Self - Awareness - What Is My Body Telling Me?

It is important to know our body. Sounds trivial, right? It’s really not. For me, one of the most challenging parts of this journey has been recognizing where in my body I hold my emotions. Where was I stashing my anger, my sadness, all the hurt and disappointments? Where’s my happy, excited, and all the other feelings I experience?

Our bodies can serve as a compass to guide us towards our core emotions when we may not be consciously aware of what we’re experiencing. Oftentimes we know something is coming up but we can’t really put our finger on what the feeling is.

I challenge you to begin bringing awareness to the sensations in your body. This was a feat for me at first too because we spend so much of our days just pushing through our experiences just to get the endless tasks and to-do lists completed. When I feel something come up in my body – an ache in my lower back, a lingering headache over my left eye, that heartburn-y feeling in my chest, a throbbing in my wrist – I close my eyes, place my least dominant hand over my heart space and allow myself to breathe into the awareness of my physical body. In this awareness, I scan my body for where the emotion is rooted, I continue breathing, and just let the answers come gently and easily. If it comes in a flood of thoughts I continue breathing and slow it down so that I am listening to my inner knowing rather than my "monkey brain". Sometimes it comes in words, sometimes in colors, sometimes in a memory. Remain in that moment and let yourself go under that and experience what feeling comes up. All of these hold your answer. Jot it all down. It may not be clear right away but with consistent practice, the awareness will come.

Be gentle with yourself.