…and why is it so helpful in calming yourself?  Typically, when we hear we need to “get into our bodies,” we think our way to the body…we think about our legs, our hands our heartbeat. This happens frequently when someone is new to the practice. It takes much gentle prompting to get a client to feel the sensations of a certain body part. 

The bodymind is a term that is showing up more frequently to point to the reality that mind and body cannot be split AND that the body IS its own intelligence with endless information and insight.

This is why I often begin a guided meditation with “body scans” in which we fine tune attention to subtle sensations in the body. Typically, this drops a client more deeply inside of themselves and shifts attention from the hamster wheel of thoughts to the felt sense of the body. People find it really helpful when they are beginning to learn meditation and/or contemplative prayer.  

Try this:

Drop your eyes.  Bring your attention to your left hand.  Feel the coolness of the air on the skin of your hands.  Now, notice any sensation you didn’t notice a moment ago when  your eyes were open…..Imagine you are sending  your breath to your hands.  Do this for a few breaths…breathing in….breathing out….now, fine tune your awareness and notice any sensations in the palm of your hand…if you notice nothing, no big deal.  Just pay attention to the sense of “nothing.” Place your attention on that space of nothing.  Do the same with each of the fingers on  your left hand, noticing sensations you didn’t notice a moment ago.  Breathe into the sensations.  After a few minutes, place your attention on your right hand.  Can you feel a difference between the right and the left hand? Sometimes, simple awareness illuminates subtle sensations in the body.

Let me know how it goes.

I’ve created meditation downloads for each of the types on the Enneagram as each type tends to have certain patterns of holding the breath and holding the body.   You can find them here or on iTunes.  Just put “Leslie Hershberger” in the Search