There are five doorways into our minds: sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell.

These five senses are our means for gathering data and learning about our world. Most of us come equipped with all five, but we often depend so strongly on sight and hearing that we may neglect the other three portals of learning.

Sticking with the analogy of doorways into a home, I'm sure you'd agree that a front door makes a great first impression, but when I want to park the car and carry groceries into the kitchen, the door from the garage is the most convenient route. If I'd like to access my garden or patio, I suppose I could go out the front door and walk around the house and through the gate, but the back door will get me onto the patio faster.

With senses as with doors, it helps to have options.

When we're trying to get new information into our brains, it helps to know our options. The more of these learning portals we use, the richer and more efficient our learning experience will be.

Why limit ourselves to just sight and hearing?

Helen Keller provides a wonderful example of the power of the three less-often-used senses. Blind and deaf from infancy, Helen and her family were frustrated for years because she could not learn through sight and hearing like other children. Her parents were on the verge of giving up, but Helen had a brilliant mind. With the right teacher, she learned eagerly through touch, taste, and smell.

The untapped potential of all our senses working together is very powerful!