Body Awareness: Listen To Your Body’s Wisdom

Our bodies are constantly communicating with us, but many of us have learned to override, ignore, or second-guess those signals.

This guided body awareness practice invites you to slow down and notice the subtle cues your body is offering: sensations, tension, ease, impulses, energy, and shifts in your internal state.

Rather than telling you what your body should be saying, this practice helps you develop the skill of listening and becoming curious about your own experience.

Over time, body awareness can become a pathway to greater self-trust, helping you recognize what feels nourishing, what feels uncomfortable, when you need rest, when something feels like a yes or a no, and what your body may be asking for.

Good for: body awareness, somatic awareness, self-trust, mindfulness, emotional regulation, grounding, intuition, and nervous system regulation.

Transcript

Hi there, Thanks for joining me in this brief body awareness exercise. This practice is about training your awareness, Starting to notice and observing what's going on on the inside. And I hope this practice will help you to start to begin to trust your body's cues. Start by coming to a comfortable position. You can be seated in a chair or you can lie down. Whichever you prefer. And feel free to support your body with pillows, Blankets, Or other props that you might need to feel relaxed. As you settle into this space, Try to stay alert and awake, But relaxed and calm. What we don't want to have happen is you to fall asleep. Right? Because we're training our awareness to focus on the body. So make sure that if you start to feel sleepy, Just open your eyes or focus on the sound of my voice. You can close your eyes if that feels okay for you, Or you're welcome to keep your eyes open. If you choose to keep your eyes open, Just allow your gaze to soften. Allowing your eyes to become relaxed. So that you can turn your attention inward. And then we'll begin with taking a big inhale through your nose. Holding your breath at the top. Exhale and sigh it out your mouth. And then return to your natural breath. Just noticing your natural breath. Not trying to change anything about it. Observing when you breathe in. And observing when you breathe out. Breathing in. And breathing out. Now, If your mind starts to wander, That's completely okay, And that is to be expected. It will happen from time to time. Each time you notice your mind wandering away from this practice, Thinking about the future, About what's going to happen next, Or what you're going to do later today. Just notice that that happened, And gently, Without judgment, Invite yourself to come back to the practice. When you're ready, Invite your attention to your body. Allowing yourself to do nothing but observing what's happening in your body right now. What's happening on the inside. You can allow your attention to roam your body. Noticing and observing any sensations that you can feel in your body. What do you feel in your body in this moment? What do you feel in your body now? Notice if you feel calm. Or maybe busy in your body. Is there any tension, Tightness, Or an aching sensation? Do you notice any pressure? Pulsing. Or a wobbly sensation. Do you notice areas of your body where you feel weak? And areas of your body where you feel strong. Do you notice any fluttering? Or buzzing. Any blocked feelings or expansive feelings? Allowing any and all sensations that you feel in this moment to be okay. They're all okay. Just taking a few more moments to notice any other sensations that you can feel in your body. And then when you're ready, Come back to your breath by taking a deep and full inhale through your nose. Holding your breath at the top. Exhale and sigh it out. If you had your eyes closed, Gently open them, Allowing some light to come in. And wherever you are, Just taking a look around your room, Wherever you're sitting, The space that you're in, Noticing everything that you can see around you. Next, We'll do a little bit of journaling to process what came up during your practice today. So you can grab a pen and paper. I'm going to run through these journaling prompts fairly quickly. So if you need more time, Feel free to just pause the audio after each of the prompts so that you can write them down. You also can write all of them down and then come back to them later, Answering them when you're ready. So here's our questions to consider. From our practice today. During the meditation, What emotions did you notice? Name three physical sensations you noticed during this meditation. What sort of thoughts popped up into your mind as you were practicing? Any thoughts that were drawing your attention away from your body. What did you notice about your breath during this meditation? Name any discomfort that you experienced during your practice today. What did your body communicate to you during this meditation? Is there anything that your body needed you to know as you practice today? Lastly, Name three things that your mind or body currently need to feel more safe, Calm, Or peaceful. Take your time with these. And I invite you to try this practice maybe three to five times in the coming week and see how things start to shift as you turn your attention inward and notice what's happening in your body.