4 Tips To Supercharge Your Senses, From A Polysynesthete

Do you know someone with a sensory superpower? Maybe they have the ability to describe all the subtle undertones that exist in an apple, when you see it as just red. Maybe they have the keen sense of smell or taste of a sommelier. Or maybe they combine senses—associating the sound of a car's horn with the color blue, for example.

This person probably has synesthesia—or bonus senses—just like Maureen Seaberg, author of Fearfully and Wonderfully Made: The Astonishing New Science of the Senses.

Seaberg actually has several forms of synesthesia (she's a "polysynesthete"), though she believes we could all be better at tapping into our senses for the sake of our health. After all, heightened sensory experiences have been associated with better memory performance1 and higher intelligence2.

"If there's an opportunity to be outside, take it," declares Seaberg. Getting outside quite literally opens the door to new sensory inputs. 

Think about it: "I'm sitting in a 9-by-12 office right now. What are the parameters for my hearing?" she shares. "Were I to step outside, there would be miles of sound to my left, right, front, and back—temperature changes, the sound of birds… The amount of stimulation and openness is so vastly different." 

It's easy to go about your day on autopilot, but Seaberg encourages mindfully taking in your surroundings for at least a minute or two. "I call it a sense stop," she explains, which refers to taking a moment of pause at each possible moment of sense. 

Want to enhance your existing senses? "Pair sensory things that you want to experience more fully," says Seaberg. Let's say you're in a farmers market, you smell a beautiful magnolia flower, and you wish you could recall that scent all afternoon.

Says Seaberg, "Think of the magnolia, and think of something beautiful—like a full moon or a sound—and pair them in your mind. It acts like the memory palace [technique] or a mnemonic, and you will find you recall it better later and more vividly." 

Finally, "Meditation is so powerful for opening the senses," says Seaberg. "It lowers stress hormones5 that can damage sensory apparatuses." For example, meditation has been shown to lower eye pressure in participants with glaucoma, and mindfulness was found to reduce tinnitus severity.

Broadly speaking, "it also creates a stillness so that you can notice the scent in the air or a change in temperature on your skin," Seaberg says. It quiets mental chatter so you can better notice the beautiful sensations around you.