5 Senses Mindfulness Activity
This 5 Senses Mindfulness Activity is a simple exercise to get grounded in the present moment anywhere, anytime.
Wherever you may find yourself, take a moment to use your 5 senses to feel, hear, see, smell and taste, (when applicable!) everything around you.
Since there are 5 senses, it can be helpful to use your 5 fingers as a memory tool, assigning a sense to each finger. Using you fingers helps in two ways:
1. You easily remember to go through each of your senses
2. Holding each finger keeps you focused on the activity
How It Works
Use your dominant hand to take each finger of your non dominant hand, one by one, starting with the thumb. As you hold each finger in sequence, pay attention to the associated sense. You can move on to the next finger when you feel ready.
The beauty of this exercise is that it can be done anywhere and nobody needs to know you are doing it. You can spend a couple of seconds on each sense or a few minutes, depending on the situation.
Download the free 5 Senses Mindfulness Activity and listen to the recording as you go through it for the first time. Once you’ve experienced the activity, know that you can come back to it at any time with or without the recording.
Thumb = Feel
What can you feel? Tune into everything you can feel with your body. The support beneath you, the texture of your clothing, the temperature of the air or water touching your skin and anything else you can physically feel.
Index finger = Hear
What can you hear around you? Identify all the sounds and notice all the layers from near to far of your current soundscape.
Middle finger = See
Look around you and what can you see? Notice the details of the objects. Take in the colours, textures, shapes of everything around you.
Ring finger = Smell
Take a big breath through your nose and notice what you smell. Identify all the layers in your current smellscape.
Baby finger = Taste
What can you taste in this moment? Are you eating or drinking something? If not, are there any lingering tastes in your mouth? What are they?
When You’re Done
Take a moment to notice how you are feeling. Has anything changed or shifted? What are 3 words that describe how you feel?
Remember, anytime you feel the need to calm your body or mind, this tool can help you to do just that.
I’d love to hear from you down in the comments below!
