Cleveland Botanical Gardens: Exploring Your Senses

As part of our First Seminar experience, my class had the opportunity to explore the Cleveland Botanical Gardens of University Circle by way of a special guided tour. The focus of our visit was to challenge our mind and body by taking turns muting of one of our five senses while navigating select gardens. Most would agree the prominent senses engaged in such a scenic environment is sight, smell and touch. So the idea of one of these being removed during the tour might leave one to conclude their overall experience would be compromised. This couldn't be farther from the truth.

Our guide challenged us to pair up with a classmate and take turns walking through a preselected garden blindfolded, while the other directed us through the winding pathways, describing what they saw, encouraging us the touch and smell different plants and trees and providing instruction on where to step and turn. Additionally, at the conclusion of each garden walk-through, we individually drew a picture of what we "saw" from both the blinded and guider perspective.

The mind and body are powerful. By way of this tour, I gained many takeaways, namely, a new found appreciation of sight and the amplification of the other senses when one is removed. The heightening of my sense of smell was impressive. Moreso, however, was my mind's ability to visualize what I was touching, i.e. leaves, flower petals, acorns, branches.

Our unique dialogue and exploration exercise proved to be enlightening and eye opening, pun intended! We learned to trust one another in the absence of the most vulnerable and precious of the senses, one used from the moment we wake up until we lay our head to rest. I recommend designing a similar visit to elevate your own experience.