How to think about your senses; expanding from five to 12 senses

Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) made a career out of sharing his clairvoyant insights and uncoveries. e gre! u" and lived in "arallel !ith the codifying of the rigidly mental stereoty"es of #artesian Science$ the infant materialistic science of the %ndustrial Revolution$ !here mind and &ody never meet and never !or' as a team. Steiner es"ecially en(oyed &usting u" cultural myths he sa! &ecoming rigid and unhel"ful dogma around him. e !as correct in 1919) !e have at least 12 senses. *ne hundred

years later$ fe! have ta'en u" this idea outside of +aldorf educators interested in RS,s huge legacy. -et 12 senses is a 'ey .ool .hat eals to remedy the tiny /&o0/ of "reconce"tion that humans have only those senses that animals have and no more$ one of the great limitations of #artesian Science.

.o esca"e your o!n five-sense-&o0 it,s "ossi&le to ,"aint a "icture, to convey more language so readers can find their !ay from five to 12 senses. 1ach "erson does this some!hat uni2uely of course. You have five Senses
Origin of the "five animal senses" box +hen the rational intellect !as &eing develo"ed$ hand-in-hand !ith #artesian Science$ 1633-1833$ the focus !as on "utting a!ay su"erstitious dogma and mastering the "hysical-material !orld. .his !as a good thing. 1arly materialists trying to come to consensus on the invisi&le forces at !or' in "hysics$ chemistry$ astronomy and so on !ere reduced to the lo!est common denominator. .his is !hat #artesian Science "romoted so that some foundation of consensus could &e esta&lished. .he only consensus on human sensing$ sustaina&le among early researchers$ !as humans have the same senses as the animals4 hearing$ sight$ touch$ taste and smell. 5eriod. /6eeling/ in the modern sense$ only &egan &eing discussed in the 1973s. %n the 1633s they did not yet 'no! 8feelings9 !ould increasingly &e recogni:ed as the 8&ig dog9 in our "syche$ ta'ing at least a co-e2ual "lace !ith our logical-se2uential thin'ing. Since 1973 research has moved steadily to!ards 8emotional %ntelligence9 and a more 53-53 &alance &et!een our . and 6 functions.

How open are your five senses ;o adult has all five animal senses fully o"en. <y the time !e are three
years old$ "arents and local culture school us to !hich senses are "olite to attend to and tal' a&out and !hich senses are im"olite to attend to and must &e su""ressed. #ultural &linders "ut on us as children$ tell us !hat to feel$ ho! much to feel$ !hat to "erceive and ho! much to "erceive. ;ot discussed until thera"y &ecomes an interest$ is ho! shutting do!n our sensory channels shuts do!n self-connection. =s ne!&orns !e &egin !ith a &lan' slate$ all five animal senses as fully o"en as "rior ha&its and "hysiology "ermits. +e &egin unconditionally rece"tive. >radually !e acce"t local 8cultural &linders9 to reduce o"enness in our 12

senses. ?ocal cultural 8tunnel vision9 is im"osed on our animal senses) later$ on all 12 senses. .his is not &ad or evil) sim"ly$ an e0"erience of "artial limitation. .o get along in family and society$ !e all agree to !or' !ithin these !hen !e agree to &e &orn in that sentient culture. %magine a culture !here this !as to"sy-turvy4 everyone !as schooled to have all sense channels$ all the !ay o"en. %f ade2uate and sufficient "ersonal and inter"ersonal &oundaries !ere also taught$ everyone in this alternate culture !ould a""ear 8clairvoyant.9 =s it is on 1arth$ each culture$ each family$ each school$ tells us !hich "erce"ts are 8good9 !hich are 8&ad$9 !hat to listen to$ ho! much to listen and !hat to ignore. @4 #an % see my o!n cultural &linders on my sensesA =4 *ne 'ey is recogni:ing your senses have &een 8"runed &ac'$9 !ay &ac') therefore$ you have much room to gro! and e0"and. .he ,sensory dogma, our culture "uts on us lives in the SB<- and B;conscious of our ha&it &ody. .he &iggest sensory dogma !e have is$ /=dult human senses &egin and end !ith touch$ taste$ smell$ sight$ hearing. .here is nothing more./ .his limiting /cultural &o0/ !as useful in the 1633s-1833s. <y the 1973s$ !e !ere ready for a &igger 8&o09 for human sensing.

!"#O$ % our most&open sensory 'hannels from the ne'k&up +hat many very effective health "ractitioners$ coaches and lay "ersons learned from ;?5 is ho! "erce"tion is "atterned in our su&and unconscious. .he terms ,ha&it &ody, did not a""ear in holistic literature until 2311) yet$ e0"loring the "henomena and "atterns of our ,ha&it &ody, is a very concise summary of ;?5. NLP taught those who wished to know,how perception and memory are patterned. Understanding how perception is patterned begins with VAK, the sensory channels of isual, auditory, kinesthetic. !his idea was first published in The Structure of Magic Volume 2 "#$%&' by (ichard )andler and *ohn +rinder. V , isual

A , auditory K , kinesthetic -the problematic one./ 0ur isual and auditory sensory channels need no e1planation. 232(4562 , 7ou can easily measure how open each of these three senses are, on a scale of ten. 7ou can e en guess, if you cannot self8 test. 1C1R#%S1 D +ant to e0"lore your "referencesA ere,s a free E=F "reference test4 htt"4GG!!!.&usiness&alls.comGva'learningstylestest.htm

!"# as triangulating reality !o understand the impact of VAK on holistic thinkers, 5 belie e it9s necessary to go back one step to an idea sketched in NLP but probably more fully e1plicated in +eneral 6emantics. :ere9s the :ealing !oolbo1 ersion; <e use multiple points of iew to triangulate reality. !his is why two eyes are better than one. 6tereo ision enables triangulating distance much better than one eye alone. !he art history topic of perspecti e bears on this, a si1th grade topic in <aldorf curricula. Understanding perspecti e and how to employ it in drawings, increases our ability to =udge and interpret things at a distance. >ore significantly, we use multiple 62N626 to triangulate reality here on 2arth where all people and many phenomena ha e multi8 dimensional aspects of interest. An easy way to picture this is to recall how to set up up a 4hristmas tree in the li ing room, so it9s truly ertical, not leaning in any direction. :ow do we do this? !o see if the tree is straight, perpendicular to the floor, we must iew it from at least two different places in the room. 5f the tree is straight from at least !<0 angles of iewing, we know it9s straight and perpendicular. +eneral 6emantics and more importantly NLP, make the point we use as many senses as a ailable to us, as perspecti es on present e1perience.

!herefore@we make meaning thru our multiple senses. NLP started the con ersation about how different indi iduals prefer different sensory channels as their lead sensory channel. !his is ho! !e re"resent meaning to ourself and$ each "erson does this some!hat uni2uely.

(eaning trumps !"# Heaning is the !hole$ E=F*> are the "arts of our e0"erience. Heaning trum"s E=F. E=F leads to meaning. *nce meaning is esta&lished and resolved$ you tend to give u" the E=F re"resentations. Say your name to yourself silently or out loud. % &et you do ;*. get any sensory image or re"resentation to go along !ith it. %t,s (ust your name. %f you have a ?*. of sensory re"resentations arise !hen you say your o!n name$ you might have a stage name$ name change$ or some other "artly unresolved issue. 6or most of us using our original &irth name$ it,s easier for it to &e em"ty of im"ressionistic &aggage. %n contrast$ to! thin' of someone you are or !ere madly in love !ith. -ou say their name and you smell flo!ers$ you hear church &ells and you see t!o horses riding into a colorful sunset. .heir name has meaning for you as your <eloved. %t,s "leasant to load u" their name !ith real or imagined sensory images$ hence a lot of love "oetry. ?et,s go &ac' to your o!n address and tele"hone num&er. % &et your do not have strong E=F associations !ith these either. E=F re"resentations of your address and "hone num&er are su"erseded &y their "ractical meaning and utility. .hey &ecome ingrained ha&its and

there is nothing unresolved a&out them or !hat to do !ith your name$ address or tele"hone num&er. .his e0am"les ho! !e evolve to F;*+%;>$ !hen a ha&it is recorded dee"ly enough in our unconscious. as &e &e more or less "ermanent. Some not all$ of the things closest and familiar to us$ !e no longer use any sensory re"resentations for. ;o! tell me ho! many years old you are. Hany of us have lots of associations !ith num&ers re"resenting the age of our &ody in years. +e might not li'e the num&er if the years are too fe! or too many. +e might associate feeling a certain !ith a num&er of years under or over a certain amount. ;o! say your age in years out loud. #an you s"ea' itA Ie"ending on your age$ you may have "ositive negative or mi0ed sensory re"resentations attached to your age. Since !e are at it$ !hy not image the age$ in years$ !hen you felt the &est of your entire life. >o ahead$ ma'e u" a t!o-digit num&er and associate all those good feeling !ith it. ;o! ho! can you associate all these good feelings !ith your "resent age$ if your "resent age has fe!er good sense re"resentationsA .he a&ove suggests ho! free !e are in our creative imagination$ ho! mallea&le and changea&le our sensory re"resentations are in our ha&it &ody. .his is one !ay to sli" into the magic !orld of self-healing.

>eaning trumps VAK. VAK leads to meaning. 0nce meaning is established and resol ed, you tend to gi e up the VAK representationsA they are no longer usefulA you KN0<. <hen you grasp which sensory channels a person prefers using, you ha e tapped in to one way they construct meaning for themsel es, in their habit body. Using words, descriptors and metaphors appealing to their primary, preferred sensory channel tends to build rapport. 8?inguistics9 (ust means 8language.9 ?anguage (ust means 8meaning.9 +e all navigate JI reality using sense "erce"ts received thru multi"le

sensory channels. <ecause a high-definition version of each and every moment !ould re2uire too much memory s"ace in our ha&it &ody$ our a&it ?i&rarian does us the service of recording lo!-resolution versions of !hat ha""ens. .o do this it em"loys deletion$ distortion and generali:ation$ another ;?5 "rece"t. +e all com"ose memories the same !ay$ thru multi"le$ "artial sensory im"ressions or re"resentations. *ur goal is not 8home movies.9 *ur goal is not a full record of JI life. Rather our goal is ma'ing meaning and recording memories that re2uire further "rocessingK!hen !e can get to them. Se'ond opinions assist us to triangulate A second opinion has =ust the same benefit multiple iewpoints offer us. 0ften, if we wish to know if the choice we are making looks good, makes sense, we will ask for a second opinion. !hatBs why second opinions, ad isors, counselors, consultants and coaches are alues. <e want confirmation or refutation our chosen course of action makes sense from points of iew outside our own limited perspecti e. %nfre2uently "eo"le in the +est also organi:e and re"resent meaning to themself in sensory images of smell and taste$ olfactory and gustatory. .his is !hy you see 8E=F*>.9 >enerally in the +est !e are dealing !ith E=F and not so much !ith *>. )rom !"# to #!" Eisual and auditory "erce"ts !ill &e familiar to all readers. Hore language for 'inesthetic "erce"ts may &e useful. 0ne (6 insight is our kinesthetic sense of feeling is at the minimum !<0 sensory channels; 8 6ense of te1ture PLU6 8 6ense of weight

After working with (69s idea for CD years, 5 think it9s possible and useful to go much further. Our seven kinestheti' senses* regrouped for 'ommuni'ating with yourself from the ne'k&down
.o &uild the ne0t healthy cultures$ !e need to enno&le 8feeling9 to ma'e it co-e2ual !ith linear-se2uential thin'ing. Lust as the 1s'imos enno&led 8sno!9 !ith 57 !ords for it$ !e must discern and create language for !hat !e !ish to enno&le and e0"and a!areness of. ere &elo! is an e0"anded language for 8feeling$9 courtesy of Rudolf Steiner. 1) *ur Sense of !ell-&eing is the strongest of all our 'inesthetic senses. .his is our ca"acity to sense if !e feel !ell or "oorly$ our sense of feeling !ell or not-!ell. 8% feel good today$9 8% donMt feel !ell today)9 and$ % feel &etter today com"ared !ith yesterday$9 8% have a &ad feeling a&out this$9 and$ 8% have a good feeling a&out going this direction.9 RS called this 'inesthetic sense$ the 8sense of life.9 /Sense of !ell-&eing/ may &e more clear here. 2) Finesthetic sense of +armth D =m % !arm enuf) am % too hotA =m % too coolA J) Finesthetic sense of .ouch N) Finesthetic sense of .e0ture 5) Finesthetic sense of +eight D ca"acity to sense if something has any !eight at all$ ca"acity to sense if it has much or little "hysical mass$ inde"endent of si:e. 6) Finesthetic sense of <alance D "erce"tions of things in or out of &alance$ "hysically$ emotionally$ and also morally4 fairness and unfairness. Related to our vesti&ular sense. ighly related to intuitive hunches as in$ 8Something feels off here$9 8.hat sounds 8funny9 to me)9 and$ 8.hat feels really right on targetO9 7) Finesthetic sense of Hovement D ca"acity to "erceive direction of movement4 a&ove to &elo!$ left to right$ front to &ac'$ etc. =lso our sense of relative motion$ one thing in motion relative to another thing.

@4 #an % rearrange these in an order more meaningful to my o!n "referenceA =4 % ho"e you !ill.

"(ood of death" and "mood of birth" as kinestheti' senses =t its sim"lest RS !as "ointing to our ca"acity to sense !hether this or that "henomena is living or dead. 6e! of us have much e0"erience e0ercising this sense. *ne formerly common e0"erience !ould &e cas'et vie!ings$ !here the deceased is made to loo' lifeli'e) !e may tem"orarily imagine they merely slee". =fter more e0"licit consideration$ our internal senses tell us the loved on in the casket is no longer expressing life. .his evidences our ca"acity for a sense of life. *n a more "ositive note$ many of us res"ond to a !ee's-old &a&y 'itten !ith$ / ello 'ittyO/ again evidencing capacity to sense life. %n his discussion of the contrasting moods of &irth and death$ Steiner !as not concerned !ith !hether !e could tell if cor"ses !ere dead or 'ittens alive. Rather he !as concerned !ith education4 is this lesson$ for these children$ at this time in their stage-develo"ment$ leading them into more life or leading them to!ards the death of life-forces in the graveyard of the intellectA (my "hrase$ not his). Steiner !ished teachers to deliver lessons to strengthen the life forces in children. e !as very a!are school lessons can strengthen either the life forces (&lood-muscles) or the death forces (nerves-intellect&ones). e !as very a!are factory-style intellectual education only strengthens the death forces in humans and leads to graduates !ho can conceive of and thin' useful &igger guns$ &om&s and atomic &om&s.
10ercising our sense of 8mood of death9 and 8mood of &irth9 is "erha"s one of the ma(or e0ercises !e need in the "ost-2312 !orld.

=s the old greed "aradigm dissolves &efore our eyes and ne!$ healthy$ diverse$ re"lacement cultures have mostly yet to &egin$ our sense of !hat can &e &irthed$ culturally s"ea'ing$ that is sustaina&le is a crucial 2uestion. @4 +here can % e0"erience a mood of &irth easilyA =4 <esides live &a&ies and infants$ at 6indhorn and at >lo&al 1covillage ;et!or'. .o my 'no!ledge$ Steiner does not "ro"ose a 8mood of &irth9 and 8mood of death9 as additions to his 12 senses. -et readers may agree !ith me$ !hy notA % &elieved % learned of Steiner,s "olarity of the H**IS$ &et!een death and &irth$ either from his 6ifth >os"el htt"4GG!!!.ama:on.comG6ifth->os"elStory-Rudolf-SteinerGd"G1NN995J271GrefPlaQ<337S;E>N6Q1Q11A iePB.68R2idP1JN5337892RsrP1-11 or in my +aldorf .eacher .raining thru ;oah +illiams Sr.

+hen ',s and b,s have different most&open sensory 'hannels +hen an individual is I%Sconnected nec'-u" and nec'-do!n$ the more li'ely it is they !ill "refer one sensory channel nec'-u" and a different sensory channel nec' do!n. ;?5 "ractitioners re"ort and close o&servation &y anyone confirms$ the &asic self and conscious self do not share the same re"resentational system. .he &Gs "refers one modality and the cGs "refers a different modality. .his is very common &ut not o"timal. .his may &e !hy very e0"erienced healers$ over time$ tend to gravitate to feelingKour strongest sensory channelKas "referred &oth a&ove and &elo!. FE= is one of . 1 most useful .ools .hat eal to sort this out and su""ort "eo"le connecting themselves to" and &ottom. -iffering most&open sensory 'hannels as .being of two minds/ Iiffering "referred sensory channels goes a long !ay to!ards e0"laining !hy "eo"le are so often /of t!o minds./

%t also suggests a most common o&stacle "eo"le encounter in attem"ting to communicate !ith their inner child) one "refers using one sensory channel to "erceive JI reality$ the other self "refers another sensory channel. @4 Ioes any "attern e0ist hereA =4 -es$ commonly in the +est$ the visual channel is most o"en in the cGs and the auditory or 'inesthetic channel is most o"en in the &Gs. ?et,s say that again in terms of "references. .he cGs "refers visual in"ut and the &Gs "refers auditory or 'inesthetic in"ut. .!o !ays e0ist to loo' at this mismatch. 1ither this com"licates coo"eration &et!een cGs and &Gs. %f each self has a different ma" of the same e0"erience$ they /see/ it differently) hence$ 8of t!o minds.9 #onversely the difference in "oints of vie! "ermit &etter triangulating !hat is real and true in JI reality. %tMs no secret that more creative thin'ers en(oy multi"le "oints of vie! and use multi"le ma""ing systems. +e call this fle0i&ility. ;?5 encourages this. .he conscious self has many additional !ays to re"resent meaning) art and alge&ra come to mind. +e call these a&stractions. *ur &asic self and ha&it &ody do not. %t,s meaning ma'ing strategies are limited to sensory "erce"ts. Sensory awakening
133 years ago Rudolf Steiner said !e have more senses than school&oo's and the media tell us. Steiner is no longer alone. = scientist$ Leff >reen cites a 2335 ;e! Scientist article u""ing the num&er of /acce"ted senses/ to ten !ith another 11 !aiting /in the !ings./ Leff,s article is here4 !!!.!aldorfli&rary.orgGLournalQ=rticlesGsense(effgreen."df .his e0"anded "aradigm of human sense channels has not "enetrated the mainstream. Since 1973$ the early ado"ters of an e0"anded "aradigm of human sensory channels is olistic healers) starting !ith .ouch for ealth$ continuing into ;?5 and then &eyond.

@4 #an % remove my cultural &linders &y ta'ing drugsA =4 5sychedelic drugs and mushrooms violently force o"en your etheric centers. %,d love to 'no! the "ercentage of e0"erimenters !ho have a "ositive e0"erience versus the num&er of e0"erimenters re"orting a "ro&lematic or confusing e0"erience. Hy guess is &oth fractions are high. <ecause "sychoactive drugs very often "ermanently distort your etheric centers$ this tends to create more "ro&lems than it solves. Re"airing damage to your etheric aura re2uires very s'illed "ractitioners) &ecause$ the damage is all invisi&le. HS%=.org aura &alances are &y far the easiest$ safest most effective !ay to re"air such damage % 'no! of. .he !or' of aura &alance thru HS%= is overseen &y angels dedicated to this tas'$ as % e0"erience it. another great &argain of HS%=. @4 *ther than drugs$ !hat o"tions do % haveA =4 ealthy intimacy is the main arena for rela0ing-e0"anding your sensory channels &ecause healthy intimacy is safe &y definition. ealthy se0 is a good !ay to e0"and your sensory channels. ealthy se0$ safe$ loving se0ual congress$ creates s"ace for the inner child to let do!n its cultural &linders$ at dee"er and dee"er levels. *nce you measure ho! o"en each sense is$ E=F*>$ consider strengthening your !ea'est sense. Sensory a!a'ening as a to"ic &lossomed in the early 1973s. See <ernard >untherMs "age at =ma:on4 htt"4GG!!!.ama:on.comG<ernard>untherGeG<331 #SNS>GrefPnttQathrQd"Q"elQ"o"Q1 .hese are the main e0ercise &oo's on !a'ing u" the five senses. .o !a'e u" the rest of your 12 senses re2uires self-testing of some 'ind to navigate in unfamiliar invisi&le territory. @4 =ny other !aysA =4 -es$ o&serve the ?a! of Rumi. %f you !ish more self-sensitivity$ identify$ ac'no!ledge$ have com"assion for$ address$ negotiate and resolve your &loc's and o&stacles to sensitivity$ any you &ecome a!are of. .he ?a! of Rumi suggests you can,t go after more o"en senses directly. -ou #=; go after removing sensory chaos$ incoherence and noise in your sense

channels. .he senses you had !hen you too' your first "hysical &reath here in JI are (ust fine. -ou reclaim them &y chi""ing a!ay at any and all distur&ances in your sensory channels$ recogni:ing more and more the internal /governors/ 'ee"ing life out$ 'ee"ing you isolated. *ur child !ithin is the gate'ee"er of our 12 senses. =s !e reduce &loc's and o&stacles to our sense channels$ our inner child gets freed u" and more free to e0"ress. Such develo"ment is &uilt u"on feeling safe and trust &et!een conscious self and &asic self.