How to reconnect to your body when the world is coming undone.

If it all feels like it’s too much, it’s probably because it is. Add the body scan to your tool belt for mindful living.

The last six weeks have taken a toll on the planet and our peace of mind. News about the mounting war between Israel and Palestine is nearly impossible to ignore and can leave you feeling powerless and overwhelmed. Consider this permission to stop the doom scroll.

A thousand years ago, you could be completely unaware of wars being waged in another country. Now, we get updates in real time. Our nervous systems weren’t designed to live with a 24-hour news channel for the planet.

If you’re finding it challenging to locate yourself right now, you’re not alone.

If you are feeling numb, this is a valid body sensation. Sometimes when you are overstimulated, numbness may be the way that your body protects you from being hijacked. Numbness can be tempting to surrender to during chaotic times like these.

Mindfulness is a practice rooted in ancient wisdom of coming back to the present moment. Centering and grounding yourself, especially now, can help you access inner peace.

I recommend pausing your day to engage in a daily mindfulness practice to help you come back in touch with your body. Embodiment helps to clear the channel for your aliveness. It also lays the groundwork for sensuality, or being in your senses.

Now this isn’t some one-and-done experience that will lead you to transcendence after one go. There’s a reason why it’s called a practice.

There have been times where I’ve felt wildly disembodied and disconnected from my senses. Going through the practice below has brought me back online.

The Body Scan

Photo by Jenna Duffy in Nosara, Costa Rica

I outline the steps to go through a body scan from the comfort of your own home. If at any point, you become flooded with intense emotions, you have full permission to stop. It’s only within your window of tolerance that healing can happen. Please exercise care.

1. Set up your ritual space. Dedicate a space for your practice. Turn off your notifications on your phone, watch, etc. You may want to light a candle or turn on some meditation music to help your body recognize that you’re establishing a ritual space.
   
   If it feels safe, you can even practice in nature.

   

   Photo by Motoki Tonn on Unsplash

2. Set an intention. What would you like to get from your practice today? It could be as simple as “I desire to feel embodied in my practice today.”
   

3. Find a comfortable seated position. If it feels safe, close your eyes or soften the gaze.
   

4. Begin to scan the body. See what is there waiting to be seen by you. You may choose to start at the top of the head and work downwards, or start from your feet and work your way up.
   

5. Look for body sensations. When you feel a sensation, note the associated location in the body, then say it aloud to yourself. This helps to bridge the gap between the right and left hemisphere of the brain. In other words, follow this framework:
   
   “I feel [sensation] in my [location].”
   
   That could look like:

   1. I feel a tickle on the back of my throat.

   2. I feel tension in my left shoulder blade.

   3. I feel an ache in my belly.

   
   You might be tempted to slip into story, though we’re just focusing on sensation.
   

6. Sit with the sensation. Breathe into that area of the body. Say hello. The objection is to observe, not to change it.
   

7. See if anything comes up as you take time with this part of your body/mind.

   1. Sometimes people feel the sensation change as they pay attention to it.

   2. You may have a memory, visual or song lyric come to mind.
      

8. When this process feels complete, say thank you to this part of yourself that you met.
   

9. Continue the body scan for more sensations. Repeat until you have scanned the whole body.
   

10. Integrate. This is important to give yourself a change to integrate the wisdom that came up for you before transitioning back to your daily life.
    
    At the end of the practice, identify one thing that you learned about yourself during this process and one thing you are grateful for — even if it’s simple. Gratitude puts you in a high vibration frequency and makes you magnetic.
    
    Enjoy a warm beverage to give your body a hug from the inside. Show your body that you care.

    

May the body scan practice become something that you integrate into your life. The world doesn’t show signs of slowing, so it becomes an opportunity to carve out time for what matters.

Mindfulness isn’t a way of escaping reality. It’s a way of embracing it.

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Thank you for your presence! Did you go through the body scan practice? I would love to hear your experience, please share below in the comments.

If this message resonated with you, I invite you to like the post and share it with a friend who might be able to benefit. These posts are crafted with love and care and it would bring me joy to share it with more like-minded, like-hearted people.