Sensory Wellness: How to Reset Your Mood With Your Senses

Ceramic mug, soft linen, and natural light create a calming sensory space that supports emotional balance.

By Sara Kitnick

Senior Content Strategist

Oct. 9, 2025 5:49 PM PT

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The idea that the color of your shirt can change your mood isn’t only about aesthetics. It’s chemical. Our brains actually do respond to certain colors by releasing dopamine, which helps regulate how we feel. Some researchers even call it ”medicine for the senses.”

At a recent Club Rewire event with Hypeach, Lindsey Tomayko, MA, LPCC, explained how our sensory choices can shape our emotions in the moment. “We’ve heard about that kind of trend of moving toward picking a color that makes you feel really happy and excited,” she said. “Colors and our sensory environments have a very real impact on our brain and body and our experiences.”

When the Smallest Cues Change Everything

You’ve probably felt it. That edge in your breath or the tightness across your shoulders. Then you step outside, or maybe just turn on a lamp that feels warm instead of harsh, and your whole body just...exhales.

It can be that subtle. And studies point to the same thing, showing how things like light and scent can shift hormone levels. The smallest sensory cue can be enough to pull you back.

Building Joy Through Sensory Awareness

This same concept can also help build joy. Joy can be a muscle that strengthens through repetition and awareness. It’s not all that different from what Tomayko teaches. You practice presence, not perfection. Bottom line: our senses aren’t passive.

They’re conversation starters between the body and the brain. When we’re overwhelmed or anxious, the body responds before the brain catches up. Heart racing. Breath shortening. Mind looping. “Even the shift of rolling the shoulders back and breathing deeply gives us a different chemical profile in our brain,” Tomayko said. “When we get back in our bodies and get centered, we often clear the way for more creative thinking and logical thinking because we’re calm.”

How Movement and Environment Reset the Mind

Sometimes it’s simple. Legs up the wall. A slow inhale through the nose. Light adjusted to something soft. Those actions tell the body, you’re safe. Once the body relaxes, the mind starts to believe it. Movement helps too. Walking, stretching, or just leaving a room for a minute.

The bilateral rhythm of left-right motion helps the brain process stress. Therapists have even started to prescribe time in nature for that reason. (Imagine that being your homework: “Go outside for 20 minutes.”)

Empathy Starts in the Nervous System

Empathy sounds emotional, but it’s also physical. Tomayko explained that our nervous systems mirror those around us. “Our heartbeats can sync up. Our brain waves actually sync up,” she said. It’s wild when you think about it. You sit across from someone, breathe the same air, and your body starts taking notes. That’s co-regulation. Tone, breath, micro expressions, all of it sending and receiving safety signals. When you’re with someone who feels calm, your body starts matching that state. And the reverse is true.

Emotional intelligence isn’t about being bulletproof. It’s just about noticing what’s happening inside you before it takes over. Tomayko often uses a tool called a “feelings wheel” with her clients. It helps break down a huge emotion like “sadness” into something more specific, like disappointment or guilt. “When they say ‘name it to tame it,’ it gives us clarity and a little distance,” she said. “The more specific we get, the more we can understand ourselves and what’s happening.”

That’s the moment the amygdala, the reaction center, hands control back to the prefrontal cortex, the reasoning one. Suddenly there’s space to pause instead of spiral. To speak instead of snap. And when you can name what you feel, empathy becomes easier. It’s no longer a guessing game. It’s communication.

How to Use Your Senses as Anchors

Sensory wellness is about tuning into our bodies. Everything from the type of light in your bedroom to the texture of your rug plays a part. Bright, natural light in the morning can wake up your brain’s serotonin circuits. Tomayko suggests finding little sensory anchors throughout the day, like a coffee mug in a favorite color or a candle that smells like summer. “Even if it’s not that you’re going to put on a turquoise dress,” she said, “maybe you have a turquoise ring, and when you look at it, it gives you a jolt. It reminds you of your goal.”

That’s the power of small cues. Researchers in environmental psychology have found that spaces with natural materials and greenery can slow the heart rate and steady focus. The brain reads “safe.” The body listens.

When Tomayko talks about regulation, she always circles back to one core idea. Presence. “Because it changes your state and your reality in any given moment is the present moment,” she said. “Everything in this moment is okay. We are safe in this moment.” That’s really all grounding is. It’s not about shutting your thoughts off. It’s about redirecting them to what’s right here in front of you. The air in the room. The chair you’re sitting on.

No one needs a total overhaul. Try one thing at a time. Step outside for five minutes without a phone. Change your nail polish. It’s not about chasing calm. It’s about finding it, over and over.

As Tomayko said, “When we get back in our bodies and get centered, we often clear the way for more creative thinking and logical thinking because we’re calm.” The more often you practice that kind of sensory awareness, the faster it kicks in.

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