Body Awareness

Last week we talked about becoming aware of the movements of the neck. The neck is a good place to start with awareness. As you practice awareness you can apply the same observation skills to the rest of the body. Our whole body is basically a bag of chemical reactions. Energy is produced from these reactions. Our breath, our food, and everything else we take in become part of the interaction. But we are more than the chemical and physical attributes of the body, we have a mind. Our minds process the information and direct the body how to react but it is more complex than that. There are some responses that have become programmed since we do them so often. We also have the ability to modify these responses.

This is where work with mindfulness, meditation, and yoga come into play. You learn how to deal with new information, process it and adjust it to your situation. You realize where your body and mind are stuck in a loop. Once you’re aware of the loop you can start to work on modifying your reaction. Some reactions are physical reactions, and some are emotional. These are the sort of knee-jerk or automatic response. We become reactionary rather than action-oriented.

A reaction is when you have an immediate, and often predictable, response. When you take action you take the control away and establish a plan. It is a more empowering way to deal with new information or situations. An action is a conscious decision, while a reaction is more unconscious.

Meditation, yoga and other practices like these give you time to step back. You may realize when you have become numb to what is happening. Maybe you notice you are holding things in and forming an armor of protection. Even things you do not realize have been going on in your body you begin to notice when you take the time and the focus.

Reactions and muscle tension can be signs that you are not fully dealing with the situation in front of you.