{"id":33824,"date":"2025-11-12T21:41:19","date_gmt":"2025-11-12T21:41:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/5-ways-to-sharpen-your-senses-while-you-exercise\/"},"modified":"2025-11-12T21:41:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-12T21:41:19","slug":"5-ways-to-sharpen-your-senses-while-you-exercise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/5-ways-to-sharpen-your-senses-while-you-exercise\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Ways to Sharpen Your Senses While You Exercise"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ultrarunner Barbara Powell used to run as an escape from everyday life \u2014 a chance to zone out while burning off energy and clearing away stress. She aggressively pounded the pavement while ignoring sensations in her body. She loved running, but she frequently found herself injured and burnt out. Disconnecting from the world had led to disconnecting from herself.<\/p>\n

It was only when Powell swapped asphalt for dirt paths<\/a> that her running shifted from painful to freeing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I go trail running, I need to pay attention to what\u2019s going on around me,\u201d says Powell, MA, NBC-HWC, a holistic performance coach for Life Time Mind. \u201cIt gives me the perfect environment to connect to my senses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead of zoning out, she began tuning in \u2014 first out of necessity, then with intention. And this brought new rewards: \u201cI was able to make important shifts in order to nurture my body and create sustainability with my workouts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether she\u2019s doing a long weekend run through Minnesota woodlands or traversing the Rockies in preparation for the Leadville Trail 100 Run, Powell now scans for obstacles like roots and rocks, tunes in to the sounds and smells of her surroundings, feels the ground beneath her feet, and takes heed of each breath. Every run is a moving meditation<\/a> \u2014 a multisensory, mind-body experience.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t have to be an elite athlete or master meditator to enjoy a sensory experience while working out. The benefits for all exercisers can include enhanced body awareness, strengthened neural pathways, improved performance, and simply more enjoyment during a workout.<\/p>\n

\u201cSensory experiencing\u201d is the practice of cultivating your awareness of sensations inside and outside your body. Internally, you might pay attention to muscle tension, balance, body position, a change in breathing or heart rate, pain, or even the sense of time passing. Externally, you might notice aspects of your environment \u2014 relying on visual, auditory, olfactory, and other systems to take in what things look, sound, smell, feel, and taste like.<\/p>\n

These five expert tips can help you tune in during your next\u00a0workout.<\/p>\n

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UP YOUR FOCUS.<\/span><\/p>\n

As Powell discovered when she took up trail running, choosing movements and activities that demand your full attention<\/a> is one way to ramp up your sensory experience and stimulate the brain during a workout. \u201cSome of the most impactful exercises are those that require either reaction to the environment or some kind of coordinated movement,\u201d says Tommy Wood, PhD, an athletic-performance consultant and associate professor of pediatrics and neuroscience at the University of Washington School of Medicine.<\/p>\n

He recommends activities that \u00adrequire a coordinated sensory \u00adresponse and involve dynamic and unpredictable environments. Exam\u00adples include outdoor activities such as trail running, mountain biking, and rock-climbing; team sports like \u00adsoccer, basketball, and doubles pickle\u00adball; and dancing \u2014 \u00adespecially choreographed routines<\/a>. With strength training, incorporate movements that involve timing and coordination, such as medicine-ball tosses, agility ladders, and partner exercises.<\/p>\n

Balance training is another way to force the body and brain to work together. Wood, who is cohost of the Better Brain Fitness podcast, emphasizes that tasks must be appropriately challenging to reap the mental benefits. \u201cFor balance work to be challenging, you have to have a risk of falling over,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

To that end, Wood recommends dual-task training. Try standing on an unstable surface<\/a> while catching a ball. Balance on one foot while doing an upper-body exercise. Whatever you choose, it should be difficult enough that you feel like you really need to\u00a0concentrate.<\/p>\n

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( 2 )<\/p>\n

SENSE THE NATURAL WORLD.<\/span><\/p>\n

Engaging with the natural world allows you to take a \u201csensory rest<\/a>,\u201d says Powell, borrowing a term from author Saundra Dalton-Smith, MD, who champions the concept in her 7 Types of Rest framework (learn how you can recharge your physical, mental, emotional, creative, social, sensory, and spiritual self at \u201cThe 7 Types of Rest<\/a>.\u201d) Natural \u00adinputs \u2014 hearing ocean waves, seeing a beautiful mountain landscape, feeling the texture of rocks or sand beneath your feet \u2014 give your nervous system a break from the sensory overload<\/a> of the modern world.<\/p>\n

Cultivating a calm state also makes it easier to tune in to your senses and meet yourself where you are, Powell explains. \u201cWhen we make the deliberate choice to turn down the noise, we can listen to our bodies and become more connected to our physical well-being.\u201d<\/p>\n

And engaging the senses through nature is often more accessible than paying attention to the body\u2019s intrinsic experience.<\/p>\n

For some people, it might be overwhelming or even impossible to detect internal sensory cues \u2014 even basic ones like hunger and thirst.<\/p>\n

Powell notes that various factors \u2014 neurodiversity<\/a>, body dysphoria, social conditioning, and cultural variations in how sensory cues are valued \u2014 can make it more difficult to observe one\u2019s own physical signals. Dissociation stemming from traumatic experiences, as well as from racism, ageism, or gender bias, can also play a role.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, noticing the effects of the environment on your senses \u2014 what it looks, sounds, smells, feels, even tastes like \u2014 is a relatively safe and easy place to start.<\/p>\n

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( 3 )<\/p>\n

GO BAREFOOT.<\/span><\/p>\n

Your hands and feet are particularly rich in sensory receptors, relaying messages to your brain via touch, pressure, temperature, and pain. While most people\u2019s hands are \u00adexperienced sensors, our feet are less adept at using their touch receptors to feel and explore objects.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf your feet are not stimulated over time, they can tune out and become a sensory dead end \u2014 where ultimately the sensory organs aren\u2019t ready to pick up information the way they need to,\u201d says Kate Strozak, MSc, NCPT, LMT, a movement coach and massage therapist who specializes in applying neuroscience to movement\u00a0training.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re accustomed to wearing thick, cushioned shoes, Strozak recommends transitioning to more minimal footwear and eventually going barefoot<\/a> while walking around your house and during workouts. \u201cOnce you\u2019re comfortable walking barefoot on firmer surfaces, then you can expose your feet to unpredictable surfaces,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

At home, consider creating a rock box: Fill a box with rocks of different sizes and shapes, and practice standing on and moving around in them, incorporating movements such as squats or hip hinges. \u201cYour feet are constantly bringing sensory information in, so your brain has to be more aware of what you\u2019re doing, which primes your focus and attention<\/a>,\u201d explains Strozak.<\/p>\n

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( 4 )<\/p>\n

REDUCE ARTIFICIAL INPUTS<\/span><\/p>\n

Technology is a ubiquitous part of many workouts. Exercisers might listen to music or a podcast, watch a show, catch up on news, scroll social media, or check in with their fitness tracker while training. There are certainly benefits to tech: Listening to a curated playlist can be energizing, and monitoring your heart rate can help you stay in the zone.<\/p>\n

But when it comes to sensory experiencing, tech isn\u2019t a friend. The combined effect of technology is sensory overload, overwhelming the brain\u2019s ability to process information and pushing the nervous system into a more stressed state, explains Powell. We may then zone out to cope with the barrage of inputs.<\/p>\n

Adds Strozak: \u201cI think the hardest but most significant thing for most people is to not listen or watch things while they\u2019re exercising, because it\u2019s a distraction and it\u2019s not offering value to what you\u2019re doing. Rather than watching or listening to something, be aware of your environment and let your brain have that chance to process.\u201d<\/p>\n

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( 5 )<\/p>\n

STAY FLEXIBLE.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not every training session needs to be a sensory experience. Wood recommends considering your goal during a workout and asking yourself whether being more in tune with your senses can support that goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you can afford to get more sensory input or do something more cognitively complex without hindering a given performance or training goal, then go for it,\u201d he says. \u201cBut sometimes the goal is just to get the work done.\u201d<\/p>\n

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This article originally appeared as \u201cSharpen Your Senses\u201d in the November\/December 2025 issue of<\/em> Experience Life.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The post 5 Ways to Sharpen Your Senses While You Exercise<\/a> appeared first on Experience Life<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ultrarunner Barbara Powell used to run as an escape from everyday life \u2014 a chance to zone out while burning off energy and clearing away stress. She aggressively pounded the pavement while ignoring sensations in her body. She loved running, but she frequently found herself injured and burnt out. Disconnecting from the world had led […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":33825,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-life"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-10-25 18:21:45","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33824"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33824\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpnewswire.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}