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