Self-Care In Small Spaces (Part 2)
Get ready for a dive into the sensory side of self care in small spaces! Building on Part 1 of Self-Care in Small Spaces, we couldn’t resist talking about how each of our senses plays a roll in our overall contribution to stress or well-being. In a study by the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, researchers state, “The multi-sensory aspect of nature experiences is crucial because monotony of stimulation can be a source of stress…” In other words, our senses need nature in our lives. Let’s go:
Sight: Have you heard the saying “a sight for sore eyes?” Well, it’s all about what relaxes your eyes. Eyes aren’t something that many of us consider needing to rest unless we’ve been in front of a computer too long. However, our faces, scalps, jaws, and necks hold a lot of tension and all of those tiny muscles (fascia) push and tug on each other as a webbed unit. Try this: close your eyes, allow your jaw to relax enough to have a little space between your teeth, let your tongue rest low instead of pressing up against the roof of your mouth, and (this is the part you’re waiting for) allow the muscles behind your eyes to relax. Even just having an awareness of those muscles makes an instant difference. Besides closing your eyes for a while, other ways to relax your eyes is to wake up with dim light and build the brightness, as well as dimming lights for the last hour or two of the night before bed. Candlelight anyone?
Hearing: Until having a child with sensory sensitivities, I really didn’t know that I have some of my own! For example, there’s a comfort for me when I have the laundry going in the background of the day: it’s just a very warm and homey feeling. However, there’s also a subtle tension in my entire body that builds for me throughout the day until the second that the dryer switches off and the house falls silence. My entire body relaxes and I usually sigh with some subconscious relief. I don’t know what it is about the mechanical hum of that machine, but I feel alleviation when it’s done. Now, consider all the sounds that surround us each day - both subtle and not: air conditioners, computers, cars, music, television, voices, pets, and more. This is where silence and time in nature comes into play, yet again. And if you play your cards well, there are opportunities to have several senses soothed at the same time by going outside. This makes the case for Forest Bathing, on which Time Magazine did a great feature.
Smell: You don’t think about smells in everyday life until you’re struck by one of the extreme ends of the good-smell vs bad-smell spectrum. Wet dog and spring flowers will both make us aware of smells, but obviously with very different reactions. The idea here is that the smells surrounding us, particularly in boats or RVs, can begin to hint to us that life has been going on for a while and it’s time to do laundry, wash the dogs, deep clean, and so on. Perhaps you can’t do it all in one night and need to treat your schnoz to a break. If you have them, certain essential oils can help. A couple of our favorites are lavender and bergamot. Baking bread or cookies, brewing coffee, even burning sage can freshen a space. And opening windows to the smell of rain/river/ocean or simply nature instantly lifts the scents and changes the tone.
Taste: You’ve heard the phrase “leave a different taste in his mouth.” That’s just it: sometimes we get desensitized from and homogenized within our sense of taste, getting into a rut with the food we purchase and eat. So, start with water, simply enough. A palate cleanser and instant hydrator, water tastes subtly different from each place it originates. I can tell you that the water from the tap in Phoenix tastes drastically different from water straight off of a glacier in Montana. More than a specific taste, however, is slowing down to study and savor the flavor or texture of easy-to-find items like an orange, chocolate, cheeses, coffee. Remember the scene in the movie “Into the Wild,” where he’s telling an apple how amazing it is? That’s zen level food appreciation and taste-love.
Touch: Check in with your body. Do your clothes feel tight, itchy? Have you been “touched out” for the day, parents and caregivers? Switch what you can: change clothes, declare a space bubble for a little while. Get comfortable in soft, satiny, fuzzy materials, or just naked for Pete’s sake (Pete might not mind, either). Admittedly, skinny dipping is more than the thrill of getting naked outdoors - it’s a completely different sensory sensation. When my dad passed away (no, not a skinny dipping story), there was a lot of pressure on my sister and me to wrap up his estate and funeral planning, not to mention the grief and loss we were feeling and processing. I was craving a cold water plunge. It was as though I was so numb and turned off to feeling anything else, that frigid water was what my body needed to reset itself and feel semi-normal again. Once I found that perfect, cold body of water, I did exactly that and found the kind of touch sensation I was needing at the time. Instant shock, yes, but the zap of sensation snapped me awake again on every level.
Self-care might seem like a buzz term these days; a partner to the mindfulness movement. Whatever you like to call it, taking time to take care of yourself in a comprehensive, whole-being way can make a big difference in your daily pleasure and travel enjoyment. Plus, when you fill your personal pitcher, you have more to give to those traveling alongside you and everyone benefits. Enjoy your adventures!
