Do you know someone that’s accident-prone? Maybe even labeled a “klutz”? You know, that person seems to injure themselves on the regular.
In the science of movement, a more technical term for this person would be “body awareness challenged”. Truthfully, improving body awareness is important for everyone.
Keep reading to learn
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What is body awareness?
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Why is it important?
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Tips to improve your body awareness
What is body awareness?
Body awareness is the ability to recognize where your body is in space. It’s knowing how different body parts are positioned and work together.
Proprioception is the fancier term used to describe body awareness and it’s fast! Sensory receptors are found on your skin, joints, and muscles. Your brain senses the actions and sends messages to your body. This happens in an instant!
Your vestibular system is also involved. This system, made up of your inner ear organs, provides your brain information about head position, motion, and spatial orientation.
We use proprioception every single day. It’s what allows you to bring a fork to your mouth, walk without looking at your feet, and stay on a bicycle. In fact, if you’re sitting while you read this it’s the reason you’re not falling over.
Body awareness can extend to what you’re feeling in your body. This includes your body’s cues – recognizing when you’re hungry, thirsty, or tired. It also includes how a muscle feels, whether it is tight or weak. Because you use many muscles in your body regularly and repetitively, it’s easy to stop being conscious of using them. It’s easy to become less aware of your body.
But, it’s important to have a strong sense of body awareness.
Why is body awareness so important?
Body awareness, or proprioception, doesn’t just allow you to sit upright and eat food without missing your mouth. The biggest benefit is a strong mind-body connection.
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Stability and balance. Knowing and feeling where your body is in space can help you feel more stable. It also helps with balance.
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Identifying your needs. Being more aware of your body’s cues means you can understand what you need from one moment to the next. It allows you to tell the difference between tiredness, hunger, thirst, and even emotions.
Learning to listen to your body can help you better meet your own needs.
How can you improve body awareness?
There are ways to improve your body awareness.
Reflexology
Reflexology is based on the principle that there are reflexes (areas) in your hands and feet. These reflexes correspond to different parts of your body – organs, glands, etc.
The goal is to break up “congestion” in the reflexes and encourage blood and energy flow.
“Congestion” is a term reflexologists use to describe a blockage in a reflex. It can show up as tenderness, puffiness, calluses, peeling, or redness. It can also feel like tiny bubbles under the skin.
You can work on your own hands or feet or have a reflexologist do it. In my experience, feeling the different reflexes in your hands or feet improves the mind-body connection. I can’t count how many times a client has been surprised at how tender parts of their feet are.
It also highlights areas in their bodies that can be tense. For example, when I find congestion in the jaw reflex I ask my client if they clench their jaw. Many times the answer is yes but they don’t always know they’re doing it. They start realizing how often they do.
Reflexology can help bring awareness to your body.
Practice a body scan
A body scan is a practice of scanning your body and becoming aware of any sensations. For example, you may feel
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Tension
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Pain
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Tingling/numbness
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Feelings of relaxation
Here’s how to give it a try:
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Get cozy. Get comfortable. Lie down or sit in a position that allows you to stretch your limbs easily.
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Focus. Close your eyes and begin focusing on your breath. Don’t change your breath, but notice how it feels as you inhale and exhale.
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Choose where to start. Begin anywhere you like — left hand, left foot, right hand, right foot, the top of your head. Focus on that spot as you continue to breathe
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Pay attention. What sensations do you feel? Pain, tension, discomfort, or anything out of the ordinary.
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Go slow. Spend anywhere from 20 seconds to 1 minute observing what you feel.
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Acknowledge. If you begin to notice pain and discomfort, acknowledge and sit with any emotions it brings up. Accept them without criticism. For example, if you feel frustrated and angry, don’t judge yourself for these emotions. Notice them and let them pass.
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Breathe. Continue breathing, imagining the pain and tension decreasing with each breath.
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Release. Slowly release your mental awareness on that specific part of your body and redirect it to your next area of focus.
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Move along. Continue the exercise along your body in a way that makes sense to you. You can move top to bottom or from one side to the next.
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Note drifting thoughts. Note when your thoughts begin to drift. This will happen more than once, so don’t worry. Just gently return your awareness to where you left off scanning.
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Visualize and breathe. Once you finish scanning parts of your body, let your awareness travel across your body. Continue inhaling and exhaling slowly as you sit with this awareness of your whole body for several seconds.
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Come back. Slowly release your focus and bring your attention back to your surroundings.
Yoga
Yoga is NOT about achieving certain shapes or poses. This is not the goal. We practice poses (asana) in yoga to build awareness through the body. This makes yoga a wonderful way to strengthen body awareness.
Yoga allows you to practice all sorts of different ways to stay upright, balanced, and safe in different positions. It allows you to move from one position to another. It helps connect your breath and movement.
You are often asked to notice the difference between each side of the body. You may also be asked to notice the sensation in your body.
This all benefits your proprioception, or body awareness.
A strong sense of body awareness has many benefits. How do you feel about your own body awareness? Comment below!
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