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Well-being

Body awareness & self-care

July 22, 2023

Body awareness is an essential ingredient in taking a pro-active step to ensuring that how we self-care does not come from the mind but from the body.

I know this only too well and how easy it is to get caught up in the ideals of what I ‘think’ self-care should look like and be, based on what I read, see or listen to from others. I can put in place these activities and actions of self-care which tick the box nicely to ‘look’ like I’m ‘doing’ self-care but often it is so far from it. This is what I call self-care from the mind.

When I connect to my body and feel what is needed from my body on a moment to moment and daily basis I am naturally living self-care. Self-care becomes a way of living and not an act of ‘doing’.

Body awareness

It can be very easy to negate and dismiss our body during a normal day and move in a functional way from the mind to achieve and tick off all that we need to get done. We often place the pursuit of function ahead of connection and in doing so, over-ride the subtle messages of our body until it shouts very loudly – humbly forcing us to stop, which could come through various ways such as a bump, graze, trip, illness, disease or an accident.

Taking moments to stop and reconnect with ourselves and our body is a vital medicinal supplement. It’s natural, inexpensive and empowers us to be our own practitioner and the true intelligence that comes from our body. Reacquainting ourselves with our body is to become aware of the subtle language it shares, reminding us to take heed of tension, imbalances and disharmony that arise from our experiences and choices we make on a daily basis.

A simple example to use is food and how it feels and sits in the body after it is eaten. Although some foods may taste great to the palate, it’s the body that has the final say and will tell us in no uncertain terms if it does not agree with our choice through varying symptoms such as bloating, nausea, dullness, heaviness, a stomach ache, etc.

Being responsive to what our body shares with us is self-care.

Living self-care

All too often we seek answers outside of ourselves devaluing our innate wisdom and knowingness. We give our power away to fad diets, new super foods or the latest health ideal. And yet, all it takes is a moment to stop and reconnect. This can be as effortless as feeling our feet on the floor, the rhythmic quality of our breath, the presence of our body and our quality of being. When we are with ourselves we are naturally in tune with the rhythm, magic and flow of life as opposed to the functional grind and struggle.

Tuning into our body and adhering to its messages is a very natural part of respecting and honouring the sensitivity of the body and the essence of who we are. This offers a deep level of self-care and love that becomes our living medicine and a natural part of how we live on a day-to-day basis.

Living Medicine comes straight and simply from our own body.

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