Did you enjoy spending a week focussing on the sense of smell and the earth and what that brought to you? Let’s dive right in to the sense of taste and the element of water this week to launch us on a year of embodied awareness!
Week 2: Embodied Awareness and Taste/Water
This week there were fresh, juicy drops of water clinging to the needles of my larch tree. I just had to lean in and taste them. They were like a fir-imbued ambrosia. Just that momenet of following an impulse (like catching snow flakes on your tongue) made me feel the joy and fun of spontaneous living.
Just like taking time to smell the coffee, lilacs, roses … we can embrace those seconds that it takes to just stop and notice, and take it all in. When you feel the impulse this week, a glimmer of noticing, just take those few extra seconds to stop and be in that moment of savouring: the tingle of mint or cinnamon in your toothpaste, the sweetness of water, the rich flavours of your stew. Mmm. This savouring brings true enjoyment and actually diminishes craving or that sense of wanting that comes from not having fully enjoy the meal, snack, moment in nature that was not fully experienced while you were having it.
What does this have to do with water? Water, saliva, is what enables us to effectively taste. Taste is a watery sense. I am constantly in awe of the depth of understanding of the Yoga and Ayurveda traditions in these correspondences. Notice how when you toss cumin seeds in oil as you prepare to cook your dal or stew how your begin to salivate with the smell. Smell is leading us towards effective tasting! The senses provide a whole pathway towards savouring. And we’re on it.
I challenge you this week to:
- Notice the taste of your morning lemon water, or fresh water,
- Catch a raindrop or snowflake in your mouth,
- Experience the five flavours in a meal and honour each one,
- Experiment with making an herbal tea or infusion from scratch (rose petals in warm water or mint or cucumber in cool water if you’re in a warm climate; cinnamon stick, cloves and a few slices of ginger in a pot to boil if you’re in the cool right now)
- Try having one meal in silence to full be present with the experience,
- Then consider having a simple meal or drinking a mug of herbal tea blindfolded.
Like many daily actions, routine can mean we slip into autopilot and are not fully there, in the sensuous moment. We’re lost in thought or talk, or multi-tasking. As this persists to be the majority of our day, life becomes flat. Centring ourselves more fully within sensuous experience brings simple joys back to life in full texture, in full relief. And it really only takes moments of your time, dropping into full-bodied presence whenever you remember, as often as you remember. Use the senses as your guide!
Happy week of the sweet taste of water!
Would you like to join together in the soaking in the poetic teachings of the broader Yoga tradition? Check out the 2022 Circle dates below!
