The Importance of Aligning your Mind with your Physical Self
The human body is an intelligent vessel that is responsible for carrying us throughout the day for our entire life. Are you giving it the respect it deserves?
At the beginning of every treatment I always begin by asking a simple question … “how has your body been feeling?” And in that very moment, I watch and see the client make a very brief scan of their body before responding to my question. For the majority of clients, they undertake regular appointments as part of self-care. However, what becomes evident is that in the weeks or months that have passed between their appointments, they haven’t taken the time to check in with their body and attend to physical needs with strategies to support their wellbeing.
How often do you take time to align your mind with your physical body and take time to check in and pay some much needed attention to your physical body responses?
Do you ever notice you’re carrying tension? Or are some areas of your body more achy, stiff or tense? When discomfort is brought to our attention, do you respond with some physical self-care? A soak in the bath, some movement, or maybe a massage?
Physical self-care is an important part of our wellbeing. For most people, especially parents raising children, it's time consuming, along with fulfilling their responsibilities and the demands of raising a family. We're often going through the motions, ticking the boxes on our daily check list but ultimately forgetting the crucial step of checking in with our bodies.
Tuning into our physical needs, can prevent burnout and injury.
Your body is always communicating with you, but have you listened?
Prioritising your physical wellbeing can have a ripple effect on those around you.
With consistent checking in and regular self-care, you can increase your energy through movement, reduce tension with bodywork treatment or stretching, and increase feelings of a an affirming mindset and a positive body awareness.
The connection between mind & body is powerful
In my own practice over the years, it is apparent more often than not, that the physical body is a representation of the stress, fatigue, trauma and emotions that a person is experiencing in their day to day life.
Massage or any bodywork session becomes the perfect time for a person to become more aware of what is happening within their body. Usually as we work through specific muscles, or muscle groups, a person is surprised by the tension they are holding …. and that is therefore being released during the treatment.
How can you become more body aware?
The first step to increased body awareness is to stop & pay attention … even for just a few moments. Or try a body scan meditation as followed:
Get comfortable - lying down is the preferred method and the easiest place to achieve a total body scan is at the beginning or end of the day, whilst lying in bed.
Breathe - Take some slow and controlled deep breathes, expanding your belly with each inhale.
Awareness - starting at the feet, bring attention to your feet, how are they feeling? Do you notice any sensations, tingling, pain, tension?
Release tension - Breath into the area of focus releasing tension and allowing that part of your body to feel heavy and sink into the surface below you.
Scan - continue your scan throughout the remaining parts of your body, as above, finishing at the head.
This whole practice can be as long or as short as time allows. It can be a helpful tool to use during times of increased stress. And can be practiced, as an abbreviated version anywhere, including the office, by simply just taking a few moments to notice where the tension is in your body. For a lot of people stress is reflected as chest breathing, raised shoulders, clench jaw etc. But others will notice other areas of tension, unique to them.
So why is allowing your mind to focus on your physical wellbeing so important? It helps to prevent injury and/or disease, reduces stress and gives you an opportunity to provide some more focussed self-care. Feeling your absolute best, especially during times of high demand, such as when raising children, or periods of your life with heavy physical or emotional loads, is paramount.