Gretchen Rubin on: How To Use Your Five Senses To Reduce Anxiety, Increase Creativity, and Improve Your Relationships

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Today's guest is a happiness expert and devout non-meditator. In her latest book Life in Five Senses: How Exploring the Senses Got Me Out of My Head and Into the World, she describes how a routine visit to her eye doctor made her realize she'd been overlooking a key element of happiness: her five senses.

Gretchen Rubin is the author of many books, including the New York Times bestsellers Outer Order, Inner Calm; The Four Tendencies; Better Than Before; and The Happiness Project. Her books have sold more than 3.5 million copies worldwide, and have been translated in more than thirty languages. She also hosts the top-ranking, award-winning podcast Happier with Gretchen Rubin.

In this episode we talk about:

What led Gretchen to explore the five senses
How we often take our senses for granted
How our senses work with the brain to impact our perception
The relationship between the senses and nostalgia
The surprising power of ketchup and vanilla when it comes to the sense of taste
The sense of hearing and what she calls her "Audio Apothecary"
How to be a better listener
The interplay between the senses of taste and smell
The sense of touch and the use of comfort objects
Why she decided to visit The Metropolitan Museum of Art everyday to explore the five senses
And how she uses the five senses to boost creativity