What is your body telling you?
We are back to continue our discussion on Digesting Each Moment. This week, I’m working with the idea of asking what my body is feeling at this very moment. And just tapping into the body to allow myself to digest each moment. So, how is my body feeling when I’m interacting with someone, or when I’m doing something. Letting that be a guide for me. Sometimes I think that can take out so much of the questioning and doubt of how our body is feeling when we can create our own internal calibration of seeing patterns, seeing habits of things that come up for us.
Some questions I always like to ask are:
What sensations are coming up in my body, where am I holding something, where am I feeling tight or tense?
Am I moving in a way where it feels like I’m supporting myself? How am I getting out of my car? How am I getting off my yoga mat when I’m done with the practice? Am I as present OFF the mat as I am ON the mat?
One practice that I like to do for myself is a body scan. Try this for yourself- find a seated position where you can really feel your spine become upright and as vertical as you can. A place where you can feel the energy move up and down the spine. Then start at the top of the head, and almost like a sieve going through my body, scan through your body and notice if there are certain organs that are “talking” to you. Or parts of the body, even if you don’t know the names, that are giving you sensations. Then spend some time in that area and see if you can release anything by just putting a little awareness to it. A quote that I really love:
“Awareness is like the sun. When it shines on things, they are transformed” ~ Thích Nhất Hạnh
I think sometimes we have these ailments, we have these things that come up in our body, and sometimes just shedding light on it and putting attention on it can help it transform it into something less intense. And just appreciating it for what it is and asking your body, “what are you trying to tell me?” There are times where I’ll have hip pain, so then I’ll just watch and ask, “how am I sitting? Am I sitting in one hip? Do I have a purse on one shoulder that’s dropping me to one side?” So always working towards finding balance again in my body. Again, just another way to “digest each moment, digest each day for what it is”! Play with it and see what you think. Let me know how it goes.
Sending lots of love and well wishes. Namaste
