Am I Disconnected From My Body?
Our body and it’s sensations play a big role in how we function day to day, it tells us when we’re hungry, when we’re tense and when we’re afraid. But what if it doesn’t?
In the years I have been practising psychotherapy, I have developed ways to help clients connect with their bodies so that they can access the information it provides, to enable them to make healthier choices i.e. develop and maintain boundaries and to be more gentle with themselves. In this diagram you can see the 4 areas of self that I often explore with clients - you can see here, that if you are disconnected with your body, it will limit the output (behaviour) because what your body needs, may not be available to you as information. In essence, if you are disconnected from your body, you are unaware.
How Can I Tell If I’m Connected To My Body?
It is true, that some people are so disconnected to their body that they do not feel the cold or their hunger, but more often than not, the disconnection is more subtle.
Here are some questions you can explore/ask yourself:
When you feel an emotion, you can pick out the sensations in your body to accompany it? When you feel sad for example, can you place it in your body, where does the sadness sit, what does it feel like?
When you feel something like stress, do you listen to your body and give it what it needs i.e. a stretch or a lay down? If not, what do you do instead i.e. ignore it (disconnect)
Do you see your body as having needs and an influence on how well you feel?
If you think you may be disconnected with your body, the good news is, you can reconnect. The benefits to being connected with your body are:
Feeling in control of your thoughts, emotions and behaviours
Feeling a sense of balance in life i.e. better boundaries
Increased ability to take care of your whole self
Increased energy
Clearer thinking
More patience (particularly beneficial to our little ones)
Click here to learn how you can practice connecting with your body.