Siegel's "Aware" recommends four areas for concentration while meditating. One of them is my sensing the world around me. What is being perceived by the senses? - all of the five basics of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch.
We are often engaged in a project or working toward accomplishing a purpose. Taking a moment to see what is in front of us, especially in places and directions we don't usually look can increase our awareness of our surroundings.
But sight often gets the main workout. What can we hear? Right now, right here. The furniture, the wind, the clock.
What can I smell? What is touching me? My clothes. What do my hands feel? Human touch in the fingertips and lips is extremely sensitive. What taste do I have in my mouth?
Being consciously aware of what I can perceive with my senses, trying to attend to them, increases my degree of being alive. Moving my attention to each sense and holding it there for a while reminds me of my abilities.
