Feeling the body from the INSIDE

This is an extract from last week's Monday Meditation Musing .. our free e-news each Monday morning straight to your inbox. Bringing a meditative thought to your week. If you would like to join the 'tribe' you can sign up through the link below.

Mindfulness of the Body

   

Many people have forgotten how to relax ..in fact most of us carry around low or medium grade stress every moment of every day.
Being able to relax when you need to is a very useful skill - and in meditation we initiate the relaxation response which assists the body to deeply relax and quite naturally the mind will begin to quieten.  

BUT in meditation we also want to stay awake and alert.  Being aware of what is happening in the body when we meditate brings a greater awareness of the energy, sensations and constantly changing states of our body; we 'tap into' the biofeedback from our body .. which lets us know precisely where we are on the sliding scale between tension and relaxation.

Body Awareness Exercise 

Bringing awareness into our body provides us with a solid physical anchor for our restlessness; and connecting to our body during meditation (or anytime during the day) allows us to listen to our body, finding any areas of tension or tightness, learning where we might 'hold' emotions and thoughts which empowers us to take the necessary steps to relax and release.  

The Body Awareness Exercise introduces us to the practice of scanning our body from the inside.   Imagine breathing into the body at each of these 8 points - and with each exhalation release and soften that specific area. 

* Breathing into the soles of your feet.  Notice how you have placed your feet on the floor and any feelings or sensations at the bottom, front, sizes and ball of the foot.  And as you breath out, let your feet weigh a little deeper into the floor.

* Move your awareness next to your buttocks and the areas of your body that are touching the floor or the chair.  Breathing in, notice those 'touch points' and breathing out, see if you can relax those areas a little further.

* Breathing in notice your breath at your belly and exhaling, see if you can release and soften your belly?  Notice the rhythm of your breath at the belly.

* Feel your hands heavy and still in your lap.  Breathing out notice the weight of your quiet hands and heaviness of your fingers and thumbs.

* Breathing in feel your shoulders an area we habitually hold a lot of tension.  Breathe in and feet the weight of your shoulders, and as you exhale see if you can just 'let then go' .. like ice to water

* Check your jaw.  Many people clench and tighten their jaw without even realising they do this.  As you breathe out allow the jaw to hang a little heavier.

* Notice the air on your face and use this as a reminder to soften the face. Imagine breathing through the pores of the skin on your face.

* Feel the heavy weight of your closed eyelids, and the 'floating' of your eyes behind the eyelids.  Try gently 'holding' the eyes at the point between your eyebrows (the third eye).  Often our eyes sink low in the eye socket and this causes us to feel tired and lethargic. Encouraging your eyes to rest as if looking at the horizon which often produces a greater sense of peacefulness and ease.