Wednesday Wellness Tool: Use Your Senses!

Today's Wellness Tool comes on the heels of a couple very cerebral days. Lots of thinking, organizing, and typing. My brain hurts.

I notice this brain tax in students of all ages, and people for whom life has simply gotten fast and busy. When you're feeling like your head is getting a good squeeze it's a great time to take pause and excite your other senses:

1. Sight: Catch the sunset (or sunrise if you're an early bird) or any other gift of nature; Treat yourself to a museum (here's a guide to monthly free days for a variety of museums in San Francisco). 
2. Hearing: Dig up your favorite go-to music, the stuff that makes you happy every time you hear it. Or wander into your music store of choice and sample the new music (Amoeba is good for blasting good music throughout the store as you peruse, no purchase necessary)
3. Taste: Prepare or pick up a meal that has some elements of savory, sweet, salty, spicy, and sour. Eat slowly and notice each element. Asian cuisines are good for this one. If you've fallen into a repetitious rut with your eating, simply switch it up.
4. Smell: Inhale the scent of the aforementioned meal before eating it. Smell a baby's head. Smell the scent of an orange as you peel it, or literally stop and smell the roses. 
5. Touch: There are so many different ways, small and large, to excite this sense. Starting big, make sure you're getting the affection you want and need in your relationships; More simply, get your hands dirty in a garden; pet an animal; Go swimming; Hold a smooth stone in your palm and feel how it feels; Give yourself a head and neck massage. 

If you can answer the question, "Am I in my head too much"? with a firm "yes," know that your senses are the portal into your body.

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