Meditating on the body can help create a sense of groundedness, vitality, relaxation, and wisdom. There are various common ways to meditate on body sensations, such as:
1. letting one’s attention go to wherever in the body it is most drawn
2. doing a systematic scan and sweep of attention through the body
3. maintaining even coverage of awareness over the whole body
4. Intentionally focus on the parts of the body that seem most relaxed or blank
Regardless of what technique we use, when we bring our attention to our body, we will notice that body sensations can emerge from various different sources.
As you read this list, I invite you to check in and do your best to have a deep and rich experience, feeling some of each type of body sensation:
—- The physical impact of points of contact with our environment – we feel our weight settling on to what we are sitting on, the touch of other points of contact with furniture or the ground, connection with clothes shoes jewelry watches and/or glasses, the feeling of hair against our neck and ears, different parts of our body pressed against each other, and experiencing the air around us. We might notice ourselves feeling hardness or softness, dryness and moisture, or different textures.
—- The sensations that go with moving our body – muscles exerting, and limbs moving through space
—- Internal, animal, physiological factors that go along with having a body – this especially includes the feeling of breathing that we can detect in our nose and mouth, upper chest and lungs, bellies, and even in the periphery of our bodies. Also, we can feel digestion (including a rumbling stomach, hunger, satiation/fullness), blood circulation, heartbeat and pulse, aches sores and pains, itches and tingles, a full bladder, nausea, pressure, cramps, and tiredness or freshness.
—- Temperature – cold, cool, warm, and hot – both inside our bodies, on everything that we touch, and in the air
—- Emotions or moods – these include anger, fear, sadness, shame/embarrassment, guilt, disgust, joy, pride, love, excitement, and tranquility. Sometimes emotions can lead to observable changes in breathing, heart beating, energy in the limbs, and other physical sensations.
—- Physical reactions to information taken in through other sense gates – we can have body sensations triggered by something we see, hear, taste, or smell (hearing a dog barking behind us, people speaking, seeing a beautiful sunset), in reactions to thoughts that we have, or in reaction to other body sensations
—- Motivation – desires, urges, impulse, impatience, driven-ness, compulsion, tension, agitation, curiosity
—- Areas where we feel not much of anything, that feel deeply relaxed and/or blank
—- Relatively subtle “life force” energies, like areas that feel tight, contracted, dense, or pressured, and other areas that feel more loose, spacious, fluid, expansive, and released. We also may notice parts of the body that feel still and solid, and other parts where there’s movement, vibration, pulsation, and tingles.
Bringing mindful awareness to all of these different types of body sensations can help us to feel more spaciousness, ease, and clarity, and freedom as we go about our day.