Somatic Awareness of Body Sensations Empowers You to Manage Your Emotions
Your body often knows things long before your mind catches up. It remembers today’s experiences AND all of your past experiences. The Inner Fitness Challenge Tool #2 — Somatic awareness of Body Sensations — lets you listen to and learn to trust your body’s wisdom once again.
One of my clients said to me,“I know how to do it; I just don’t know how to do it!” For example, you know that losing weight involves eating nutritiously, exercising, and getting restorative sleep, but you just haven’t figured out how to practice those things in your own life to create real transformation.
We fall into the trap of thinking that putting new information into our brains will automatically result in new action, but it doesn’t. This leaves the physical body out of the learning-transformation loop.
Throughout your life, your body has learned a pattern for operating in the world. You adapt and adjust to fit in, to belong and to survive.
Disconnect occurs early in life, when unresolved emotions are held by the body — often the back, neck, and stomach — as tightness or pain. These implicit memories may work well in getting you through day-to-day routines. But they can get in the way of achieving life-altering change.
We’re not taught to develop somatic intelligence — “somatic” comes from the Greek word meaning “the living body in its wholeness.” The body, mind, emotions and spirit influence each other constantly, even when we’re not aware of it. Rather than focusing solely on thoughts and emotions, somatic awareness incorporates your entire body.
How to Practice Somatic Awareness of Body Sensations
Slow down and listen to what your body is telling you. Your emotional health and physical health are intertwined and inseparable. Your emotions are experienced and stored in your body. And they are manifested through body sensations.
Breathless, clammy, fuzzy, hot, heavy, dizzy, queasy, or shaky are a few body sensations you may experience when you’re fearful, angry or stressed. Energized, full, expansive, smooth, and radiating are a few body sensations you may experience when you’re inspired, joyful and confident. It’s within your body that you’ll discover the key to unlocking your emotional intelligence.
Every thought or ideal is connected with an emotion which, in turn, has a physiological response in your body. Reflect on how the energy of shyness makes you feel small and act withdrawn. Sadness feels heavy, like the weight of the world is on your shoulders. Anger feels hot and stormy.
In other words, emotions live inside your body, changing your physical experience and causing you to believe and act in particular ways. One moment you’re happy (emotion) and on top of the world, so you’re feeling spacious and light in the chest (body sensations). Then someone says something that makes you feel anxious (emotion). It feels like your world is caving in, your shoulders slump and you feel deflated and dull (body sensations).
Conversely, by changing your posturing, breathing and thinking pattern, you can transform these body sensations and alter your emotional experience. If you’re feeling shy and uncertain, you can breathe deeply, soften and straighten your spine, lift your head and look people in the eye. You can also stand up and whisper to yourself “I’m fine right now”. The more you practice this, the more it will be your natural response and your emotions will change to feeling more confident and self-assured.
Tune into your emotions and identify each sensation as you experience it. Honor the messages that your body is sending you about your feelings. Don’t try to override them. Suspend any judgment of them. Simply observe them for what they are.
Your “Dream Big, Start Small” here’s the one thing you can do today.
Somatic Awareness Exercise — Build Emotional Literacy with What You Pay Attention to
Below is a list of body messages you can learn to notice without judging. Over time, by paying attention to these you’ll increase your capacity for full body-mind awareness in the present moment.
Step 1: Set a timer for 90 seconds and do a full body scan, noticing any of the elements mentioned in the list below. (Why 90 seconds?)
Step 2: Pick the strongest body sensation you’re experiencing and pay attention to it. For example, you might notice pressure around your heart area. Pay attention to its rhythm for 90 seconds..
- Sensations — tightness, pain, hot, cold, breathless, free, light, energized, tired, etc.
- Vibrations
- Pressure/Compression
- Contraction/Tightening
- Tingling/Streaming
- Pulsing/Pounding
- Body movement (What wants to move?)
- Felt images like butterflies in your stomach. These can be visual, auditory, or kinesthetic (related to movement or touch).
- Somatic metaphors — physical ailments can mirror or symbolize deeper emotional or psychological issues. For example, A person with digestive issues might be struggling to process a difficult life event.
- Numbness/Freeze
Mindfully doing somatic practices like these create an elevated level of self-awareness. I’d love to hear from you during the Inner Fitness Challenge. I’ve created a special event on Facebook where we can share our experiences during this challenge. All the tools will be posted there, so please bookmark it and visit every Monday and Wednesday for updates. And to follow the Inner Fitness Challenge on my website, bookmark my blog.
Need to catch up or review the previous Inner Fitness Challenge posts?