Another of da Vinci’s principles is SENSAZIONE which means the sharpening or awakening of the senses. He believed that his continual refinement of his five senses (sight, sound, smell, taste and touch) enhanced his working and thinking capabilities.
Much research has been published on the benefits of listening to or hearing classical music. According to Readers Digest, subjects who listened to a Mozart sonata for a mere ten minutes displayed IQ scores that were nearly ten points higher after the study than they were before. Researchers say that classical music enhances the brain’s spatial temporal reasoning, or the cognitive spatial understanding. It has the additional benefits of lowering blood pressure, contributing to better sleep and sharpening memory too.
But, most importantly for our topic, listening to classical music boosts creativity. If you cannot enjoy classics, the good news is that a recent study has found that listening to any happy, energetic music can increase people’s creativity.
Researchers found that listening to Vivaldi’s “The Four Seasons” enhanced their divergent creativity. (This is the ability to find many solutions to a problem.)
Da Vinci purposely created an environment that fed his senses. You can do this too by creating a work space using your favourite bold colours, fragrances (perhaps use a room diffuser or humidifier with essential oils), music or natural sounds like running water or birds chirping; try new food flavours to constantly surprise your taste buds and experiment with tactile input.
The key is to constantly surprise your senses by changing sensory input so that we don’t become numb to what is around us. It can be as simple as literally stopping to smell the roses, or trying a new cuisine, or simply becoming more aware of your environment.