How to Reawaken the Senses During COVID

[Music]

uh

we are all sensory beings we can touch

taste hear smell and see everything

around us

and i didn’t understand the meaning or

the depth of that phrase until about

seven years ago

when a large white van struck my

driver’s side door in rush hour traffic

propelling me into the lane next to me

another car hit me from behind

ricocheting me two more lanes over

and when my car stopped i was able to

climb out of the back seat window

miraculously i walked away to what i

thought unscathed

my car totaled the reality however is

that i had a severe concussion that

didn’t show up for several days

and as a lawyer and communications

expert running a virtual pr agency

whose main business is to articulate

complex legal and legal

and technology concepts and made life

challenging

the concussion left me unable to access

parts of my brain

specifically my higher cognitive

function where i had difficulty

processing speech

and thought when i spoke i developed a

stutter

and words came out differently i slurred

my words half the time

sounding like i had too much to drink

and i could no longer articulate complex

concepts

normal movements became hard with my

spine and my back impact and i was

unable to run

walk or function the way that i used to

i was left to discover a new normal a

new way of being

and just like that white van struck my

driver’s side door

covered 19 slammed into all of us

individually

and collectively into a new normal into

a new way of being

what would you have said in 2019 if i

told you that but if we went outside

we’d be behind a mask

or that we would be living at home or

working remotely

and that we’d be participating in online

conferences online coffee chats and

online

happy hours and yet this is our

temporary culture

until we emerge covid free

and the interesting part is that if we

choose to

we get to decide what this temporary

culture gets to look like for ourselves

our loved ones and our colleagues

and culture provides the framework for

social and personal interaction

what we’re going through right now is a

form of culture shock a term coined by

the anthropologist oberg

with culture shock and many other

processes of psychological

adjustment many people feel like they’re

suffering alone

thinking that they’re the only ones not

coping well with the circumstances

frustration sets in as a person’s unable

to interact in a meaningful way

but gradually as a person able to

slowly acclimatize to the new culture

their sense of well-being returns

but in this coveted culture the sense of

well-being isn’t returning it’s quite

the opposite

we’re not embracing the sights and

sounds of rome and

paris and beijing instead we’re confined

within the prisons of our own homes

and for over seven months many of us

haven’t driven or walked to work

hearing the sounds of traffic or the

bustling of people on the street

when we go outside for a walk

to the grocery store or to an occasional

restaurant we’re behind a mask

and we have limited interaction with our

colleagues and friends and that’s

overzoo

and this is considered a prolonged

period of sensory deprivation

in multiple studies related to prolonged

periods of sensory deprivation

the subjects exhibited lack of clarity

oftentimes they were disjointed

disturbed obsessive

anxiety ridden motor skills cognitive

skills and cognitive deficiencies

declined

and in some of the studies because of

the severity of the symptoms

the experimenters actually stopped the

studies for fear of harm

and this is because the deprivation of

the senses impacts the neuroplasticity

of the

brain instead of

embracing a new culture where we’re

overstimulated with new sights and

sounds and smells

instead when our brain sees

normal stimuli removed our brains

consider this as deprivation

and in this coveted culture there are no

new sensory inputs

because we’re limited to our immediate

four walls our limited

virtual communities and our limited

communities

it’s true we’ve got great substitutes

with zoom

and other remote collaborative

technologies that’s helped us stay in

touch with loved ones and colleagues

virtual reality tools helps to stimulate

the senses

in a made-up world full of goggles

but these substitutes don’t replicate

the feeling of being with a loved one

or accessing all the senses

nor do they replace the non-verbal cues

that we

receive when we’re in the real world we

can’t feel

the exhilaration of being on a roller

coaster ride

or the sand beneath our feet so how do

we

create a rich life that we could thrive

in now

and when we eventually emerge from covid

and reawaken our brains

by reawakening the senses

when our senses are stimulated we feel

more alive and inspired

we feel more awake and present we want

to be more

see more and do more in essence

our sense of purpose and well-being is

restored

and going back to my story

it was at first hard to reawaken my

senses

given my previous active life sitting

still long enough to do a handful of

exercises

was at first difficult i used meditation

skills and visualization skills to

envision

running again talking again being active

again memorization skills to remember

phrases and numbers cogniti

concept matching games to remember

cognitive skills that i used to have

and puzzles to remember phrases and

numbers

i’d often record myself every day so

that i would make sure

that i was articulating those concepts

out loud correctly often working with a

friend

to ensure that i wouldn’t get

discouraged

and above and beyond all of these

exercises i would move my body

in a new way every day even when the

pain of the accident

was almost too much to bear

but eventually over a period of two

years

where i repeated these exercises day

after day

week after week month after month

i was able to establish a new normal

and communicate with the world in a

different way

through memorization visualization

audio and movement techniques that we

see in professional sports

television and internet ads

and other disciplines

and during this time of training where

in effect i was sensory deprived just

like we are now during covid

i found that an intuition kicked in

and it’s that deep rich inner voice that

we have

access to in all of us as humans

and just like animals communicating in

nature

my senses were that much more heightened

i could interpret body language hear the

subtext behind a person’s

words hear the excitement or anxiety in

a person’s voice

and i was able to communicate in a

meaningful way

and more importantly i found a new

source of creativity

i began writing again trusting again

inspired again

given that i run a virtual company you

would think that this type of

intuitive listening this type of

creativity would have been

easy for me to access but it was more

difficult than i thought because i

always made myself

too busy to pay attention to hear my

clients needs

my staff’s needs my needs

but the accent slowed me down enough so

that i was forced

to listen and choose my next steps

and in effect that’s what covet has done

for all of us

it has forced us to listen and observe

and choose who we want to be and what we

want to do

we all have access to that inner voice

if we choose to listen

we have the opportunity to create a

richer

more fuller life one full of passion and

excitement

one more more enthusiastic

and devoted one where companies can

be more conscientiously aware of their

staff’s well-being

and where technology can innovate in a

positive way providing a bridge

to the offline and online world

and i’m describing a new culture where

dynamic ceos of thriving companies

haven’t let covid define them instead

they’ve shaped their reality and ours

on how we play and we work

and now we have online access to

courtrooms

exercise classes in non-traditional ways

and analytics and robotics stocking our

grocery store shelves

these leaders use covid as an

opportunity for change

creativity and growth and had these

leaders

not tapped into their intuition not

tapped into their creativity

their innovations and ideas would have

been lost to us and the world wouldn’t

have benefited

but the key here is choice

we could choose to access our creativity

in the void of covid

we could choose to substantially shift

how we interact with the environment and

each other

and we can ask ourselves the hard

questions

are we showing up for our colleagues and

team members

are we showing up for our loved ones are

we showing

up for ourselves and if we’re not

showing up for ourselves

and everybody how can we move

in a new way what can we

create

the accident was probably one of the

best things that ever happened to me as

a leader

it forced me to acknowledge my

limitations

trust the environment let go

of much of the work that i used to

trusting my staff to rise to the

challenge

and i worked to innovate a culture that

fostered teamwork and collaboration that

helped us thrive then and is helping us

thrive now

and just as i like the dynamic leaders

that i talked about my company tripled

in size

and more importantly i found a new voice

a new viewpoint

that helped to strive then and is

helping us thrive now

and i want you to access your creativity

your intuition by going deep within and

accessing your senses and accessing more

parts of your brain

and as you listen

i want you to ask that deeper part of

you these questions

how are you showing up for your loved

ones

how are you showing up for yourself

how can you move in a new way

what can you create

this covet culture doesn’t have to

define you

you have the opportunity to create a

better richer life for you

just listen to that inner voice

and reawaken your senses

thank you