I received lots of comments on the last two blogs, it seems to be new information for many people. So, here is a bit more on this subject to alleviate any confusion people may be experiencing around the concept of the body’s language, sensation.
Many people are so uncomfortable experiencing their sensations, that they try to ignore them. I suggest that many of our emotional problems are rooted in ignoring the body’s messages. A simple analogy may be helpful here. If your infant begins to cry and you pick him up immediately, you can remedy the problem and most infants will calm down quickly. However, if you ignore her for 30 minutes, by the time you pick her up, she is so upset you will have a hard time calming her back down. Our body operates the same way. If you pay attention immediately to your sensations, you can learn to address the “problem” and feel better right away.
Anytime you are learning a new language, you have to start by learning important words. Thankfully, no grammar is needed for the language of sensation, you only need to learn the important words. As you get more familiar with the words of a new language, it is easier to listen and comprehend when someone is speaking them to you. Below is a table with a list of many of the body’s sensations. It is not a comprehensive list, but, if you read all of them, you will get the basic gist. (The table did not copy over to WordPress, so all I can provide is a list)
Airy-Bloated-Blocked-Breathless-Brittle-Bubbly-Buzzy-Calm-Clammy-Cool-Cold-Congested-Contricted-Contracted-Damp-Dark-Deflated-Disconnected-Dry-Dizzy-Dense-Empty-Expanded-Energized-Expansive-Flaccid-Floating-Fluid-Flushed-Fluttery-Fragile-Frantic-Frozen-Full-Fuzzy-Heavy-Hot-Hollow-Inflated-Itchy-Jagged-Jittery-Jumpy-Knotted-light-Luminous-Moist-Numb-Nervious-Paralyzed-Pounding-Pressure-Prickly-Puffy-Pulsing-Queasy-Radiating-Raw-Restricted-Shaky-Smooth-Spacey-Spacious-Spinning-Still-Suffocating-Strong-Tight-Tense-Twitchy-Warm-Wobbly-Wooden
If you read the whole list, your vocabulary of Sensation will be greatly expanded. Now try paying attention to the inside of your body. Particularly from your throat down to your hips. Do you notice any of these sensations, now that you have a better grasp of this language?
As you can see there are sensations mostly experienced as positive – warm, smooth, energized, etc. And, there are many sensations that we experience as negative- jittery, cold, queasy, etc. With each sensation produced, your body is attempting to communicate to you how it experiences the choices you are making. Many of us ignore the sensations we perceive as negative, as long as we are able. Then, we wonder why we have a huge emotional explosion. Paying attention to the beginnings of the sensation, and altering your choices accordingly, will decrease, or even end these big explosions. It is so much easier to just live in our heads, but when you embody your mind and body, your ability to live in joy, freedom, and honesty is greatly expanded.
Try it this week and see how many of these sensations you can notice. Can you even expand this list? Let me know how it goes, and please, if you have any questions, let me know, I love to share this material, it has changed my life.
Going deeper
1.) If this information is new to you, what is your primary response? What is your mind’s response? How does the body respond to the thought of paying better attention to this lovely container of minds, hearts, spirits, and souls?
2.) If it is hard for you to listen to the sensations, try to notice your areas of resistance and be kind to them. This way of living is seeking to integrate different aspects of your personhood, not to cause a civil war.
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