Someone I know said the first time she went to Times Square she felt so seen. All of the lights, sounds, images and people felt like how she experiences the inner workings of her brain. For me, Times Square, though impressive in its own right, is a version of hell on earth. Give me glistening sunlight on the ocean, salty air, and the sound of the waves any day.
We are constantly digesting stimuli, based on what we choose to expose ourselves to. Every scent you smell, every video you scroll through, every texture you touch, every piece of music you hear, are all being processed and filtered through your sensory experience — your body-mind connection. This includes every conversation and thought that runs through your conscious and subconscious mind, along with countless other stimuli we encounter every day.
So do you consider what stimuli you take in as carefully as you do the food you eat? You probably already know that salty greasy foods land differently in your stomach and intestines than a green salad. But it’s really our whole body that processes all stimuli. Your whole body responds one way when you listen to heavy metal, and another way when you listen to birdsong in the forest. The smell of rose oil evokes a different somatic response than a musty basement. This receiving, processing, and filtering various stimuli is akin to a digestive process.
How do you know what sensory stimuli support your well being? The practice is learning your own personal somatic language, understanding how your body-mind is speaking to you at all times. What causes your muscles to soften? What ignites excitement in your breath? What helps you register safety in your bones? What awakens your eroticism? What sensory experiences help you feel more like yourself? Though we need to be able to constrict, shrink, and collapse sometimes, it’s generally the sensory stimuli that help us access a sense of inner expansion that move us more into vitality. What helps your body remember abundance?
Even when we’re very intentional about which stimuli we let in, of course, we’ll still be exposed to stimuli we didn’t choose. In these cases, it’s also possible to practice shifting our response. I can either brace and grit my teeth in response to the incessant car alarm going off outside my window, or I may be able to soften my body a bit with the acceptance that it’s out of my control. My capacity to choose the latter option will vary based on how resourced I am at the time. Have I slept enough? Am I properly hydrated? How much time have I spent with the people I love? Etc.
As you pay more attention to how your soma responds to various inputs, you may find yourself making changes. You notice how a particular material actually doesn’t feel so good on your skin. The scent you used to love now feels overpowering. The violent movies you used to watch now feel excessive. Your sensory register has recalibrated, so what you choose to consume shifts. There may continue be some days where that genre of movie still really hits the spot, but you’ll choose it more consciously. You understand more about the energy it takes for your body to process it, and whether you want to use your energy that way or not. Slowly but surely you begin to fill yourself more with people, creatures, places, activities, and things that ground your body-mind in the recognition of how beautiful and sacred life is during our brief sensual visit to this earth.
Practice: What is one small sensory experience you can offer your soma today that helps you feel more internally expansive or abundant?