A Sensory Lifestyle: What Does That Mean To Us?
By Jessica Jordan, MS, OTR/L
Understanding A Sensory Lifestyle & What Does That Look Like
Have you heard of a “sensory diet”? Well, here at SUNRISE Therapies, we like to encourage a “sensory lifestyle”. A sensory lifestyle is just that: incorporating sensory into everything about daily life tasks!
Using sensory strategies specific to an individual's sensory preferences throughout their day can be a huge help for those with sensory needs. A sensory lifestyle can be the ticket to improved regulation, which may lead to greater attention and success. When the strategies are thoughtfully implemented and are carried over consistently, we see the magic happen!
An Example Of A Sensory Lifestyle
We recently shared a Reel on our Instagram account illuminating a sensory lifestyle. In this Reel, Jessica, one of the employees here at SUNRISE, shared a glimpse at how she begins the day providing sensory input to her children. Meals are a great time to introduce different types of oral proprioceptive input, as well as foods that can be alerting to awaken our sensory systems (i.e. think crunchy, chewy, sour, sweet, bubbly, etc). In this clip you see a crunchy waffle, different textured fruits with sweet flavor and a spoonful of smooth peanut butter (lots of proprioceptive input to get that peanut butter off the spoon through tongue movements and sucking).
A sensory lifestyle encourages activities that are naturally occurring throughout the day. So for Jessica’s children that means… gymnastics! The skills the children were targeting (i.e. balance, motor planning, visual motor integration, body awareness, and static/dynamic postural control) and the different types of input they were receiving was vast (proprioceptive, vestibular, visual, tactile, and interoceptive inputs)! Next up, included time at home which encouraged more input but this time, it was more self directed, rather than adult led or initiated at gymnastics.
Later in the evening, the children enjoyed a colorful bath with no overhead lighting, but rather strobe lights coming from the tub. Yes, think club bath time for these children (lol). In the tub the children’s olfactory systems were challenged with essential oils, in addition to their tactile and proprioceptive systems by the temperature and feel of the bath water against their bodies. Next up included, preferred textured towels (we love bamboo and will link ours below) & deep pressure with a lotion massage. Don’t worry, we will link how to do that here.
Lastly, books for some final visual and auditory input before snuggles (deep hugs, gently linear rocking, soft singing) which provides proprioceptive, vestibular, and auditory input. Now that’s a sensory lifestyle alright! Paint a picture for us, how does your sensory lifestyle look? Do you need helping knowing where to start? Reach out to us today and one of our amazing OTs can help guide you!
Products We Love
Lotion for Massage
Essential oils used in the bath