1. Sense organs

Q. Why do we have sense organs?

A. They provide us with information about what's around us and what's happening inside us.  

• the beautiful and the ugly that our eyes are seeing 
• the natural sounds and noise that our ears are hearing
• do we enjoy what our mouths taste? 
• is our skin being pinched by the ring we're wearing? 
• are we thrown off balance when we close our eyes?
• what do we sense is behind us?

2. Sensory Nervous System. How does it work?

Our sense organs constantly pick up and feed sensory information to our brain and nervous system. Each sense organ has uniquely designed receivers that pick up information.

For example, sensory receivers in your eye respond to light waves; receivers in your ears respond to sound waves. These stimuli are converted to electrical impulses and conveyed 

• directly to your brain, or 
• to your spinal cord or 
• to your brain via your spinal cord

Processed Impulses. Impulses that reach the brain are processed in specialized areas of the brain.

Short Cuts. When safety and survival require immediate reaction to sensory stimuli, short cuts kick in. For instance, if you see a snake - or something resembling a snake - an evasive or defensive reaction is triggered faster than your brain has time to process the information, and you do what it takes to cope with or to evade danger.  

When the brain eventually processes what you "saw", you may realize that it's only a harmless garden snake or a piece of rope that looked like a snake. OK, so you feel a bit silly. At least you’re out of harm’s way while your brain interprets the reality.

3. Why are some nervous systems easily “triggered”? 

A burst of adrenalin - and other stress hormones - usually accompanies reactions to scary events. 

Many people can re-set their fight/ flight/ freeze (sympathetic) nervous system and shake off remnants of the adrenalin rush that prepared them for danger.

In the case of the rope/ snake look alike, many people will laugh it off. But, for a variety of reasons - often related to past or persistent trauma - some people have difficulty shaking off the rush of stress hormones, and their nervous system does not easily reset - or have time to reset - after a scary or exciting event.  

In addition, sensory input during traumatic events may exceed the transmitting capacity of sensory nerves, so some of it is left stranded in the body, unprocessed and disconnected from memory. 

In varying degrees, from the intense demands of life, to information overload, to witnessing and/ or experiencing overwhelming pain and suffering, most of us experience sensory overload daily.

Increasing numbers of people are experiencing these effects as the covid pandemic - and it’s related consequences - continues.

Adrenalin and stress hormones are not life-sustaining fuels. When the fight/ flight/ freeze nervous system doesn't reset, and when unprocessed stimuli remain in the body, the person remains on alert. They often feel nervous, their repetitive thoughts could spin a hamster wheel, and they are easily startled. With the continual flow of stress hormones through their body, they find it difficult to rest, relax or breathe easily.
 Over time they may notice 
    •    fatigue
    •    brain fog, disruptions in thinking, confusion
    •    numbness, feeling untethered/ ungrounded, disconnected from sensations
    •    irritation with - and disconnection from - other people
    •    disturbed immune system and disturbed body functions  

4. Balancing the nervous systems.  Ideally, the activity of the fight/ flight/ freeze (sympathetic) nervous system is in balanced with the rest, heal and digest (parasympathetic) nervous system.
Rest, heal and digest nervous system relies on 
    •    a fuller capacity to breathe (please see biology of breathing)
    •    sensory awareness.   

5. Return to Your Senses.  Sensory awareness is a slower experience. While fight or flight responses are necessarily rapid, sensory awareness is a more intentional, slower process that helps people reconnect with themselves. It relies on grounding, and on accessing and integrating information from the entire body - not just the thinking mind.
Every cell in your body has intelligence and cells constantly communicate each other. While most of these transmissions are unconscious "housekeeping" matters,  there is a lot of useful sensory information available to us when we tune in.
Return to your senses and discover that your body wants to communicate with you, and, with practice, you'll discover which sensory perceptions are the clearest channels for you.

Initially, learning to identify sensations seems like learning a foreign language, so here is a tool called The Sensation List . 

6. KIS. The biggest challenge for many people is: KEEP IT SIMPLE.   
    •    Notice a sensation in your body.
    •    Check the sensation list. Name your experience with a word or very short phrase.
    •    KIS.  When you exceed a word or short phrase, your thinking mind has hijacked the process
    •   Become a neutral observer: notice sensation without judging or explaining it.  .
    •   Oops. When you notice that you are following a story-line, chasing a memory, planning a shopping list - return to your intention; make a fresh start, and know that simple isn't always easy, and we refer to the process as a practice!
    •    Gently return to the sensation and maybe notice how it changes.
    •    Cultivate curiosity: what is it here for? What does it need? What does it want you to know?

7. Why is Sensory Awareness important?
Sensory awareness helps us be present to ourselves and each other and strengthens our capacity for healing and resilience.