Our brain is a magnificent tool.
Beyond its intricately complicated physiological functions, it helps our conscious mind navigate the world.
In milliseconds it can think through a circumstance, all the possible outcomes, make a decision, and initiate action on that decision.
Occasionally it helps us to get lost as well. We think ourselves into a rut; a conscious, mental and emotional muddle that sometimes we can’t get out of for months or even years.
Even when we may not be sure about who we are, what we are doing, or why we are doing it, we are physically never lost. We can always locate ourselves by locating our body.
I’ve found, in my clinical practice, that if I help patients locate their body in space, then the overwhelming mental activity (whether positive, negative, or neutral) decreases.
I do this by guiding patients through a simple embodiment practice that makes them aware of the sensation of their clothes and the air on their skin, the weight of their body pulling them down toward the ground because of gravity, and the overall sensation of heat radiating off their body.
This simple exercise is enough to bring them into what’s happening around them in the moment and out of what’s happening in their head.
Finding your body in space is similar to taking a step back to get some perspective on something you’ve been focusing on very hard for many hours.
If all your attention is in your head (in your thoughts), then after a while you lose perspective and find it difficult to think clearly.
You can find perspective again by finding your body. Here’s an exercise to begin.
–Samantha Lotti
Samantha Lotti is a Doctor of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine (DACM), a licensed acupuncturist (L.Ac.), a certified and registered Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapist (BCST, RCST®), holds a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition, and is a board-certified herbalist.