Rev up your senses with our easy tricks to improve your senses.
Imagine the following scene: You’re softly swinging in a hammock, on a white sandy beach in Mozambique, sipping a banana-mango smoothie, listening to the waves crash against the shore. A cool ocean breeze caresses your face. The scent of orchids fills the air. Your cocoa-butter-scented guy softly runs his fingers through your hair…Pretty tempting, isn’t it? Okay, now press rewind and try to imagine the same scene without your senses working full throttle – your ears plugged up, your taste buds on strike and your sense of touch as finely tuned as the old guitar in your parents’ store room. Not so mind-blowing this time, is it?
The problem is, most of us take our senses for granted – and that’s not such a smart thing to do, because life’s a lot less interesting when they’re not operating at peak capacity. But thanks to blaring iPods, long stretches in front of our computers and even the occasional nasty sunburn, you may be slowly and imperceptibly chipping away at your five functions.
So we’ve come up with these easy ways to sharpen your senses to Ginsu-knife perfection. Because that beach hammock is empty, girl. And just waiting for you.
Smoking, shunning sunglasses and ageing all contribute to less-than-stellar vision, but we have ways to protect your peepers.
Take the Long View
Sure, it’s hard to tear yourself away from that YouTube video of the incredible water-skiing squirrel, but keeping your nose planted just a few centimetres from a computer monitor will strain your eyes. “Extended close-up work keeps your focusing muscles in spasm. These muscles only relax when you’re looking at something in the distance,” says Cape Town-based ophthalmologist Dr Michael Mesham. “Give your eyes a rest from your screen every 15 minutes by gazing out the window at a spot at least 10 metres away for a minimum of 30 seconds.”
Get all Teary-Eyed
The average person blinks up to 15 times per minute, but long stretches spent staring – whether it’s at an important Excel file or a marathon viewing session of CSI – can slow your flutter rate to three or four times a minute. That leads to dry eyes, a leading cause of blurry vision. Drop a few bucks on a bottle of artificial tears and squeeze out a drop or two any time your eyes start to feel parched.
Make Like a Bunny
That would be Bugs, not one of Hef’s babes. Lutein and beta-carotene, antioxidants found in carrots, have been shown to help stave off macular degeneration, a disease that causes a blurred or blind spot in the middle of your field of vision. A recent study found that beta-carotene supplements don’t do the job, so get your nutrients at the dinner table. Rich sources of beta-carotene and lutein include sweet potatoes, apricots and green vegetables such as broccoli and spinach.
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