📖 Neuro Nook Recap: July 2025
Life in Five Senses: How Exploring the Senses Got Me Out of My Head and Into the World by Gretchen Rubin
💌 Because I noticed more, I appreciated more…
What’s This Book About❓
A journey of self-discovery exploring how engaging the five senses can lead to a happier, more mindful life.
“Our senses can help us cheer up, calm down, live in the moment,
experience more pleasure and energy, deepen connections,
and even touch the transcendent.
The five senses are like our Swiss army knife for
cultivating happiness and well-being!”
📖 Introduction- The World Through Our Senses
We often talk about the five senses—sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch—but our sensory world is far richer. Our bodies also rely on proprioception (body position), equilibrioception (balance), and interoception (internal bodily awareness) to help us safely and meaningfully interact with the world around us.
Together, these senses make up our sensorium—the full experience of how we perceive our environment. But here’s the brainy twist: our brains are constantly interpreting, adjusting, and even guessing what we’re sensing, especially when information is incomplete. One sense can step up when another falls short, and sometimes one dominates while the others fade into the background.
From how we detect danger to how we connect with other people, our senses shape not just our surroundings but also our social understanding. Some people even experience synesthesia, where senses blend—like hearing colors or tasting words.
Importantly, everyone experiences the world differently. Being aware of these sensory differences can help us create environments that feel more comfortable and inclusive for all.
A key takeaway? Each of us lives in the unique brew of our own sensations. By better understanding how our brains use our senses, we can tune into ourselves and others with greater awareness and appreciation.
💭 Reflection Questions
Gretchen Rubin committed to visiting the Metropolitan Museum of Art every day for a year to engage her senses. If you were to choose one place to visit daily for a year, where would it be—and why?
Examples from our attendees included:
My backyard - a place with nature that I can really relate to and visit easily.
A personal meditation space
Which of your senses takes center stage, and which ones fade into the background? Think about the senses you naturally notice most often or that bring you the greatest joy. Are there others you tend to overlook or take for granted?
Examples from our attendees included:
I realized I don't pay attention to touch and then I tried and felt the blanket on the back of my reading chair. It is super soft and feels amazing... Why do I let it just hang there?
I have colorful artwork throughout my home- everyone comments on how happy it makes them feel.
3. Explore additional sense-specific discussion questions for reflection in the discussion guide from the author.
4. Take the Five-Senses Quiz from the author to discover your neglected sense and use this self-knowledge as a shortcut to a richer life.
🌏 Our Senses: A Brain-Healthy Way to Experience the World
We don’t just live in the world—we sense our way through it. While we often name the classic five (sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch), our sensory systems are even more complex and deeply tied to brain function, memory, and emotion.
Each of our senses is attuned to information about PEOPLE.
👀 Seeing
Vision is our dominant sense. Our brains don't just record what we see—they interpret it. From color constancy to filling in visual gaps, your brain shows you what it thinks matters most. That’s why new experiences can feel so vivid, and why eye contact can instantly connect us with others. Fun fact? Without light, an object, an eye, and a brain, color doesn’t exist.
Prompt: What’s your signature color? What does this color smell like? Do you notice how colors shift your mood or spark a memory?
👂 Hearing
Sound anchors us, even before birth. It helps us detect danger, connect socially, and feel emotion. Our brains prioritize what we need to hear and filter out the rest. That’s why your favorite playlist can shift your mood in seconds, and why even background noise can shape how comfortable or distracted we feel.
Try this: Build your “audio apothecary”—a playlist of songs that boost your mood, spark nostalgia, or help you focus.
Consider creating a variety of playlists, each with a different purpose like energizing workouts, cleaning sessions, dance breaks, mood boosters, karaoke favorites, memory-filled tracks, or any other theme that speaks to you. Let your playlists match your moments.
👃 Smelling
Scent is powerful and personal. It connects directly to memory, emotion, and even identity. Because of “olfactory adaptation,” we quickly tune out familiar smells, but even a whiff of something unexpected can unlock a vivid memory or shift your mood.
Practice: Smell your elbow (seriously!) to reset your nose. Then notice how differently you experience your surroundings.
👅 Tasting
Taste is more than flavor—it’s tied to emotion, connection, and culture. Much of what we “taste” actually comes from smell. Texture, temperature, and color also shape our eating experience. Food isn’t just nourishment—it’s love, identity, and shared memory.
Prompt: Share a food memory that connects you to someone you love. What’s your comfort food?
✋ Touching
Touch helps us feel grounded. It can soothe or energize, connect us or alert us to danger. Physical texture affects mood, creativity, and even memory. In a digital world, our brains still crave contact with the physical.
Try this: Pick up a meaningful object. Focus on its texture, weight, and temperature. How does it make you feel?
Each sense offers a way into the present moment—and into deeper connection with ourselves and others. As you explore your own sensory experience, remember: you live in a world filtered through your brain’s unique brew of sensation. Embrace it. Be curious about it. And consider how tuning into your senses can lead to a more brain-healthy life.
💬 Closing Takeaways
Heather: “When the brain must process new information-when we visit a new place or try a new activity, time seems to slow down, experiences seem more vivid, and our emotional responses are more intense. That’s why a week on vacation seems longer and more memorable than a month at home. On the other hand, when we follow routines and every day looks the same, our experience speeds and blurs.”
Krystal: “You can use your five senses to know yourself better, but also to know someone else better.”
🎯 Practical Applications
🔎 Five Senses Daily Gratitude Journal Prompt
At the end of each day, take a moment to note your 5 most memorable sensations from the day [insert date]:
See: [add description here]
Hear: [add description here]
Smell: [add description here]
Taste: [add description here]
Touch: [add description here]
Example: A breathtaking rainbow arched over the lake—perhaps the largest I’ve ever witnessed to date—right outside our back window.
🔎 Five Senses Portrait Prompt
When I thought of [Insert Person’s Name]...
I thought of seeing…
[add description here]
[add description here]
[add description here]
[add description here]
[add description here]
I thought of hearing…
[add description here]
[add description here]
[add description here]
[add description here]
[add description here]
I thought of smelling…
[add description here]
[add description here]
[add description here]
[add description here]
[add description here]
I thought of tasting…
[add description here]
[add description here]
[add description here]
[add description here]
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I thought of touching…
[add description here]
[add description here]
[add description here]
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The author shared that she has written many “five senses self-portraits” poems of family, friends, and pets. She opted to share one on her website for her dog’s 8th birthday! Check it out as an example and may it spark some inspiration for you to try this exercise, too! (If you would like to share any of your poems, feel free to post them in our community chat or email krystal@virtualbrainhealthcenter.com)
Additional Resources To Explore From the Author
50 Tips to Get Out of Your Head Using Your Five Senses—Right Now
How to Increase Focus and Productivity Using the Five Senses
30 Ways to Boost Creativity Using the Five Senses
🗓️ Upcoming Neuro Nook Meetings
Join me at the Virtual Brain Health Center with Brain Health Mentors for the upcoming Neuro Nook Book Club discussions, where we explore thought-provoking books that deepen our understanding of brain health and wellness.
Here’s what’s coming up:
Mark your calendar for Thursday, August 7, 2025
We’re turning 2! Join us for a special Neuro Nook Book Club Anniversary Celebration as we mark two amazing years of learning, connection, and brain-healthy reading! 🎉
📖 Book of the Month
The Source: A Transformative Guide to Unlocking Your Mind, Harnessing Neuroplasticity, and Manifesting Success Through the Power of the Law of Attraction By Dr. Tara Swart, MD, Ph.D. | Learn More
❓What’s it about❓
A neuroscientific approach to manifestation and the Law of Attraction, explaining how neuroplasticity and visualization techniques can transform thoughts into reality for achieving success and fulfillment.
Save the date for our future book club meetings on
September 4,
October 2,
November 6, and
December 4, 2025.
In brain health & wellness,
- Krystal
