Use “the force” of all your senses.

Do you use all of your senses, sight, sound, smell, taste and touch when travelling in order to fully experience “the moment”?

I remember when I was first being taught meditation suddenly hearing a clock ticking across the other side of the room that I couldn’t previously hear, and the smell of grass being cut on the lawns outside even though the windows were closed. Removing the day to day clutter from my mind had cleared it to receive ALL the sensory signals arriving, and I know that we often miss out on similar inputs on our travels.

Mindful travel needs to operate in the same way, not meditative, but understanding that we can use all of our senses to fully experience our environment, enriched by more than just “looking” at something. Of course I’m not suggesting that you try and touch or smell a work of art in a gallery (!), but that you are aware of the added enjoyment from sitting in a city square, walking up a mountain slope, a village bar …… and using ALL of the sensory input available to you. Walk around a Buddhist temple and hear the chatter or bells, smell the incense or butter lamps, feel the carving on the prayer wheels, observe the light reflected from the gold rings above the stupa, take it all in. Heres a few examples:

SIGHT

The visual impact of clouds, sky, rock colours, mountain …

SOUND

The crunch of pebbles or splash of the waves, the cry of the gulls …

SMELL

The smell of incense or butter lamps …

TOUCH

The feel of letters as prayers carved into the prayer wheels …

Even simpler, when you visit somewhere new, immerse yourself in the culture of the place, especially the local food with the tastes and textures you may not have experienced before. Here are some examples of specialities from Rome, Burgundy, Alsace, Bruges, Madrid, Kathmandu; It beats the Brits Abroad culture of sticking to the Irish Bar and only eating fish n chips! Can you identify them or know anything about them culturally?

TASTE

How many did you get?

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Categories: Travel

Tags: Alsace, escargots, Food, food and travel, foodie, iberico, mindful, mindful travel, mindfulness, momo, senses, tarte flambe, taste, travel food