8 Tips for How to Be in Your Body
- Focus on a body part. Notice your right fingertip or your left knee or any other body part. How does it feel? Does it hurt? Is it cool or warm? Do you feel a breeze? Notice how it feels when you stroke it with a feather or brush it against the carpet. Pay attention to all your senses.
- Name your sensation. Although words come from the mind, they can help connect the mind and the body by giving a name to what you feel. Be specific with the words you choose—does your body part feel stiff, loose, light, heavy, tingly, warm, cold, sensitive, numb, strong, weak, painful? Try to avoid describing your sensation in general terms such as “good” or “bad.” Perhaps you feel clenched or spacious or prickly or heavy. Be as multisensory as you can.
- Practice movement. Dancing, yoga, hiking, cycling, skiing, and other such physical activity can make you more aware of your body—what feels yummy and what hurts! Even pain can be a teacher about body awareness, so don’t be afraid to lean into what you feel.
- Use the floor. If you’re having trouble feeling your body in space, try rolling around on the floor. It gives your body something to be in relationship with.
- Optimize clothing. Wearing loose-fitting clothes that brush against your skin when you move can help you notice your body. If you wear tight-fitting clothes, you may notice your body less than if you wear free-flowing pants or skirts and shirts with loose sleeves.
- Get sexual. Nothing like a good romp in the hay to help you notice your body!
- When trying to make a decision, notice how your body is responding. That guy who asked you out? How does your body feel—light or heavy? New job offer? Does your body feel open or closed? Your body is your compass. Pay attention.
- Breathe. When you pay attention to your breathing, it helps center you in your body.