Photo Credit Ale Villalta Fotografía © Lubaina
Body Awareness is a Spiritual Practice
Even though we might not realize it, most of us in the modern world live with very little body awareness. We live in our minds, consumed by our thought. Research shows we have about 60,000 thoughts per day and 80% of them are negative. As a result of this the world we experience becomes a construct of this mind and usually we are checked out of our bodies which carry a deeper awareness of the truth.
When we are present and grounded in our bodies, then we are more in tune with our feelings, which are a far more reliable barometer of truth. Not the feelings we generate as a result of our mind chatter. For example if you wake up and turn on the tv for the news, there’s usually only negative news being reported. You might think ‘this world is a terrible place’ and this kind of thought will make you feel down and upset.
I’m talking about the deeper feelings that are present within us, which we can tune in to through our bodies. Let’s do a brief practice to identify what I’m referencing. Right now wherever you are, take a few deep breaths and close your eyes. Do an internal scan of your body and check to see where you might be holding tension. Now feel into the this tension and let it give you further information about your internal state. For example, if you are holding tension in your belly, feel into what that tension is about...what are the emotions that come up when you make space for this tension? You might be surprised with how much you find out about yourself through a simple practice such as this.
One of the reasons why people feel so great when they practice Yoga is that it increases their body awareness. When doing asanas, we become aware of the tension and tones in our bodies and the shapes of the asanas helps us to work with and perhaps release these tensions, resulting in a greater sense of well-being. Another such practice is Bodywork. Through the assistance of a practitioner, we can trace the pathways of energy in the body and use the tensions and tones as information to help us create change on a deeper level.
Ultimately these practices can help us realize deep truths about ourselves, and through increased body awareness, we can identify how our minds and egos function. This understanding is a spiritual practice, because it increases our awareness of our inner nature and of the different aspects of our being that we operate from. The more we can look at the truth about ourselves, the more freedom we can experience. And then it becomes clear to us that our life is created by our choices, and we can choose to live staying asleep and letting our minds and egos run the show, or we can choose to wake up to the power of our Eternal Soul.
When we are present and grounded in our bodies, then we are more in tune with our feelings, which are a far more reliable barometer of truth. Not the feelings we generate as a result of our mind chatter. For example if you wake up and turn on the tv for the news, there’s usually only negative news being reported. You might think ‘this world is a terrible place’ and this kind of thought will make you feel down and upset.
I’m talking about the deeper feelings that are present within us, which we can tune in to through our bodies. Let’s do a brief practice to identify what I’m referencing. Right now wherever you are, take a few deep breaths and close your eyes. Do an internal scan of your body and check to see where you might be holding tension. Now feel into the this tension and let it give you further information about your internal state. For example, if you are holding tension in your belly, feel into what that tension is about...what are the emotions that come up when you make space for this tension? You might be surprised with how much you find out about yourself through a simple practice such as this.
One of the reasons why people feel so great when they practice Yoga is that it increases their body awareness. When doing asanas, we become aware of the tension and tones in our bodies and the shapes of the asanas helps us to work with and perhaps release these tensions, resulting in a greater sense of well-being. Another such practice is Bodywork. Through the assistance of a practitioner, we can trace the pathways of energy in the body and use the tensions and tones as information to help us create change on a deeper level.
Ultimately these practices can help us realize deep truths about ourselves, and through increased body awareness, we can identify how our minds and egos function. This understanding is a spiritual practice, because it increases our awareness of our inner nature and of the different aspects of our being that we operate from. The more we can look at the truth about ourselves, the more freedom we can experience. And then it becomes clear to us that our life is created by our choices, and we can choose to live staying asleep and letting our minds and egos run the show, or we can choose to wake up to the power of our Eternal Soul.
Would you like to experience how identify deep inner limitations to how you see yourself and discover the way to release them? Would you like to increase awareness of your spiritual nature through body awareness? Would you like to discover how to clean and clear your energy system so that you can expeirence true healing?
Join us for our Movements of Light workshop with Daniel Kalatskly on Sunday, Sept 22nd from 2:15 to 6:15pm at Laughing Lotus Yoga NY. For more details, click here.
Read about my healing story with Daniel and his work here