This is a short blog about why keeping touch with your body is important

The body, your body, is always there. It is always changing and updating, but in essence a constant feature of the present moment.

The mind however, goes off. It travels forward and back at a whim so it seems. But reality is only here and now, the rest is just in thought. However, each thought, each feeling, each sensation and each movement are all embodied. They are also embedded within a context, an environment and a society.  The mind simply cannot be considered in isolation.

This in mind so to speak, means that what we focus on governs how we feel. Our emotional state is a biological state, orientating us towards a particular experience, to meet a particular set of needs. What is interesting is that when we focus our attention on the feeling itself, if it is a state of pleasure or joy or any other positive feeling, it grows. When we focus on a negative feeling such as anxiety or anger, what happens? Well, you can either try it or wait until the end to discover the answer.

The whole person

Regular readers will be familiar with my writings on the whole person. In short, the premis is that it is always the person as a whole who has an experience. For example, I feel pain in my hand rather than my hand is in pain. The importance lies in the need to address the person to successfully address pain. As I tell people I see, the biology of pain (and there is nothing specific to pain) is largely not where you feel it.

To feel oneself then, requires a completeness. A wholeness that needs both body and mind to be in the same place at the same time. Only when the two are together as one are we truly present. In our world where we learn early to escape the body from horrible feelings, emotions and sensations, this can seem like the thing to do. We are encouraged to drink, smoke, take drugs, buy something new and distract. Except trying to avoid and escape results in on-going suffering instead of facing and transforming. We cannot escape suffering in life. It is part of life. But no-one teaches us how to suffer. To know how to suffer is to reduce the impact and overcome the cause(s) of one’s suffering.

A simple practice

One simple way to be whole, and to connect and re-engage with the body is with the body scan. This is where you pass your attention through your body from top to bottom. You notice without judgement, with acceptance of what is, and an openness to all experiences and sensations. In so doing, you are whole, which is the true person.

The awareness, or check-in as I sometimes call it, is a way to address our biological needs. Checking in, I am aware that I need to move, to stretch, to drink, to eat, to scratch, to go to the loo etc etc. Without this bodily awareness, I miss the cues and conscious feelings of need states. And to miss out on the basics can add up over time. Place stress on top and soon our bodily systems are in survive mode, increasingly interpreting sensory information as possibly dangerous. What do we feel then? Headaches, body wide pains, irritable bowel, fatigue, poor concentration, low mood, anxiety and more.

Make a commitment

So what can we do?

We can decide to commit to a route of wellness and practice certain skills each day to build. Without wellness life is even more of a challenge. Part of being well is being present and we can only do so with body and mind together. Each moment is made up of our perception, action and cognition. They are inseparable, yet each adding something distinct the the richness experience.

If you like, now, you can sit or lie and pass your attention through your body to see what is what. Remembering of course, impermanence. Things are always changing, otherwise life would not be possible. So notice the ever changing biology at work. You can spend a minute or a few minutes or an hour. That’s the beauty of checking in. It is easy, and you can do it anywhere, anytime.

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This is one of many practices and tools from The Pain Coach Programme