Embodied Self-Awareness Practice

Embodied self-awareness is based on sensing, feeling, acting, and moving. It is spontaneous, dynamic, creative, open, concrete, and lived in the present moment. It is experienced as temperature, pressure, movement, pain, breath, energy, mood, emotion. It is mindfulness of the present moment as experienced through our bodies.

Use this practice to develop your capacity to present in your body as a means of developing self-awareness, self-acceptance and self-compassion. This is a mindfulness practice that centers your experience of your Self through your body from moment-to-moment.

Developing embodied self-awareness is an essential leadership practice as it allows you to not only develop self-awareness and regulation capacity, but helps you attune to others and engage in more collaborative and meaningful ways with your team members.

Background music by Silencio Music production company, composed by Chris Mullett.

Track image by Noel Jeannine Photography.

Transcript

Let's begin by just bringing ourselves here and allowing ourselves to fully land in the space at this time.

Slowly gathering ourselves.

I'm beginning to take stock of what is here and what is present for us as we land.

I'm starting to draw in deeper breaths.

Inviting them all the way down the spine into the lower part of our lungs.

Inviting in expansion in the belly.

I'm beginning to tune into our bodies.

I'm bringing our awareness and our attention down to the level of sensation.

And just beginning by noticing where our bodies are touching something,

Making contact.

The ground or chair,

Floor,

Whatever surface you might be sitting or standing or laying on.

And just noticing the sensations that are present at these contact points.

These sensations can appear as variations in temperature,

Heat and coolness.

Can also show up as variations in pressure.

From constriction and tension all the way to open,

Expanded,

Non-pressure.

They may also show up as movements.

Pulsing,

Fluttering,

Tapping,

Buzzing.

Any sort of movement.

So just noticing what's here at these contact points.

Noticing the sensation of support here.

And slowly and in your own time,

Beginning to widen your awareness.

To include the whole tapestry of sensation that is present in your body.

Your whole body.

This dance,

This dynamic dance of sensation.

This is your life force moving through and on your body.

Speaking to you in its own language.

And you're just here to witness.

You might begin to notice some preferences showing up.

A tendency to prefer one sensation or cluster of sensations over another.

Maybe even avoiding some altogether.

No,

That's okay.

That's just our tendency.

But when you notice that you've started to do that,

To drift off into judgments and preferences of what feels good and what doesn't.

Just lovingly come back to the direct experience of the sensation.

Notice your tendency to label these sensations or clusters of sensations.

And then just come back to the direct experience of them.

So right now we're just witnessing.

We're just watching this dynamic dance.

Listening to life talk to us in this way.

And if you're willing and able,

See if you can take just one breath of welcoming all that is here.

Just one moment of acknowledging that all of this is information.

All of this is fertile material for you to learn,

To grow,

To come home.

Just one breath.

All of this is welcome.

All of you is welcome.

And taking a few more breaths.

Drinking in this welcoming witnessing of all that is right now inside your body.

And staying here for as long as you need.

But when you're ready,

You can bring in some gentle movements.

Letting your body lead you to the kind of movement that would be the most nourishing right now in this moment.

And when you're ready,

Just coming back into this space and moving on with the rest of your day.

And thank you for checking in with me.

Take care.