A Sensory Day at Balboa Park

When we think about taking care of our mental wellness, we often think about what we need to do—meditate, exercise, journal, or create a better routine.

But sometimes wellness begins with something much simpler:

Seeing something that makes you stop and say, “Wow.”

That feeling is called awe.

A visit to Balboa Park in San Diego is filled with opportunities to experience it. From the architecture and gardens to museums filled with art, science, history, and culture, there is almost always something new for your senses to discover.

And that sense of wonder may be doing more for your well-being than you realize.

What Does Awe Have to Do With Mental Wellness?

Awe is the feeling we experience when we encounter something that feels bigger, more beautiful, more complex, or more extraordinary than what we experience in everyday life.

Think about standing in front of a remarkable painting.

Seeing the enormous skeleton of an animal that lived thousands or millions of years ago.

Looking closely at an artifact from another culture.

Walking into a beautiful historic building and noticing the details above you.

For a moment, your attention moves away from your responsibilities, worries, schedules, and mental to-do lists.

You become curious.

You observe.

You wonder.

You are present.

That shift in attention can be restorative.

Your Eyes Are Doing More Than Looking

One of the most powerful sensory experiences at Balboa Park is visual.

At The San Diego Museum of Art, your eyes can move from color and texture to intricate details and artistic expressions from different cultures and periods.

At San Diego Natural History Museum, the visual experience changes completely as your attention turns toward the natural world.

Then there is San Diego Air & Space Museum, where the scale and engineering of aircraft and space exploration can create another kind of wonder.

Each environment gives your brain something different to notice.

Instead of scrolling quickly from one image to another on a screen, a museum encourages you to slow down and actually look.

That is sensory mindfulness.

Curiosity Gives the Mind Somewhere Else to Go

There is another mental wellness benefit that we don't talk about enough: curiosity.

When you walk through a museum, questions naturally begin to form.

How did they create that?

What was life like during that time?

How old is that?

Why did the artist choose those colors?

How did people figure this out?

Curiosity shifts the mind from simply consuming information to actively exploring it.

Museum of Us is especially interesting from this perspective because its exhibitions explore human histories and cultures and are intended to encourage reflection and connection.

You aren't simply looking at things.

You are learning, questioning, connecting and expanding your perspective.

That is very much part of mental wellness, too.

Awe Can Interrupt the Ordinary

Our brains become accustomed to familiar environments.

The same office.

The same commute.

The same rooms.

The same screens.

The same responsibilities.

Occasionally stepping into an environment that feels completely different can interrupt that familiarity.

At Balboa Park, you might move from an art museum to a science exhibit, walk outside beneath beautiful architecture, hear musicians performing nearby, notice flowers in a garden and then enter another museum.

Your senses are continuously being invited to experience something new.

And sometimes that is exactly what an overstimulated—but simultaneously under-inspired—mind needs.

Try an “Awe Walk”

You don't have to rush through every museum.

In fact, try doing the opposite.

Turn part of your visit into an Awe Walk.

As you move through Balboa Park, intentionally look for five things that make you pause.

Maybe it's an architectural detail.

A painting.

An enormous tree.

A scientific discovery.

A historical artifact.

A beautiful garden.

Or something you have never seen before.

Stop.

Look at it for a little longer than you normally would.

Notice its color, shape, size, texture or movement.

Then ask yourself:

“What about this caught my attention?”

You have just transformed an ordinary outing into a sensory wellness practice.

Wellness Doesn't Always Have to Look Like Wellness

This may be one of the most important lessons sensory exploration can teach us.

Mental wellness doesn't always have to happen in a quiet room with your eyes closed.

Sometimes it looks like walking through a museum.

Sometimes it sounds like asking questions.

Sometimes it feels like standing in front of something extraordinary.

Sometimes it's laughing, exploring, discovering and allowing yourself to be fascinated again.

Wellness can happen while you're living your life.

A Sage Reminder: Never Lose Your Sense of Wonder

Wisdom isn't only found in knowing.

It is also found in remaining curious enough to keep discovering.

Places like Balboa Park remind us that the world is filled with art, nature, history, science, creativity and stories that existed long before our current worries—and will continue long after them.

Sometimes gaining perspective begins by simply looking beyond ourselves.

So the next time you're visiting a museum, garden, park or new destination, don't just ask:

“What did I see?”

Ask:

“What did I feel?”

Your senses may have noticed something your busy mind needed.

Bring Sensory Exploration Into Your Everyday Life

You don't have to wait for your next museum visit to intentionally engage your senses.

At RYM Collection, we believe sensory exploration can be incorporated into everyday mental wellness—at home, at work, while traveling or during those moments when you simply need to reconnect with yourself.

Our sensory-inspired mental wellness products are designed to encourage you to pause, notice, explore and create small moments of intentional well-being.

Visit RYM Collection to explore sensory mental wellness products designed for everyday life.

Stay curious. Notice more. And never underestimate the wellness found in a moment of awe.