Senses

This month we will be diving into our Senses.

Traditionally we have been taught that there are five senses: smell, sight, taste, touch, and sound.  The ability of each of these five senses to perceive and relay information to our brain is considered a cornerstone of health. Each of these senses provides various forms of information about our environments to our brains which is then digested and interpreted to keep us safe and healthy. 

Some scientists believe that there are many more senses than just the five basic categories listed above. Most neurologists believe there are nine senses and that these can be defined as a group of sensory cells that respond to distinct physical experiences that connect to a specific region of the brain that can receive and interpret the signals.  Other scientists believe there are up to twenty-one senses such as the perception of pain and the perception of balance.  Whatever you believe it is safe to say that we have multiple ways in which our bodies and brains work together to perceive external experience and interpret it, in order to keep us safe. 

Many of us are aware of the “sixth sense,” apart from the movie that we may have seen starring Bruce Willis. We have surely experienced that feeling inside that sometimes guides us when we are unsure or need to make a quick decision and are unable or unwilling to “think it through,” as it were. 

In Ayurveda, our sense organs: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin are the organs that allow us to perceive the experience of smell, sound, sight, taste, and touch. Each of the sense organs has a direct correlation to one or two of the doshas and the five elements (earth, water, fire, air, ether)