Everyone has their own internal monologue, thought pattern, and unique way of thinking. We offer glimpses under the hood through conversations, actions, and social media, but our internal wiring remains largely hidden. I know exactly what you thought of your avocado toast from Instagram, but I will never know what went through your mind as you experienced the meal. Most of us are unaware of what senses are engaged in any given moment. Most of us will see, taste, and smell the food, but did you pay attention to the sensation in your mouth or the sound of the toasted bread crunching? Unfortunately, this lack of presence in our daily lives has become the status quo. Presence has become reserved for mindfulness professionals, the secrets of which only Buddhist monks can uncover. Modern society makes sure we will rarely be present with our own thoughts. Typically, this is where I would advocate the benefits of mindfulness and encourage a meditation practice. However, what if we took a different approach centered around multi-sensory thinking?
As humans, we have a disconnect between the way we think and the physical world. The way we think is not the way we experience the world. As the historian, Will Durant, summarizes from his 11 books on the history of Western civilization: “How we think about what is happening around us is more important than what is actually happening.” We must leverage our intimately familiar five senses from our physical environment into our thinking. This multi-sensory thinking allows us to better understand our thought processes, which ultimately allows us to think about thinking.
We are visual thinkers. More than 50% of the cortex is dedicated to vision. We even call active thinking “visualization.” If I say imagine a strawberry – did you picture an image of a strawberry? What if I say imagine a strawberry that tastes like a ripe cheese? Or imagine a strawberry that smells like coffee? Or a strawberry that crunches like toast? Did your visualization of the strawberry change? How do you ‘see’ taste, smell, and touch in your mind’s eye? As we become more aware of our senses, we can fully engage with our experiences. Our five senses are how we relate to the everyday physical world. When we engage in multi-sensory thinking, we tighten up the slack in our thinking and decision making. We shorten the time between accepting and acting on an unexpected reality. Unfortunately, we actively handicap our thinking to 20% capacity (vision). But imagine the ability to cultivate 80% additional brain power for questions and problems. This is why walks in nature are fruitful for moments of insight because we effortlessly engage all our senses.
On your journey to mental clarity, remember to embrace multi-sensory thinking. Turn that strawberry into a crunchy, coffee smelling, cheese.