Yoga and Awakening the Senses
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As children, most Westerners are told we have five senses which are our ways of orienting ourselves to and experiencing the world: Sight, Hearing, Taste, Smell, and Touch. We use these physical senses to explore, learn about, and engage with the world around us, communicating with others and accomplishing tasks. The problem is that humans have at least 8 documented senses and the scarcity of common language to describe most of these senses prevents our minds from accepting the IDEA of the lesser known senses. So in many of us, they are underdeveloped, stunting our ability to thrive.
If this sounds far fetched to you, let’s start with a lesser known sense which can be described in common English: Balance. You may have been told that balance relies on sight and touch; and it is true that these inputs assist the mind to perceive balance in the body. We use our sense of balance every day; in fact bipedal mobility is very difficult if the sense of balance is impeded. As anyone who has experienced seasickness of suffered from vertigo can tell you, a misfunctioning sense of balance can lead to dizziness, a sense of falling through space; difficulty orienting, and an upset stomach. In a hatha yoga class, you may use finger tips on a wall or pressure point on the chest to assist with balance, or even simple awareness of the muscles of the feet; yogis may use a fixed gazing point; seasick travellers can gaze at the horizon. But science has well documented a separate vestibular system within the ears. After all, it is possible to blanace with the eyes closed; it is possible to be off balance when all of the assisting senses are functioning fine. The labyrinth of the inner ear has small, free rolling calcified deposits called “otoliths” (translation: ear stones) which move around as you tilt your head from side to side or shift your body’s relation to gravity. Occasionally, your vestibular system can be upset when otoliths get temporarily stuck in these passages; this sends mixed signals to the brain through the sense of balance and is one of the causes of vertigo. So balance can easily be called the sixth sense. Through yoga practices from tadasana to standing balance to inversions, we can strengthen this sense of balance which supports us in aging gracefully.
A seventh sense assists balance; which is proprioception, or the sense of the parts of the body in space. This is connected to but separate from spatial awareness of the outside world. Young children are still developing this sense; it is related to the concept of “coordination.” Dancers and athletes often have extremely well developed proprioception; those of us who are “clumsy” or “have two left feet” may be less well developed in this sense. The absent minded professor type who stumbles over shoelaces or walks into things is so distracted by the workings of the mind that they are not paying attention to this sense. It is possible to see and feel perfectly well, but stumble often, if proprioception is underdeveloped. Trying to arrange your limbs into the shapes of the yoga asanas develops this sense; the use of props, walls and floors to create pressure on limbs in unusual positions strengthens the neural networks which attune to the location of the body in space.
An interesting extension of proprioception, or a possible additional sense which can be developed, is noted in many blind people. While many of us have seen those with limited sight using a white cane to navigate the world, it is only initially used to physically feel the world around the user. Instead, over time, the tapping of the cane generates sound waves, and the brain develops the capacity to interpret the sound waves as a sense of space; in fact, to ecolocate. Some of those with limited sight will use a hand held click or generate a clicking sound with the mouth to serve the same function. While it may sound like a far fetched super power, bats and cetaceans are known to echolocate, and we use the physics of echolocation in sonar and ultrasound technology. So, the fact that humans have been able to develop this sense when the need arises is not impossible to imagine. The information gathered has varying degrees of precision; and although one sighted futurist pioneer has experimented with a computer implant to attempt to develop the skill, there are few documented cases of echolocation in the sighted population. The Hatha Yoga Pradipika does mention this as one of the “siddhis” or powers that are developed with advanced states of consciousness.
An eighth sense which can be effectively developed with meditation practices is that of interoception. This is the awareness of processes happening with the body. Most of us have experienced a rumbling stomach, the urgency of a full bladder, or a racing heart after a burst of exertion. These are the grosser forms of interceptive awareness. With time and attention, the yogi can learn to monitor the heart rate and breath, and even control them consciously; as documented by studies of experienced transcendental meditators and Tibetan monks conducted at Massachusetts General and Harvard. Wim Hof, “the Ice Man” holds international seminars training participants to use breathwork and meditation to create the state of turiya - the ability to control the body’s metabolism and generate heat or survive on very little food. This has allowed him to climb Mount Everest in only a pair of shorts. There is an interesting documentary and materials available online on his techniques. Increased awareness of physical sensation in the body is used in somatic forms of therapy such as AEDP, and can improve awareness of and processing of emotions, improving mental health and released old forms of conditioned responses. See the book “It’s Not Always Depression” for more information on those techniques. Some advanced practices such as nauli involve training the function of the gut as well. Some yogis believe that advanced forms of meditation allow us to control the bodily sensations to a point that we are able to heal on a cellular level.
We also may have a capacity to sense electricity or ionic charges. Some people refer to this as magnetoreception, referencing electromagnetic fields as a whole, and it is well documented in fish, eels, birds, insects, and some marine mammals. There is debate about this in the scientific community. I am not talking about feeling a jolt when getting a spark from an outlet or struck by lightening; but rather a more sensitive acuity which is developed more strongly in some humans than others. This research is very new, though for a long time and across cultures, certain mediums, shamans, and healers have claimed to be able to see, feel, or transmit energy. We, like all energy-based beings (living things), generate our own electromagnetic field, which is easily documented through Kirlian photography. There are some interesting studies on these fields in plants conducted by Jagadesh Chandrah Bose, and the breaking research on magnetoreception is summarizing here: https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/can-humans-sense-the-magnetic-field--65611. There is a marked overlap between these studies and the claim of advanced yogis and energy workers to see and manipulate energy in themselves and others. On a gross level, many of us may be able to feel a thunderstorm coming on by the ionization in the air, or sense the power if standing near an electrical transformer or holding hands close to a live wire .. . . none of which I recommend. Many religious faiths describe a form of god as a “healing white light” - a visualization in classical yoga nidra which has been shown to improve the efficacy of chemotherapy drugs, reduce pain in hospice patients, and increase the healing rate of a variety of illnesses and injuries. Many yogis and nutritionists advocate for high prana, “living” or plant-based diets to enhance these abilities. Eckhart Tolle write about some of these senses in his book “The Power of Now” which I highly recommend.
This reflection is just a dipping of the toes in the deep waters of sense awareness. Ultimately, yogis utilize pratiyahara - the withdrawal of the outside senses - to gain a deeper awareness of the inner senses and a quieter state of mind, and attain meditation and eventually enlightenment. Many other more extravagant senses mentioned in books like “Autobiography of a Yogi” including clairvoyance, bilocation, and action at a distance, are referred to as siddhis, or special powers, and deemed peripheral, to be ignored, not to be the focus of pursuit. I’m sure there may be research into some of these abilities, but I’m not as well versed in it.
Scientific evidence is strong that regular yoga practices several times a week, including asana, meditation, and pranayama, can increase the abilities of senses such as balance, proprioception and, interoception, increasing physical and mental health.