Bodily Sensations

Post here if you have been practising for a while, and you are starting to get your head around what this is all about. Also post here if you are a long-term practitioner with something to say about the practice.
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Gareth
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Thu Jun 05, 2014 10:36 am  

I've noticed these days that I'm much better at noticing the bodily sensations that usually come with thoughts and feelings.

The classic one for me is anxiety. Whenever I have an anxious thought, I notice an immediate tightening of the stomach area.

Whenever I feel joy, I can perceive a lightening of my head and my heart.

Anyone else noticed this sort of thing?
JonW
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Practice Mindfulness Since: 08 Dec 2012
Location: In a field, somewhere

Thu Jun 05, 2014 1:13 pm  

In the past I hardly noticed my body at all. It was like something I wheeled behind me on a skateboard tied with string.
Now I especially notice my bodily response when anxiety/worry arises. Just that simple noticing seems to dispel the tension. Then I notice Banjo wagging his tail and all is right with the world.
Jon leads the Everyday Mindfulness group meditation on Zoom every Monday/Friday, 6pm London-time. FREE.
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Cheesus
Posts: 158
Location: Leeds, UK

Thu Jun 05, 2014 5:00 pm  

Yes I experience all my emotions through my body. That is where I have best understood what is happening. I heard it first from Gil Fronsdal and it has been an invaluable and intriguing tool.
God himself culminates in the present moment, and will never be more divine in the lapse of all the ages - Henry David Thoreau, Walden: or, Life in the Woods
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Cheesus
Posts: 158
Location: Leeds, UK

Thu Jun 05, 2014 5:03 pm  

Also it is where I hold emotions in compassion or speak to them. I imagine myself literally hugging the physical sensation of emotion, or I will gently have an internal conversation with it to let it know I have understood and appreciate its 'message'. After all, emotions are about helping us to interact and understand ourselves and the world around us. They are a medium of communication and clarification between ourselves and things we perceive.
God himself culminates in the present moment, and will never be more divine in the lapse of all the ages - Henry David Thoreau, Walden: or, Life in the Woods
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BioSattva
Posts: 324
Location: Beijing, China

Tue Jun 10, 2014 4:13 pm  

Yes there is a definite sensitivity to the muscular tension that signals emotional reactivity is about to happen - as sensitivity increases one gains more and more of an ability to 'release the steam' so to speak before one blows one's top.

This is the key mechanism underlying mindfulness in my opinion, and why the body scan is so essential - the pre-reactive muscle tension can hide out anywhere from your toes, your lower back, to your scalp. Gotta keep watchful - mindful at all times.
"Compassion – particularly for yourself – is of overwhelming importance." - Mark Williams, Mindfulness (2011), p117.
"...allow yourself to smile inwardly." - Jon Kabat-Zinn, Full Catastrophe Living (2005), p436.
Weekly Blog: http://mindfuldiscipline.blogspot.co.uk
JonW
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Practice Mindfulness Since: 08 Dec 2012
Location: In a field, somewhere

Tue Jun 10, 2014 7:41 pm  

The Return Of BioSattva!
Welcome back, old sausage.
Jon, Hove
Jon leads the Everyday Mindfulness group meditation on Zoom every Monday/Friday, 6pm London-time. FREE.
Follow this link to join the WhatsApp group and receive notifications: https://chat.whatsapp.com/K5j5deTvIHVD7z71H3RIIk
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Gareth
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Wed Jun 11, 2014 10:54 am  

Great to see you again Tristan!
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BioSattva
Posts: 324
Location: Beijing, China

Thu Jun 12, 2014 1:10 am  

:D ahhhh :mrgreen: thank you. Just dropping by.
"Compassion – particularly for yourself – is of overwhelming importance." - Mark Williams, Mindfulness (2011), p117.
"...allow yourself to smile inwardly." - Jon Kabat-Zinn, Full Catastrophe Living (2005), p436.
Weekly Blog: http://mindfuldiscipline.blogspot.co.uk
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Gareth
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Posts: 1465

Thu Jun 12, 2014 8:17 am  

BioSattva wrote::D ahhhh :mrgreen: thank you. Just dropping by.


Does this mean you are leaving us again soon?

I don't think I can cope; you are such a tease.
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FeeHutch
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Practice Mindfulness Since: 01 Mar 2012
Location: Steel City
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Thu Jun 12, 2014 11:02 am  

:lol:
“Being mindful means that we take in the present moment as it is rather than as we would like it to be.”
Mark Williams
http://adlibbed.blogspot.co.uk/p/mindfulness-me-enjoy-silence.html
Find me on twitter - @feehutch
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