Hi everyone!

I had a thought today about body awareness. Now, I know most of us these days don’t want to be aware of our bodies. It doesn’t matter what size, shape, or age our body is, we tend to ignore it as much as possible so that we can ignore the “flaws” we are told it has.

But I am asking you to be aware of it. Body awareness is different than criticizing, analyzing, or even looking at your body. Body awareness is the inward noticing of your body. Instead of judging, you are simply noticing your body, the sensations it is feeling, the space it is inhabiting, the movement it is facilitating. It is not about size, not about wrinkles, not about fat, not about muscle, and not about appearance. It is about truly feeling your body, from the outside in.

To really feel what I am talking about, rub your hands together quickly for 30 seconds. Then pull them apart, palms facing upward, and notice the tingly, warm, dissipating feeling. in your palms. Feel it, notice it, be aware of it, for at least 30 seconds. This is awareness!

After you have done this exercise, ask yourself some questions. Are you judging this feeling? Are you saying “oh, I shouldn’t be feeling this warmth, because it is BAD” or “wow, I don’t want that feeling to go away because it was so GOOD”? No, because we don’t judge bodily sensations unless they are attached to an emotion or a thought! Sensations in and of themselves just are, without any need to judge or fix or avoid. But more on that topic later; you just practiced body awareness! Woo!

Doesn’t seem to hard, and really the actual process of body awareness isn’t hard at all. It is letting go of the judgments we have created around our body sensations that can be tough. Body awareness is just one way to make it a little easier!

For now, just practice bringing the same awareness to your other bodily sensations (tension, pain, tingly, warm, butterflies in your stomach, heart pounding, etc.) once a day for a few minutes. no judgment, no fixing, no analyzing, just being with the awareness of your body. See how it goes!

Let us know about your body awareness experiences in the comments! We would love to hear them!

Thanks,

Liz

Creating Mindful Balance