FIRST EXERCISES

The Panorama Senses: Seeing, Listening and Smelling

Generally speaking – go outside – then:

Seeing – extract from WELCOME TO THE PANORAMA.

Find a blank sheet of A4 –, fold it in half (for some stability), and hold it sideways in front of your eyes. Focus your eyes on it, but look at the interesting things happening all around it. Then move it a few inches away, concentrate on what's around it again – move it another few inches away and keep focussing on it but looking all around it.

Once you can do this effectively, find a blank wall, or a monotonous area of sky, anything which has no focal point, and focus on it – while looking at everything else. (If this is too difficult, then find a boring, unmoving focal point straight ahead, focus on it but concentrate on everything else.)

Listening – extract from THE SIMPLE SENSE OF NOW.

Because sounds are often quiet or quick, and especially nowadays with the constant hum of traffic, it is necessary to listen-out, to listen actively.

Listening-out is full of surprises. Listen in all directions, near and far, high and low. Imagine how early man might listen-out for distant wild boar, or herds of oxen or buffalo, and nearby tigers or snakes. I often listen-out for dogs, children and pigeons, leaves and bees; at night, for hedgehogs and owls. I don't often hear them, that's irrelevant, listening-out for them is the vital part.

Smelling – extract from Chapter Four.

Tasting and smelling are intrinsically connected, and they are a far stranger and deeper world than seeing and listening.

Modern day humans are so unfamiliar with their senses of smell and taste, that we need time to relearn about them and start to recognise their potential.

To start with, the most important smelling exercise is to recognise the difference between the ‛in-smell’ and the ‛out-smell’. Over the next few days and weeks, whenever you notice a smell, take a moment to let it fill you, and then notice the contrast of the smell of your out breath. This is necessary at first just practically, if you only concentrate on the in-smell you will soon get dizzy, noticing the contrasting out-smell, regulates the speed of breathing.

With tasting, discover all the different taste areas in your mouth and on the lips, between lips and teeth, under the tongue and above it, roof of mouth and throat.

Going Broadband extract from Chapter Three

All the exercises are good to do for half a minute a day. Short regular periods of stimulation act as a catalyst: A half minute a day which is interesting or enjoyable is the best way to tell your subconscious "it's time to remember". Short periods reduce the concentrated work-load, make it easy, make it fun.

Please continue with INTRODUCTION TO BROADBAND SENSING

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