Talking to yourself to help yourself
Your heart is racing. Your belly is rumbling or sinking. Your feet are tapping. Your hands are fidgeting. Is this how anxiety talks to you?
As you have been observing your anxious body, have you been able to name the sensations? Here is a list that you might find useful to practice naming them: Sensation Vocabulary.
A part of intentional bodywork and the somatic healing practices I use involves paying close attention to the body in ways that are not promoted in our every day lives.
I wonder about this and how some aspects of the anxious body experience might be a bit like bargaining with Rumplestilskin. The experiences, like Rumplestilskin, are not going away and they are going to steal your joy UNLESS you can find their name and say it to their face.
In the course of finding and keeping joy, I want to address my anxious parts by name, “Hello Stomach!” And I want to ask them what’s up, “Hey, what’s up, Stomach? What do you need right now?” And then I want to sit with the sensations that my stomach presents, naming them as they appear:
“Ah! Wobbly.”
“Oh! Sickened.”
“Hmm. Burbly.”
Giving each sensation time to present and pass and provide information allows for flow. It’s inviting your body to consider itself whole and heard.
As an experiment, I invite you to practice speaking—and then listening—to your body.
If you are interested in gaining more skills in somatic awareness, schedule a free consult:
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