SENSITIVITY WORKSHOP

The senses of the body play a vital role in our everyday experiences. They allow one to be
aware of what is happening within or outside the body. They also help him adjust to his
surroundings or to the people around him. Last Friday, the class had a workshop which is
composed of different tasks that help develop one’s senses and focus. Overall, I found the activity
relaxing while also a good method of learning.

The tasks that we were instructed to do include walking in either slow or fast pace,
counting, focusing on one spot, and more. These things tend to put you in a relaxed or a resting
state since they are less stressful and do not require much movements or thinking. As someone
who is not used to doing activities early in the morning, I was actually a bit sleepy and tired before
the session. I was also hungry that time because I did not eat dinner or breakfast. However, along
the process, I am feeling relaxed and the mind temporarily forgets other things since the tasks
revolve to focus. Even though I am still hungry after the session, my mood became lighter and I
felt de-stressed. Aside from relaxation, the workshop also helped me appreciate what senses do
and the importance of using them to be conscious of the environment you are in.

The first activity is done by using only the sense of hearing. The task is to open up your
ears and hear the sounds coming from inside the body, inside the room and outside the building.
Personally, I found it hard hearing sounds from inside the body though I can feel some things
inside like hunger, heartbeat, and more. It was also difficult for me to find and recognize the sounds
outside the building, if there is any. What I did is just let my mind relax, not really think much
about what i feel because it might cause distraction, and allow any sound enter my ears. The task
was done with the eyes closed to help the mind just focus on hearing only even if the source of the
sounds are kilometers away from you. It is also one way of maximizing the use of that specific
sense.

There are many instances that we were instructed to walk slowly or fast in random
directions, and also walk backwards. The task make the participants prone to bumping each other
which means that we should be aware and sensitive enough of the people around us. Additional to
walking around the room is that you have to find a spot that you will focus on. This activity mostly
depends on the sense of sight. It also gives emphasis to the aspect of body focus because the goal
is to walk towards a spot until it is just the only thing that you can see. You will then move
backwards, going away from the spot but still focusing to it. However, while doing it, there will
be certain occasions that something or someone from the room might block the spot that you are
concentrating on. The view that you would see then as you move away will become larger and the
spot will be relatively smaller. This could be an emphasis that while you are giving focus on
something, you should still be aware and recognize the things that are happening around it, or
around you.

The most challenging one for me is the activity where the goal is to focus on more than
one person in the room, but these persons including you, are walking around in random directions.
Many factors affected the difficulty of this activity. One is walking fast and in random directions
that can cause bumping to each other which means you still have to be aware of the other people
around the room. Another is focusing on more than one people, which I find it very difficult
because everyone is not going the same way. I have actually followed up to four people only out
of thirteen. However, the core of the task is not literally following them all at once but
acknowledging the direction they go to and the space in which they are walking.

In the last part of the session, the instructor made us count up to thirty individually, then
from thirty back to one. The challenge is that no two persons must count the same number at the
same time, or else the counting will be back to one. In general, it teaches how one should sense if
the other person will do the action. It was done in three levels where the first one is that the eyes
should be closed during the task. This gives rise to the sense of hearing which should aid one in
sensing if the other members will count. Second level is walking in fast, random directions. Eyes
were already open but there should still be awareness with the space and the other people walking.
The third one is doing the task while walking backwards. A mix of senses and the need to focus
on the task to be done were incorporated. The group was able to only count up to thirty in the first
and third level.
 The workshop activities highlights not only how a body should give focus to a particular
thing, but also recognizing what is around it. These things can be achieved with the use of our
senses, as what was reflected on the tasks. Sensitivity means being aware of how a body would
respond or react which can be based from its movements or the space in which it moves. This can
be done by allowing the senses to identify and recognize his surroundings. Looking at it in a larger
picture, sensitivity could be an important factor in building social relations for which it should
always be applied in our everyday experiences and interaction with people.