Second step into your body

Remember grounding as the first way to be present with yourself through your body? The second way is driven from grounding, but this time get ready to step up from your feet and involve your entire body!

We are so busy with talking, listening and watching, we forget to use the rest of our body. Our bodies are actually a tool for us to be present with ourselves.

You hang out all day in your body, experiencing heat and cold, comfort and discomfort. The body takes you from one place to an other, it feels exuberant or lethargic. Many of those physical actions and sensations affect your behavior. You don’t have to be affected only by those things - you can create bodily presence that will affect your inner sensation and sense of being.

When you’re with your feet on the ground, noticing that connection (for a reminder how to be well grounded go here), you are more present with your body, since it has where to grow from, just like a tree, and that creates presence. But often we don’t sense the rest of the body well enough, we’re more concerned with everything that’s going on in our heads, neglecting everything from the neck down…

So, to attend the body and create bodily presence:

1. Sit down on a chair and lean against the backrest. Feel your feet engaging the ground.

2. Feel all the areas the body touches a surface: the back of the thighs, the sitting bones, the back and any other areas that touch the chair. Noticing the points touching the chair makes you also notice the body and it’s position.

3. Cross your arms and gently press them with the palms of your hands. You can similarly touch other areas of the body, such as the abdomen or the legs, awakening and relaxing your body, being aware of your body and present with it.

What do you get?

A very clear bodily presence and serene liveliness. This can change your entire day, like the way you act and react and how much patience you have. You’ll also see how you’re not very easily affected by others, just by being present with your own body. It gives you a sense of you.

Ready to give it a go?