Think Well
Article

Make every day like your holidays by paying attention to your senses If you've just returned from your holidays, you're likely to have come back feeling refreshed and much more like yourself again.

A study carried out by Dr Sebastian Filep, expert in travel and wellbeing at Victoria University, Australia, recently found that the benefits of taking a couple of weeks off work to go somewhere fun are tangible, improving people's health and preventing depression.

"I think that holidays may possibly lead to people living longer, as holidays make people happy," the expert explained.

It's likely that the positive emotions associated with travel and discovering somewhere new, plus the feeling of engagement with your surroundings, lead to these improvements in wellbeing, the research found.

However, is it only on holiday that these feelings can be accessed?

Experts speaking to Psychologies magazine insist this is not the case. Lori Bryant-Woolridge, a sensuality coach, said many people are not switching on their senses during their everyday lives, so they may be shutting themselves away from the beauty surrounding them and subconsciously damaging their wellbeing.

She pointed out that while we walk around on holiday with their our senses open to new experiences, we take things at home for granted - and could be missing out as a result.

"There is so much joy buried beneath the everyday reality of our lives. Many of us are living without feeling fully alive," Lori commented.

To open up the senses fully, Psychologies recommends engaging in a few activities a week that force you to be aware of your surroundings, for instance, swimming, baking bread or walking through a country park.

It points out this will retrain the mind to become observant, which will then become a habit in everyday life.

Another positive technique to boost the senses could be journalling. LifeOptimiser.org states that keeping a diary and making entries every day if possible will bring things to your attention that you may have missed.

It could also prevent you dwelling on negative feelings at the end of each day, which is human nature but might be causing you to think negatively.

Changing your surroundings every so often could also be a good idea, as Cass and Janie Jackson recently suggested in Writers' Forum magazine.

They recommended putting inspirational items like crystals on your desk to see if they boost your creativity.

Why not see if opening your eyes and mind to the world around you could help you to appreciate the everyday instead of just the holidays?