Five Senses

1. Gather your group to sit or stand in a circle.
2. Announce that you will soon lead them through a brief exercise to sharpen their mindfulness of one thing.
3. Without eating it, distribute a bowl of peanuts, raisins, or small fruit asking every person to take one and hold it in their hand.
4. Follow the prompts provided in the sample script (see Resources tab.)
5. Facilitate the activity step by step, making adjustments according to the needs of your group.
6. To conclude, allow some time to facilitate a discussion about this experience in pairs, small groups or the whole group.

Have you ever had that feeling you are walking around unconscious for some parts of the day, unaware of what’s going on around you? Yeah, me too.

Truth be told, this is the experience for most of us, including our groups. We’re all so super, uber-busy, we miss so much of what’s going on around us.

This exercise is the perfect antidote for this malady.

It purposefully highlights the benefits of intentionally focusing on one thing at a time. It’s super easy to lead and can be powerfully applied to many situations in our lives.

In advance, you will want to review and download the sample script located in the Resources tab.

Begin by inviting your group to get comfortable in your space. Then, pass around a bowl of small foods such as peanuts, raisins, fruits, etc, asking everyone to take one piece.

But – importantly – advise everyone to hold onto the food and not eat it. Yet.

With food in hand, gently guide your group through the easy step-by-step instructions that you read slowly and purposefully to them.

When you have finished the script, your group will finally be invited to eat their food (but with purpose.)

From here, it’s a great idea to invite your group to reflect and share what they experienced with others, in pairs, small groups or as a whole group.

If their experience is anything like mine the first time I took part in it, they will likely describe this as the most delicious peanut/raisin/fruit they have ever eaten. Is this likely? Possibly not, but it will seem like it is because they took the time to focus on this particular degustation experience.

Could there be a lesson in there, somewhere?

Do not stress if some participants find it difficult to describe certain sensations such as what they are seeing, feeling, hearing and tasting. Some senses are easier (and more obvious) to observe than others. Encourage participants to try their best.

Remind your group that mindfulness is a practice— the more we do it, the easier and more comfortable it gets.

if you’re thinking of chocolate as your preferred food item (yes, it’s mine too) – think again, it will melt before you’re even halfway through the exercise.

You could integrate Five Senses as part of a well-designed SEL program to develop your group’s ability to understand and manage their emotions, thoughts and behaviours in different situations.

Specifically, this activity offers opportunities to explore and practice the following social & interpersonal skills:

Self-Awareness

• Identifying Emotions
• Linking Feelings, Values & Thoughts
• Demonstrating Self-Confidence, Honesty & Integrity
• Experiencing Self-Efficacy

Self-Management

• Controlling One’s Emotions
• Identifying & Managing Stress
• Demonstrating Self-Discipline & Self-Motivation

Responsible Decision-Making

• Demonstrating Curiosity & Open-Mindedness
• Anticipating & Evaluating the Consequences of One’s Actions
• Promoting Personal & Collective Well-Being

You can learn more about SEL and how it can support character education here.

Mindfulness

This activity is ideal for building mindfulness practices. Use it at those times when you need to re-focus your group or to help them become aware of what’s happening around them.

Five Senses is also a wonderful activity to present when you are exploring the Be Here element of a full value agreement and practising strategies to build resilience and emotional intelligence.

The primary goal of an exercise like this is to sharpen one’s focus and to calm or regulate one’s nervous system. Research has shown that the more people earnestly practice calming and meditation exercises, the more they begin to discover that it has a positive impact on their overall well-being.

Note, just like running is one form of physical exercise, mindfulness should be considered just one form of meditation. So be sure to mix it up a bit and not use the same exercise every time. Refer to the Variations tab for related ideas.

• Take a look at Come to Your Senses, Calming Visualisations and Mindfulness Jar as comparable meditative exercises to introduce mindfulness to your group.
• Open the Virtual Adaptation tab to learn how to present this activity online.

• This activity and its script can be presented virtually. To help you squeeze the most out of this exercise online, here are some things to consider:
  – Let your group know that they can switch off their webcams if they feel more comfortable and less distracted participating in this manner.
  – Encourage your audience to remove as many distractions from their periphery before you start, eg switch off their phones or put them on silent.
  – For the purposes of reflection, invite your group to use the chatroom to describe their emotions instead of speaking into the microphone.

How often do you eat without really thinking about what you are tasting? Sometimes, we are so busy talking, reading, watching television, etc as we eat a meal that we overlook the joy of what we are doing. This next exercise will pull this lesson into sharp focus…

Being present in each moment can be arguably the most important thing you practice to support your well-being. With all of life’s distractions, this is a great tool that can help keep you grounded and focused. We are conditioned to focus on everything else other than this moment as our brains are pulled in multiple directions. This affects our mental and emotional health, our capacity for what we can handle, our relationships, and our overall sense of well-being. Here’s an activity that will teach us all a lesson about the value of being mindful…

Focusing on sensations, such as what you see or taste, is an easy tool to practise mindfulness and feel grounded in the present moment to invite a sense of calm. This is important because if you are always focusing on what is happening around you and living in your head, you will never be able to appreciate what the present moment has to offer you. Allow me to lead you on a journey of discovery…

Coupled with one or more reflection strategies, here are some sample questions you could use to process your group’s experience after leading this powerful mindfulness exercise:

• What sensations did you experience during this exercise?
• Which senses were the easiest to focus on?
• Which senses were the most difficult?
• Describe your experience of eating the food after being guided through this focusing exercise.
• Did anything surprise you during the activity?
• Did this exercise challenge you in any way?
• How might the lessons of this exercise be applied to other areas of our life?