Come Back to Your Body

Come Back to Your Body

How often are you actually in your body? I don’t mean physically, because unless you’ve mastered astral projection while doing the school run, I’m assuming your body came with you. I mean actually noticing it, listening to it and being aware of what it’s doing instead of spending the entire day living somewhere between your thoughts, your to-do list and the seventeen imaginary conversations happening in your head.

We’re surprisingly good at ignoring our bodies. We’ll sit there with our shoulders practically touching our ears, jaw clenched like we’re trying to crack a walnut, breathing somewhere around the top two inches of our chest, wondering why we don’t feel particularly relaxed. Meanwhile, our body has been trying to get our attention for hours. Maybe you’re tired, thirsty, hungry, uncomfortable or simply desperate for five minutes where nobody needs anything from you, but instead of listening we tend to tell ourselves we’ll deal with it later and carry on.

I’ve been doing more meditation, yoga, Reiki and breathwork lately, and one thing I’m becoming much more aware of is just how much our bodies communicate when we actually give them the chance. Sometimes you don’t realise how much tension you’re holding until you consciously soften your shoulders. You don’t notice you’ve been breathing shallowly until you take one proper slow breath. You don’t realise how disconnected you’ve become from yourself until you deliberately stop for a moment and come back.

The good thing is that coming back to your body doesn’t need to be some elaborate spiritual practice involving candles, chanting and sitting serenely in full lotus. I attempted full lotus recently and my left hip essentially replied, “Absolutely not, thank you,” so half lotus it is. Enlightenment can wait because I’m rather attached to having functioning knees. The point isn’t what position you can get yourself into or whether you look particularly spiritual while doing it. The point is noticing how something actually feels.

Coming back to your body can be ridiculously simple. Feel your feet against the floor, unclench your jaw, let your shoulders drop and take a breath that actually feels like a breath rather than the tiny emergency ones we apparently survive on when we’re stressed. Stretch because your body wants to stretch, not because you’re trying to become bendier. Put a hand over your heart for a moment. Notice whether you’re warm or cold, comfortable or tense, energised or completely knackered. Ask yourself what you need before automatically moving on to the next thing.

I think sometimes we treat our bodies as though they’re just the vehicle carrying our brain around while we get everything done, but they’re so much more than that. Your body has carried you through every ordinary day, every difficult season, every belly laugh, every heartbreak, every adventure and every version of yourself you’ve ever been. It deserves to be listened to before it has to start banging pots and pans together to get your attention.

And sometimes healing isn’t about discovering another thing that needs fixing. Sometimes it’s simply becoming curious about yourself again. What am I feeling right now? Where am I holding tension? What would feel good? What do I actually need? You don’t have to judge whatever answer comes up, and you certainly don’t have to immediately turn it into another task for your to-do list. Just noticing is enough.

We spend so much time looking outside ourselves for answers, reassurance and signs that we can forget there’s wisdom much closer to home. So today, come back to your body. Not to change it, criticise it or force it into a lotus position it has quite clearly declined, but simply to inhabit it for a while. Breathe, listen, soften where you can and give yourself permission to be exactly where you are.

Sometimes coming home to yourself really is that simple.

Daily Affirmation

Onwards, Nova x