Are you perceptive?

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If you are not sure, you can do the test from the video of an experiment by cognitive psychologists Daniel Simons and Christopher Chabris in 1999.

Click here to see the video, and here to read more about it.

I write about perception in the context of using obstacles to empower ourselves. In dealing with obstacles, we need to be well aware of the situation as well as the possible options to make the best of the obstacle situation.

But well developed perceptual abilities form a much more fundamental function in our lives. Think about it, we can only be aware of what we have perceived. We are aware of what we have seen in the world around us, what we perceive in ourselves, and even of inspirations we don’t know where they come from. We are even aware of information we have perceived non-consciously. So, we are consciously aware of some of our perceptions, but not all.

Your sensory system can turn into narrow tunnel perception temporarily or long term due to stress, anxiety, or repressions. If you can activate your senses to full capacity, a host of new information and opportunities open up for you. If you realise you can benefit from expanded perception, try as many of the techniques below as you require.

Joseph J Weed in his book Wisdom of the Mystic Masters, offers three exercises to develop perception skills.

1 Close you eyes at the first possible opportunity after entering a room or any place new to you. Recall whatever items such as chairs, ashtrays, pictures, carpets, etc. you can. Try to make it a habit to do as often as you can.

2 After walking up or down a flight of stairs, recall how many there were.

3 Do this in the evening. Recall what you did during any three or four minute period of the day. This could be the period immediately after breakfast, after you have left home, after morning tea, or whatever time you choose. Recall what you did, what you saw, what you heard, anything that happened.

In PhotoReading, Paul R. Scheele gives three exercises to develop peripheral perception.

1 When driving, notice what is in the surrounding area without turning your eyes away from the road. Notice objects, movements, and try to read signboards without looking directly at them.

2 When walking. look at a point on the horizon. Notice as much as you can of the panorama of the world around you.

3 While talking to people, look only at their face, and notice what clothing and jewellery they are wearing.

Scheele goes a step further in his book Natural Brilliance where he gives perception exercises to develop intuitive powers. His definition of intuition is knowledge without prior conscious sensory perception. That means by implication that some perception takes place in a nonconscious manner. Peripheral perception takes place whether we are aware of it as in the exercises above, or not.

1 The first step of the exercise is to quite the world around an inside you. Clear your mind and avoid external disturbances. The, listen to your mind. Ask yourself a question. Then notice the information that comes to your from all your senses. This kind of purposeful perception leads to awareness of your inner voice or higher intelligence.

2 Another exercise to develop intuition and extrasensory perception, is to make guesses based on internal sensory perceptions. Then check to find out whether your guess is correct or not. It could be as simple as guessing whether the person will answer if you make a phone call, or as complicated as you want to make it.

Some people are naturally very perceptive. If you are, like me, not really perceptive, you will be amazed by the amount of very useful information you miss without a keen perceptual ability. There is so much to learn about ourselves and the world around us. Perception is the door to all the learning opportunities.

Charisma School has free course “How to Improve Your Sensory Perception.”

Yakon

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Obstacles Empower
Let the possibilities inspire you more
than the obstacles discourage you.
Ralph Marston