on some good sounds. In our house, I can hear the wind in the trees, and so many birds. A horse’s neigh in the distance. The geese squawking. And the bells in the wind chimes. When I listen beyond the surface, there is a conversation and a symphony.
So have a listen. Is there a symphony at your place? Close your eyes and let the music begin. Can you listen to far away sounds. And then switch to listening to close up sounds. Do you know what you are hearing?
What about the timbre of voices? What is it about a richly resonant actor’s voice that is so appealing? Do you know what voices and their timbres and tones tell you about a person? Listen.
3. Sense of Sight
Sight can be a huge discussion, because we only see what we want to see and can be quite blind when we want to be. Sometimes we don’t know what we are seeing because it is out of our frame of reference, so we allow ourselves to only see, in its place, the familiar.
So we don’t see the magic portals to the otherworld, we only see ordinary trees and rocks. We don’t see the Spirits who are all around us. We miss subtle communication by not Seeing how someone is holding themselves or the looks which flash across their face.
So, in a practise of Seeing, we might enjoy going somewhere so we can see the horizon . And we might look far away into the distance. What can you see in the distance? Then look closely at the world around us. Can you really observe the petals in a flower? Kind of like using a telephoto lens and a macro lens. And as an added benefit, this exercise of close seeing and far seeing is really good for your eyesight.
Seeing is why I love photography. it helps me capture the beauty I See every day to share with others.
Can you look at colours in a new way? I love the vibrant colours of the American Southwest and India, and the South Americas because of their high frequency.
After being brought up in a beige home, I’ll never forget the delight I felt at visiting the home of an artist in my first job as a journalist. She had bright colours everywhere and it made me feel alive. Her couch, covered in an assortment of bright coloured cushions, made the room feel vibrant, welcoming, cosy and warm.
Our own home is painted blue. Inside and out! Different shades of blue, and other colours as well. I once had an elderly relative who was so appalled it wasn’t the traditional white with green trim, she offered to pay for me to paint it that. I said no thank you!
How do colours make you feel? What are your favourite colours? Think about the feeling, each colour evokes within you.
Do you notice the light? Why is twilight the magic hour for filmmakers? Pay attention to the light!
4. Sense of Touch
We are blessed with the gift of touch. To feel the sun kiss our cheek, the wind play with our hair, to feel the refreshment of a dip in the ocean or even the shower. The way the water touches our skin. We can enjoy touching the furry coats of our beloveds.
We can touch and enjoy textures like the bark of an old tree, the skin of a peach, the warmth smoothness of a pebble or large rock standing in the sun.
Close your eyes and experience the sense of touch, reading what touch tells you about the world, people, animals and nature. There’s a richness there we just don’t even notice and take for granted.
Now is the time to appreciate our sense of touch. What can touch tell you about the world, when you come your eyes and focus on it.
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5. Sense of Taste
We often think of taste as just something to do with food. But have you tried tasting the air and the rain?
And do you spend time even really tasting the food you eat? So many people rush their food, and don’t savour it. Meal times could be a song of praise to Mother Earth and all those who laboured to bring you the ingredients of your food.
Have you tried adding essential oils to food for a different and healing experience? What about vanilla and cinnamon soaked in your hot cocoa as you heat it?
Our ability to taste can be healing to our body because of the high frequency of enjoyment perhaps helping the intake of the nutrients in the food. What do you think?
But let’s go beyond food. Imagine tasting a lemon. An apple. Chocolate brownie. A hearty lentil stew.
Really savour it.
There’s a story I remember, but sadly not where from (apologies), of some people who supported a person through their four day long vision quest by sending him images of food. I remember strawberries being the main food. The intention was that he would be nourished by the etheric.
There’s another story of a woman named Anne Jefferies from Cornwall, imprisoned for witchcraft (she was a healer and prophet) and who was a friend of the fae. The faerie kept her nourished and healthy for her year-long imprisonment, where she was given no food at all. The fae gave her faerie food. She survived her ordeal, and was released.
Challenge
As well as doing the exercises for yourself within this module, imagine yourself as a visitor to our planet and our human form. Play with your senses with delight and joy. You are one of the blessed ones, to have all your senses and to be able to enjoy the rich experience living on this planet as humans.