as seen on substack, November 2023

Traditionally we have been taught that there are five senses: smell, sight, taste, touch, and sound.  The ability of each of these five senses to perceive and relay information to our brain is considered a cornerstone of health. Each of these senses provides various forms of information about our environments to our brains which is then digested and interpreted to keep us safe and healthy. 

Some scientists believe that there are many more senses than just the five basic categories listed above. Most neurologists believe there are nine senses and that these can be defined as a group of sensory cells that respond to distinct physical experiences that connect to a specific region of the brain that can receive and interpret the signals.  Other scientists believe there are up to twenty-one senses such as the perception of pain and the perception of balance.  Whatever you believe it is safe to say that we have multiple ways in which our bodies and brains work together to perceive external experience and interpret it, in order to keep us safe. 

Many of us are aware of the “sixth sense,” apart from the movie that we may have seen starring Bruce Willis. We have surely experienced that feeling inside that sometimes guides us when we are unsure or need to make a quick decision and are unable or unwilling to “think it through,” as it were. 

In Ayurveda, our sense organs: eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin are the organs that allow us to perceive the experience of smell, sound, sight, taste, and touch. Each of the sense organs has a direct correlation to one or two of the doshas and the five elements (earth, water, fire, air, ether)

ears>ether>sound, within the element of ether there is space that is needed for the sound waves to travel. 

skin>air>touch, within the element of air there is a sensation that can be perceived on the skin which is referred to as touch

eyes>fire>sight, within the element of fire there is a form that can be perceived by the eyes. This fire element also gives light which further enables our eyes to perceive form within darkness.

tongue>water>taste, within the element of water there is an atmosphere of wetness that allows us to experience the textures and flavors associated with taste. A wet tongue signals that the digestive juices are ready to perceive taste. 

nose>earth>smell, within the element of earth there is a weight, structure, and stability that can hold matter which we can perceive both as touch and as smell.

So the sense organs, and perceived senses, bring us full circle back to the five elements again, which we have discussed so many times over the past year.  These five elements are so very important in Ayurveda because they can be perceived both in the macrocosm (the world around us), and within the microcosm (our bodies). 

I invite you all to join me in one of my meditation classes where we contemplate our five senses and through relaxation, one-pointed focus, and awareness, we can allow our being to communicate with our senses and perhaps increase this intimate relationship between the organs, the senses, and the doshas at play.