Are you feeling stressed? Low energy? Irritable?
Do you want to feel happier? More relaxed? More you?
Then you need body awareness!
You may be thinking, but Roxanne of course I am aware of my body!
You may be aware that you HAVE a body, but that's different than body awareness.
I have a few questions for you; now be honest:
Are you able to recognize how you're feeling based on your body's response?
Are you able to manage your stress and upset (and no, scrolling through social media, smoking, drinking, and engaging in other numbing and addictive behavior doesn't count as coping.)
Can you clearly communicate your needs and stand up for yourself when you need to?
If you answered no to any of these questions then, you need body awareness!
Body awareness is how conscious and connected you are to your own body. It’s also known as kinesthesia. It relates to the position of your muscles and joints in relation to the rest of your body and being able to recognize the position of your body in space (how close you are to other objects/people, how your body is moving , different body mechanics to perform certain tasks). It is also important to understand the cues your body gives you - when you’re hungry, angry, happy, lonely, confident, stressed, etc. Your body gives you cues that that’s how you’re feeling. Your body has a language that is entirely unique, but in understanding that language you are better able to give yourself the care you need and manage difficult emotions. When we're children we learn that when our tummies growl we're hungry, but more complicated feelings and emotions can be more difficult to identify through our body. Even simple ones can be out of the ordinary - for me I know when I'm REALLY hungry I get the hiccups. I also know when I'm angry I feel a tightness in my chest and hands, my bottom lip curves down, and the tip of my nose gets tingly - the energy drops down from my chin to my midribs.
More than half of American teens are stressed and don't know what to do about it. This means that as children, they weren't given the tools they need to manage and likely they're now adults who are still stressed and unsure what to do about it. So many people spend so much time living in their heads and not living in their body. This is a great source of anxiety, miscommunication, misremembering (i.e. creating stories about what happened or playing out an event that has yet to happen), and the inability to cope with difficult emotions.
Luckily, there's a solution for this problem.
Body awareness!!
Thanks to my practice of body awareness, I'm able to recognize the emotions and the states I am in, so I'm able to do something healthy and productive about it. I'm able to communicate my needs to others in a healthy and productive way (most times. If I'm being honest, this is still an area I'm working on. Can be quite difficult when people who are close to you really know how to push your buttons).
I'm able to find myself in a peaceful, relaxed, and confident state because I have access and memory of what that feeling feels like. This part sounds kind of crazy, but let me explain - it's probably still going to sound really out there and abstract, but if you want to take this concept further fill out the application to work with me directly or join me for a group class to put this concept into practice. In practicing body awareness exercises, you will learn and be able to remember what it feels like to feel specific emotions. You'll be able to recognize how you're feeling and what you need by tuning into your body's cues. First, you'll notice bigger things, like if there's a temperature change or a weight change. With more practice, you'll learn where you feel the energy in your body, what it feels like (tense, heavy, tingly, light, etc), how the energy is moving (swirling, dropping down, moving up, etc), if there are any colors that are associated with the feeling. Being able to recognize these little details about your body's feelings will help you, like I wrote earlier, communicate your needs to others, give your body what it needs, feel more grounded, and live more in the present in your body.
Now that we know what body awareness is and why you should be practicing it, let's discuss how to practice it.
There are many different ways, so I suggest that you try them all and pick some of your favorites. It's a good idea to practice body awareness on multiple levels to create a well rounded practice that won't get boring.
Practice mindfulness. Body awareness is partly becoming more present and grounded in your body - mindfulness is an important aspect. Think of meditation as maintaining focused attention, it's not 100% quieting your mind and doing literally nothing. Focus your attention on movement in your body - watch and observe your breath, do a body scan, try out a moving meditation. Try out one of my group classes for my guided approach to body awareness through movement and dance or apply to work with me 1 on 1 for direct support and guidance in navigating body awareness and your emotions.
Physical exercise. Before I was a mindfulness educator and dance instructor, I was a power lifter. A key component to muscle growth and performing weight training is this element called "mind-muscle connection". Studies show that better mind-muscle connection can actually help you grow muscle faster (your mind is so powerful literally thinking about and focusing on one area of the body while pumping iron will help it grow faster). Anyway, mind-muscle connection is putting your attention on the muscle(s) that are working and what they're feeling like (the stretching and tightening of your bicep during curls, the elongating and pushing with your booty during squats). If you want to accelerate your gains, having a mindfulness pratice is an awesome way to do so and it's good for your mind too. Challenge yourself to not use music while you're practicing this concept so you can really bring your attention to your body. If you're a runner, focusing on the feeling of your feet as they connect with the ground or your arms as they move. Praticing body awareness while you're in motion or performing a physical exercise is a wonderful way to really tune into what's happening and if sitting to meditate heightens your stress, start here.
Balance exercises. If you want to quiet your mind, standing on one foot for a little bit is an easy way to almost force your mind to focus on your body. It will be 100 times more difficult to balance in any pose or posture with your mind focused on the chores you have to do, the argument you might have later, the embarrassing thing that happened at the Christmas party 2 years ago. Balance may not come easy at first, and that's OK. Start with weight shifts - stand with your weight evenly between both feet, now stand with your weight on your right foot - let your left foot off the ground slightly for a couple seconds, then change sides - weight on left foot, right foot slightly off the ground and change again. Once that's comfortable, you can extend the amount of time you're on each foot and how high up you hold the other. If you're an advanced balancer already, try moving slowly between 2 difference balance poses on the same foot (going from tree pose to airplane with your right foot on the ground the entire time).
Stretching. We'll be using the same practice of mind-muscle connection that we talked about for physical exercise in stretching as well. This will help you to stretch only as far as comfortable. When something feels too intense for your body, it probably is. Please, make sure you get your body warm before you start stretching. Even a little jog in place or jumping around for a few minutes will suffice. Then you can get into some nice, relaxed stretching. Focus on each muscle and the gentle pull that you feel.
After performing each of these practices, notice how your body is feeling after. Practice simply noticing at random times of the day. Feel your feet connected to the ground, notice your butt in your chair, and just tune in and start noticing for 2 or 3 minutes.
A gentle reminder, this is a practice. The more you do it, the better it will feel and the easier it will come. If you do these exercises one time and never try them again, you won't get the results that you're looking for. Just reading about it also isn't the same as practical application. For the fastest way to results - get support, guidance, and an accountability buddy.
All the best,
-Roxanne
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