Mindful activity:
The Five Senses
Changes happen around us in autumn and you can add this mindful activity to your ‘wellbeing toolbox’ to call upon when you need to strengthen your capacity to manage your own transitions and challenges. All that you’ll require for this mindful meditation is you!
Autumn’s mindful activity is all about ‘paying attention’ to what’s going on around you, so that you can find some calm, stillness and peace in yourself, and learn to focus on the present moment. This can be a useful exercise for re-focusing if you’re feeling stressed before a test or exam.
Like the other mindful activities in this resource, you can do it anywhere once you’ve got the hang of it.
What you’ll do
1. Find a place you feel safe.
2. Sit down on a comfortable chair or on the floor on a cushion. If you can, place your feet flat on the ground and rest your hands on your thighs or on the table (if you’re sitting at a desk, for example).
3. Keeping your eyes softly open, start to gently notice how you’re breathing. Don’t change it – simply ‘pay attention’ to each part of the breath: the inhale, the exhale, and the space in between.
4. Now, you will bring an awareness to each of your five senses, one at a time, for about a minute each.
5. Using your eyes, look around you and find five things you can SEE. You’ll notice your surroundings, observe things that you may not have seen before, and you’ll become aware of the light, colours, shapes and textures of things when you really look.
6. Now close your eyes and, using your ears, listen out for four things you can HEAR. You’ll start to pay attention to all the sounds around you. Try to avoid judging these sounds but instead simply notice them. You may hear loud sounds in the distance or quiet sounds close by, including ones you haven’t heard before.
7. Next, sense three things you can TOUCH. This requires you to paying attention to your body’s sensations and how it relates to the world around you: from the way your skin connects with your clothing to how the furniture feels. You might observe the difference in temperature between the room and your hands, sense the texture of a cushion, or feel the pressure of the floor beneath your feet.
8. Changing focus and moving your attention to your nose, notice two things that you can SMELL. Depending on your environment, you might smell flowers in bloom, food cooking, coffee brewing, or the age of a building. Again, try not to judge smells as good or bad – simply notice them. Keeping your eyes closed can sharpen your sense of smell.
9. Now, paying attention to your mouth, your tongue and your teeth, notice one thing that you can TASTE. You may discover the aftertaste of your toothpaste, or your last drink or meal. You might notice that this taste changes as you exhale or inhale.
10. Finally, take a moment to notice how your body feels before moving on with your day.
You could also try…
Watch a step-by-step video guide of the Five Senses mindful activity by ‘About Kids Health’, which you might find helpful when doing it for the first time.
Autumn mindful colouring page
Click here to download your free autumn mindful colouring page.
