Experience: Identifying Your Needs or Goals, As Well As To Be Able To Communicate Them To Your Practitioner …

It is useful to have a sense of what’s going on in your body.  Let’s begin by writing some things down……Before you begin answering some of the following questions…. Take a few deep breaths with your eyes closed so that you can focus inwardly.  When you feel ready, open your eyes and read a question.  If it helps you to feel more, close your eyes again.  Do whatever you need… walk, sit, lie down …..to sense what’s happening in your body.Do I feel balance in my body ?  Are the top and bottom halves, front and back, right and left sides equally developed, strong and flexible ? … ( note any area that feels massive, weak, flexible, or rigid. Where do I feel limited or restricted in my movements ?...  Where am I anxious and tight or tense or fearful ?..... write in what matches your feelings. Where do I feel free and relaxed ?.....Where am I easy and comfortable in my body ?..... Where do I feel pain ?....What does it feel like ?..... Does it burn like a hot poker ?..... Is it sharp as a knife ?..... Is the ache as heavy as a truck ?....  Does it pierce like needles ?..... Does it have a particular color ?.... If you have difficulty describing it, just write “pain in this area” ….. Where do I not feel anything ?  Note places of numbness…. Is a part of my body trying to tell me something ?......  What is the message? You can ask a general question… such as “What would help you the most” .. If nothing comes up as a word, image, or feeling you can be more specific and ask for a yes or no.  Any doorway you walk through first will lead you to many others.  As you experience, you will gradually empower yourself to make your own decisions. Over the years, the more you do this, the more adept you become, and the more your body becomes your friend and ally in living with greater ease and comfort, with greater well being.    This allows you to prevent exhaustion, pain, and disease, or at least to understand it.  This is a lifelong process, and at times can be frustrating because it involves zigs and zags rather than moving in a direct line.  Learning the language of your body develops from an enduring commitment to know yourself, to undo the physical and emotional patterns that limit your sensitivity and authentic expression.      Discovering the Body’s Wisdom by Mirka Knaster