We are naturally mindful, sensual beings. In fact, we wouldn’t be where we are today without our greatest teacher, Sensuality.

As children, we learned everything through our senses. Have you seen pictures of babies first tasting ice cream (delight!) or peas (uggggh!)? Contrast this to your last meal, likely delivered from a takeout restaurant, eaten hastily because, well, we’re busy people!

Do you remember learning what grass was by taking your first steps in the green stuff that tickled your toes? Are you embarrassed to play in the grass today?

What about the first time your mother tapped your nose with snow? That exciting plunge into a cold lake?

When was the last time you prepared a new recipe (or one of your favorites) and allowed your sense of smell to dictate your hunger instead of your mind saying, “It’s 6:00 p.m. I should eat.”

I can’t imagine buying a piece of clothing that I’ll wear on my body (or give to anyone as a gift) without feeling it first, but many people buy their clothing entirely on the internet without knowing how it feels on their body.

And, if you are single, remember your last date – how did your body react the first moment you smelled him/her/them? Did the scent invite you in, or send you reeling? Does your home, office or car have a warm, inviting smell?

The sad fact is today’s world doesn’t offer much sensuality.

Our greatest teacher, the senses, are still there, waiting to be re-awakened. Practicing mindfulness and Conscious Sexuality can open us up to our senses again.

Exploring and discovering through the senses can happen as part of our own individual journey or with a mindful partner: the back of the knees, the crease of the hip, a hot spot on the torso just beneath the rib cage… there are hundreds of sense-points on the body. And unique smells and tastes and sounds that can send arousal from zero to ninety in moments.

And, since nerve cells are constantly dying and regenerating within the body, the turn-on spots change all the time!

That hot spot you noticed on your lover’s clitoris or penis created spasms of pleasure a few weeks ago and, today, nothing!

Isn’t the body supremely intelligent? It keeps you rediscovering at every sexual encounter. It demands you are conscious.

Take twenty minutes and explore taste, sound, skin, scent and visual images. Notice the responses occurring in your body.

You can do this at home or find a special environment for your exploration. A park. A forest. A coffee shop.

I do this all the time in a department store. I take time to smell all the yummy perfumes (for men and women) and the leather purses. I notice the beautiful visual line of a pair of boots or well-cut pair of pants. I listen to the blend of chatter and music around me, noting the various accents of those speaking. I feel my body floating through the store, discovering. I touch the clothing. In fact, I touch everything.

I’m not kidding!

I was recently shopping with my 28-year-old son. After he had picked out some clothing (and I had approved it by touching it, of course), he was waiting in line to pay.

“I’m going to go feel the men’s underwear while you wait,” I told him.

Now that statement from your mother might send most guys riveting into the floor in flushed embarrassment, but he’s used to me. He just rolled his eyes and said, “Have fun.”

Have fun, indeed!