Self-care programme 2022: 3. Be in your body

Welcome to Day 3 of 2022 and the opportunity to bring more love to your body and your life through the simple daily practise of self-care.

Today is a moment to be in your body.

Practising self-care is not a time-consuming chore, but a way of being with yourself that cherishes the precious body that you have and the beautiful being it enhouses … so enjoy the process of developing this practice! It will revitalise you and bring a sense of lightness and joy to your body and being that you may not have felt for a while.

This year we are offering the space to (re)learn tools that take little time or effort, that don’t require you to go anywhere or do anything new, but which enrich the quality of the life you already live.

Each day for seven days we will offer a short introduction, some questions to reflect on, a short audio to listen to and an article to read … a few minutes of your day for just a week, which may well change the way you feel about yourself and life and ignite you for the year to come.

1. Stop

2. Breathe

3. Be in your body

We have a body and we are in our body, but how much are we consciously aware of our body and ourselves in it?

Being in our body is as simple as keeping our mind in line with what our body is doing, being consciously present in each and every moment, each and every movement.

If we stop and breathe we start to bring our awareness to our body. From being with our breath, we can feel ourselves in our fingertips and our toes, and everything in between. And if we can feel ourselves in our body, we are more fully in our body and our minds are more aligned with what we are actually doing, rather than off somewhere else, so that we are actually present with everything we do. This presence brings a sense of spaciousness and ease, and a settlement, for we are just there, with what we are doing, rather than racing ahead to what is to come, or going back to what has already been. All we have to focus on is our breath, and being in our body.

Activity

Listen to audio: Self-care moments: A moment with our body

Reflection

Were you able to feel yourself in your body?

Did it feel lovely, or uncomfortable?

How long were you able to hold your awareness before your mind drifted off?

How long before you realised you had drifted off?

Were you able to bring yourself back?

Activity

Read article: Mindfulness and conscious presence