Body awareness and its importance

By: Jeanette Rupar, LMT BCTMB

I took a yoga class recently, trying to become comfortable in my very stiff and unpliable (at the moment) body.  With each movement and every breath, I tried to become aware of what was going on within my brain (thoughts) and my body.  This has been an ongoing thing for me, this self awareness.  Not just self aware of who I am and whats around me, but whats going on inside my body.  What is my body trying to tell me with that twinge here, or that pain there.

This is something I learned early in my massage therapy training, and was an awakening I never knew I needed.  It taught me how to deal with the one person I was most closely working with.  Me.

Internal self awareness can be scary at first.  You’re body knows when something isn’t quite right and sends you signals.  But you may not know what.  I will tell you I am sometimes the first to panic if I can’t seem to figure something out.  But it is perfectly alright to not know. 

Questions I ask my self are:  “what kind of pain am I feeling?  Is it sharp  or dull?  Constantly there or feeling like something is jabbing or prickly?  Where is the pain coming from.  Does it feel closer to the skin, or does it feel deeper?”  

And no, this isn’t a substitute for going to a professional if something is majorly wrong.  But getting to know what your body is telling you will let you know when you do or don’t have to see a professional, and it allows you to be more comfortable in your own skin, which can be an amazing experience.