5 Ways to Develop Body Awareness

Being more in touch with your body has practical benefits like being healthier, because you can avoid illness and injury more easily. It also makes for a more full experience of living. Here are five ways you can develop your own body consciousness.

1. Sit or lie down and listen to your body for ten minutes. Just notice your sensations without judgment or the need to do anything. Afterwards, write your impressions in a journal.
2. Breathe. Notice the smoothness and count of each inhale and exhale. Send breath different places in the body.
3. Several times throughout the day, ask yourself: “How am I feeling?” Notice that it is different that what you are thinking.
4. When you feel something, such as tight shoulders, a sore low back, or twinges in the hips, stop for a minute. Pay attention to what you feel and make adjustments if appropriate.
5. Don’t expect the body to speak logically in full sentences. That is the way of the mind. The body is more like an artist; it speaks in poetry, colors, and imagery.