Body awareness is a deceptively simple concept that underpins many of the practices I am involved with. Having body awareness brings a range of benefits:
- Body Awareness enables the acquisition of ANY physical skill
- Body Awareness improves health and energy levels via posture, breathing and more efficient movement
- Body Awareness improves psychological wellbeing by interrupting negative thought patterns
- Body Awareness improves emotional intelligence and communication as feelings are embodied
- Body Awareness improves intuition as “gut instinct” is embodied
Note that four of these five benefits are not to do with physical skills. For an aikido or dance student body awareness is of course essential, what is also apparent to me is how important it is to folks working regular office jobs. Better communications skills, improved health and vitality,clearer instincts and enhanced psychological functioning are all things any corporate executive would benefit from. This is why I bring elements of body awareness into my corporate training work, whether it’s under the banner of stress management, team building or leadership training.
Note too, that many spiritual practices rely on the body. While there is a “spirit as opposite to body” trend in Christianity, many forms of meditation involves mindfulness of the breath and other bodily phenomena.
So what gets in the way of body awareness? In my experience people can have problems because:
- They are moving too fast to notice themselves
- Their body holds trauma and it is uncomfortable to notice themselves
- They are caught in their thoughts
- The wider Western culture, particularly in the workplace, emphasises intellect over embodiment
What then to do to increase body awareness? Easy:
- Find and practice a pleasurable and interesting physical practice where body awareness is essential. Do it slowly and consciously where possible.
- Meditate or engage in other mindfulness practices regularly
For those interested in pursuing body awareness in depth I would particularly recommend two practices:
Feldenkrais
I recently took a couple of lesson with London based Scott Clark in The Feldenkrais Method of somatic education, and really enjoyed it. Feldenkrias tends to be used by people at two ends of a spectrum – those like dancers interested in very graceful movement, and those who have been injured looking to regain their capabilities. I highly recommend Scott’s work and also that of Sabine Schmid Blackaby in Brighton, both capable and lovely to boot.
Being In Movement
Paul Linden is a somatic educator working with diverse activities from computer posture, to aikido to abuse recovery. To me his Being In Movement MindBody Training is second to none which is why I will be bringing him to the UK in June – watch this space!
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Body So What: Feel your body if you want health, better relations, contact with spirit or a range of other benefits