Working with the Body in Mindfulness: Moving from why to what
We have a body… That sounds so obvious, but for most of us in understanding where we are, and what we need in any given moment, that task is left primarily up to the mind. Mindfulness as a practice encourages us to reconnect with our body and reestablish the important relationship between mind and body.
Sensation is the language of the body. Unlike the brain’s left and right hemispheres, the body’s language is not conceptual, it is sensory…so we have to learn to listen, to be in connection, to experience sensation. In every moment, the body is pulsating, vibrating and teaming with lots of sensations…sensations that we are rarely aware of until an experience of ecstasy, discomfort or pain arises.
Try this…
Bring your awareness to the palm of your hands….what do you notice? Pulsing? Vibrating? Tingling? Or perhaps no sensations are noticed? Sometimes we experience no sensations as we have become so detached from our body's language that it takes practicing to reawaken this mind-body connection.
Now, bring your awareness to your breath….how often do we tune into the breath on any regular day? The sensations associated with breathing can tell us a lot about our present emotional state (without the assistance of a lot of thought). Is the breath shallow? Is the breath calm and relaxed? Can we feel the breath deep in the belly or is it hard to get air in past the chest?
Awareness of the breath and other body sensations can be enormously helpful when difficult moments arise.With mindfulness we can develop a deeper awareness as to what is happening in difficult moments…we become aware of feelings, thoughts, and sensations…what is happening in our body.
We can make a choice of where to direct our attention…above the neck (as in thoughts) or below the neck.When we move our attention from thoughts to body sensations, we shift from asking “why” to asking “what”. What is happening in this moment? And, can I just be with it, meet it fully, and accept it’s presence?
“Why” often leads us down a drain hole that keeps circling and circling. And, even if we discover an explanation for our current emotional difficulty, it rarely leads to peace of mind. What we typically end up with is an intellectual understanding of why we are feeling what we are feeling, but with the continued experience of anger, sadness, guilt, jealously or some other sense of dis-ease.
When we redirect our awareness below the neck, we discover many body sensations that correspond to the difficult emotion present. We may find a constricted throat or a heavy chest that reflects our sadness. We may discover a throbbing heart or a heated temperature that echoes anger, hatred, or ill-will. The body registers life in any moment and through our connection we can begin to allow life to be what it is. With a compassionate emotional tone, we can be with the body sensations just as they are.
We can recognize what is present and with a gentleness, we can allow it to exist. As we learn to allow it’s presence, we also learn that we do not have to struggle, judge ourselves, or resist what is uncomfortable. Everything, including feelings have a life of their own, a beginning and an end. And, as we stay connected and present we learn that emotions do not determine “who” we are. With acceptance, they also do not have to dictate our next behavior. Life can flow more freely and some of our suffering diminishes.
I invite you to be with your breath and body, to notice the various sensations…to allow them to speak to you without having to have the mind interpret or analyze so quickly. Simply be with what is present. Spend some time here each day. When the difficult times hit, and they will as long as we are in these human bodies, your practice will prove to be helpful in reducing the suffering that comes from judging our experience, wishing it were different or just getting stuck looping in unhelpful thoughts.