Live Sense-ationally
- jenniferblenkinsop
- Jun 14, 2024
- 5 min read
Take a moment to look at these images.
Which holiday would you choose? Which do you think you partner, or your kids would choose?
Ever wondered why some prefer the peace of nature while others the lights and action of Bangkok?
...
Which of these sports appeals to you more?
Ever wondered why canoeing might look really boring to someone who loves bungee jumping? (Clue: it’s not about andrenalin)
...
Which of these workspaces would help you to be your most creative and do your best work?
How is it that some people do their best work in the middle of noise and “distraction”
It’s just our personalities, you may say….. and maybe that’s a part of it……..only one part of it.
How we experience the multitude of sensations of the world around us lies more in our genetics than in our personalities. According to Dr Annemarie Lombard, author of Sensory Intelligence: Why it matters more than IQ and EQ, current neuroscience has taught us that first we sense, then we feel and then we think.
Let me explain:
Let’s use the example of hearing and noise. Hearing begins outside of our brain with a sound vibration in our environment that travels down our ear canals to our eardrum. This then vibrates sending the message to the middle ear, then the cochlear and inner ear where tiny sensory hair cell respond to the waves and translate them into an electrical signal that is carried to the brain by the auditory nerve. The signal comes into the lower brain first including structures like the thalamus (which is like Grand Central Station, and sends the incoming information to different parts of the brain for processing) and the brainstem (which is the part related to our survival and includes flight, fright, freeze, focus), and only after that to the higher brain centres in the cortex for interpretation and meaning. In other words, first we sense(the vibrations), then we feel (flight/fright type reactions or “it’s safe and ok”…….super important for our survival and to act quickly if needed) and only then do we think (interpret the signal and give it meaning and decide eg if we like the sound or not, is that sound a car backfiring or a gunshot, is that early morning bird call a hadada or a robin). And so it is true…first we sense, then we feel and then we think. This is the same for at least seven of our senses. These include our usual five senses (hearing, vision, touch, taste, smell) and then also a few others like our sense of movement and space.
So how did this relate to whether or not I work better in an open plan office or in a quiet study at the end of the passage? How does it affect where I might go on holiday or which sport I might choose?
For these we need to look at one other important aspect- our Thresholds. Each of us has genetically determined thresholds at which our nerves are activated. For some people the auditory nerve is activated with the tiniest vibrations sent along the pathway through the ear. If this is the case, the threshold at which your auditory nerve is activated is low. For others only large or constant vibrations activate the auditory nerve. For this person, the threshold at which your auditory nerve is activated is higher or requires bigger vibrations/sounds. As I said, this is all genetics. Neither way is good nor bad, it’s just how we’re “wired”.
If you have a low threshold for hearing, then you will be hearing ALL the sounds around you, and ALL that information will constantly be feeding into your brain triggering feelings and then thinking/interpretation/ action responses. In this case your brain is getting very full with sound information, taking up a lot of available space which you would be using for thinking, problem solving and creative thought.
If you have a high threshold for hearing, then a lot of sound can be going on around you but not loud enough to activate your auditory nerve, your emotional centre and then your interpretation/ thinking and action centres. In this case your brain is not getting filled up with sound information and has lots of space for other activities like thinking, problem solving and being creative.
So in our example of the two different workspaces, the person with the low threshold in a busy open plan office, will find it very difficult to concentrate, be easily distracted, probably won’t produce their best work and will feel stressed. This does not mean they cannot produce great work in good time. What I does mean is that their capacity and focus is being taken up by too much sound information (both consciously and unconsciously). This person will probably do their best work in the quiet office down the passage.
Conversely, the person who has a high threshold for hearing, does not hear all the surrounding noise, other peoples’ conversations, the person eating their chips in the next cubicle etc. That person can produce great work in this environment as they have plenty of available space in their brain to work with. Often their brains are actually SEEKING auditory sensation to be able to concentrate or self-regulate…and so they may be the ones that create noise and chat….and can still put out good work and concentrate.
This applies to all of our senses. It is important to know that your genetic wiring is unique for each of our senses. You may have a low threshold for hearing, but a high threshold for vision, so you may be exhausted by too much noise, but love bright colours and lights and trinkets in your space.
Remember, neither “wiring “ is good nor bad. It’s about playing to our thresholds and learning effective strategies to still do well when the environment we’re in doesn’t work for our wiring.
Understanding our unique wiring can radically transform how we do our best life!...at work, at play, in parenting, in our social connections, in our choice of career, in where we go on holiday, what sports we choose…in every area of our lives.
Understanding our unique wiring teaches us how to master our worlds, be our best and have a more compassionate understanding of those with different wiring, including our colleagues, spouses and kids. We can realise that people aren’t trying to irritate us when they turn the TV up or chew loudly, they may just have a different threshold.
Understanding our unique wiring can significantly reduce our stress and increase our capacity. We can learn strategies to master our own worlds as well as to manage and do well when our environment does not work for our wiring.
How do we get know our own genetically unique sensory “bar-code”?
Naturally Grounded offers the research backed Sensory Matrix ®. This is an online assessment of your sensory style. It involves a number of questions which you need to answer as honestly as you can. Once you have completed the online questionnaire, you will receive a comprehensive and beautifully laid out report explaining your different thresholds along with tips and strategies based on your personal sensory profile. These tips and strategies include work, home, relationships, parenting, leadership, teamwork and other sensory strategies.
How do I master my sensory world?
Following your assessment you will receive an in-person or online one-hour consultation with Jen Blenkinsop, a trained Sensory Intelligence® Practitioner, Occupational Therapist and Founder of Naturally Grounded. Jen will help you to unpack your unique sensory style and how it is impacting the many areas of your particular life, and will help you to develop simple, easy to implement strategies to be your best, to thrive and live sense-ationally!
Naturally Grounded Sensory Intelligence Winter Special (available until 30 June 2024):
Assessment and Consultation: R2295
Embrace your sensory style and become you best you….for yourself and those around you. Master your world!
Lombard, A. Sensory Intelligence: Why it matters more than IQ and EQ. 2014. Metz Press, South Africa
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