What is it we live in everyday and do not notice until it fails us in some way?

Our bodies! They are like our health…we take it for granted until we lose it.

Take a moment now and bring your attention to your body. Oh…where did you attention go to? To where there is tension and pain? My attention went to my shoulders. I notice my left shoulder is slightly higher that my right shoulder and there is a sensation of a tight bar running across the top of my back. As I stay with my experience I also notice a slight twinge in my lower back and that I am twisting slightly to the left.

Just take a few moments to notice your own experience. You can:

scan methodically from your feet to your head up the back of your body and down the front

move to each sensation as you notice them arising

notice the areas you can’t really feel at all

notice where there is ease

Everyday Body Scanning as a basic practice reminds us we live in this body, we are relationship with it. As we take the time to scan, acknowledge what is there we have the opportunity to get to know ourselves better – our patterns, habits, ways of holding ourselves and our experiences. We can soften around what we find with a gentle acceptance and opening of the heart – an allowing that unfolds into healing – if we stay present long enough for our body to feel safe to speak to us.

Since we inhabit this body for every living moment of our life, our body is fertile ground for our awareness practice. We can come back to our body as a living record of our experiences – both right now and from the past. 

You can body scan at anytime of the day – you might use it to help you sense into how you are anticipating a meeting or presentation, or how you are tracking through your day. You might use it to get an intuitive sense of which decision to make or what food would be best for you to eat right now. The body instinctively moves us to wholeness if we stop and listen…with no agenda and no judgment. We listen for what is…