Intimacy, Relationship, Focused Prpose: Bualancing passion, purpose and relationship for an abundant life!
-Maria Gauci, LMT, Portland, OR
Physical and Emotional Connections
The mind and body are intimately linked together - one controls the other. In order to fully engage both you must learn to find the connection between emotions and the physical body. The following exercise is designed to begin linking the two.
Sit comfortably and allow yourself to reach a place of calm. Focus on an emotional issue that is currently relevant and present for you. Without trying to understand or solve this emotional issue just begin to feel the emotion. As you begin to have the emotional experience notice what sensations in your body come up. Notice any pains, tingling sensations, hot or cold spots, or anything else that feels different than usual or suddenly calls for your attention. When you identify one or more spots of physical sensation focus your attention on those areas. Using your breath as a tool, imagine that you are sending oxygen and energy into those locations. Take several deep, long, slow breathes - at least 3-5 but as many as you need. Notice what happens to that physical sensation as you do this. Does it dissipate, intensify, shift or move around? Now notice what is happening with the emotional issue you focused on. Does it feel lighter, less important, easier to manage, transformed to a deeper level, or become something new?
When you are done gently allow yourself to relax and breath normally. Take some time to relax and come back to full presence.
You may repeat this exercise by focusing first on the physical sensations and seeing what emotions arise as you breathe into them. Doing the exercise by first focusing on the physical sensation can be very helpful in identifying and reducing stress and tension present in your body. Using the physical focus first can also be helpful in uncovering and identifying some more latent and hidden emotions and interactions. It can also be a helpful meditation tool for unlocking and increasing deeper awareness and calm.
By seeing the connection between the physical and emotional states you
can begin to reach a place of greater skill in dealing with both. By increasing
this skill you will be able to decrease the associated stress and learn
to move through challenging periods of your life more smoothly and rapidly.