Body Awareness as the Gateway to Loving Yourself
Feb 06, 2023
Too common is the idea of a separation of the self and body. One assumes, and is actively reinforced by culture, that the self (or consciousness) is separate from and unaffected by our physical structure. Many of us are unaware of how disconnected our minds and bodies are until directed to facilitate a specific muscle or complete a certain task. Body awareness, ones perception of their internal state, is a concept that transcends, and merges mind and body. Sally Gadow describes 4 stages we progress through as we enhance our body awareness.
Stage 1: The lived body.
The body is taken for granted, we are unaware of it. We might live in this stage before pain occurs and demands our attention. Caring for our bodies and fully experiencing our felt senses is rarely a diligent practice before we experience illness or physical and mental pain.
Stage 2: The objective body.
The body is experienced as opposed to the self. We are forced to pay attention to the pain in our body. Body and self are in tension with each other; in a state of disunity. We may refer to our bodies as symptomatic and functionally constrained by pain. Attending to our bodies isn’t pleasurable. Pain is experienced as an aversive stimulus that we prefer to distract ourselves from.
Stage 3: Cultivated immediacy.
Here we re-write the narrative with our body. Our new mind-body relationship is characterized by acceptance and immediacy. We now accept that there may have been reason behind our body hurting. We may have ignored our limits.
Stage 4: The Subjective body
The body is now experienced without objectification; as an agent of information, learning and meaning. The body is no longer simply a means by which the self carries itself but the medium through which we experience the world and the locus of self.
Current therapies seek to restore balance, awareness, proper function and a healthy relationship with the physical self; to create a shift from thinking to sensing. If we are aware of the constant changes in our inner and outer environment we can mobilize to manage them. Our emotions are constructs of our brains interpretation of our body’s physiological response. We use indicators like heart rate, breath and other physiological process, both conscious and unconscious, to let our brain know how to respond. By regaining control over our self we can elicit deep physiological resources to alchemize negative emotions into positive ones. We can use breath to re-frame “feelings” of fear into “feelings” of excitement.
As we begin to re-experience a visceral connection with the needs of our bodies, there is a brand new capacity to warmly love the self. True human intelligence is not found in transcending the physical self-rather by full participation and harmony in our marvelous physicality. Active, self engaged activities that increase body awareness include yoga, meditation and balancing. Receptive/passive approaches are therapies such as chiropractic, massage, myofascial release, and Qi Gong. These in active and receptive modalities in combination can have dramatic effects.
“WHAT WE NEED TO DO TO BE FREED FROM OUR SYMPTOMS AND FEARS IS TO AROUSE OUR DEEP PHYSIOLOGICAL RESOURCES. IF WE REMAIN IGNORANT OF OUR POWER TO CHANGE THE COURSE OF OUR INSTINCTUAL RESPONSES IN A PROACTIVE RATHER THAN REACTIVE WAY, WE WILL CONTINUE TO BE IMPRISONED AND IN PAIN.”
-BESSEL VON DER KOLK
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