What to do when your body doesn’t feel splendid
Sometimes, your body doesn’t feel “splendid.” Instead, you feel discomfort. Anxiety, depression, panic attacks, paranoia, and other mental health situations can cause us to feel ungrounded and spacey. Focusing awareness on the body with equanimity brings us back to the present moment, to the ground of being, right here in our bodies.
The body is a weight, an anchor. We carry it around all day. Being present to the body can bring us a sense of calm and security that may help with the mental health issues.
But body awareness isn’t always pleasant. The body can feel uncomfortable, the anxiety too painful, the paranoia too severe. The depression may seem so heavy it feels as if we will drown.
During the years I describe as “the year everyone died,” my unpleasant thoughts and body sensations grew dangerous. When first my niece, then several other friends and family members, including my father-in-law and eventually my mother, all died in the span of eleven months, the physical ache of grief and depression generated thoughts like, “What’s the point?” and, “No one would miss me if I weren’t here,” and, “I can’t take this anymore.”
Even in those darkest of times, meditation helped me see those thoughts and body sensations for what they actually are: processes, not solid objects. That awareness unhooked me from the downward spiral and reduced the suffering brought on by these life and mental health challenges.
Focusing on my body scares me. What should I do?
If attending to your body sensations causes distress, try limiting your focus to your hands or feet. Many strong emotions arise in the chest and belly. Emotional sensations from the body’s center sometimes overwhelm even experienced meditators.
If focusing on just the hands or feet feels scary, try sight, smell, sound, or taste instead. Choosing to switch it up this way does not mean you have given in to distraction. Rather, you are observing reality and choosing a more effective method, one that brings more joy than pain.
We have options and can make choices. Mindful experience of the splendid body is ours to use.
I have included more than twenty “Your Turn” exercises in the book Make Every Move a Meditation.
This excerpt is from Make Every Move a Meditation by Nita Sweeney which is available now through Amazon and Mango Media.
