“Do not turn your attention elsewhere in your search for the truth, for it is nowhere else to be found but within your body. Through the inner body, you are forever one with God.” – Eckhart Tolle
Connecting with your inner body can be a really divine experience.
The consumerist society we live in promotes a culture that encourages you to live in your mind. In other words, your attention is mostly lost in your thoughts. And as you continue to do that, you automatically lose connection with your body – more precisely your ‘inner body’.
So what is the inner body?
Your inner body consists of over 15 trillions of cells that make up your body. These cells form over 70 organs that run extremely complex processes, non-stop, to keep your body functioning at optimal capacity. And all of this happens on its own – no effort required.
This is because, each one of your cells carries immense intelligence within. This is the intelligence of the universe itself.
For example, at this very moment, whether you are aware of it or not, your lungs are drawing in life energy (that we call oxygen) from the air you breathe in, enriching your blood with this life sustaining energy which is then supplied to every one of your cells by your heart.
How do you give attention to your inner body?
So now the question arises – how do you give attention to your inner body? You cannot see your inner body, so how is it even possible to give it your attention?
That is true. The inner body cannot be seen, but it can be ‘felt’. And the way to give attention to your inner body is to ‘feel it’ consciously.
To feel your body consciously is what ‘inner body meditation’ is all about. It is also called body awareness meditation or body scanning meditation.
Inner Body Meditation technique
The following inner body meditation will help you get your mind and body in a state of deep relaxation which will promote sleep and healing.
The idea behind this meditation is to take your attention from your thoughts and bring it into your inner body. As you bring your attention to various parts of your inner body, see if you feel any sensations (warmness, coolness, pressure, vibrations, tingling, heaviness etc.) in these parts. Just stay mindful of these sensations, you need not do anything else. If you find any tightness or clenched muscles let your attention rest in these areas for a while longer and let these muscles relax.
If your attention gets pulled in by your thoughts (which is bound to happen), gently acknowledge this and take your attention back within your body.
The practice of finding your attention getting lost in thoughts and bringing it back will strengthen your mindfulness of your attention. This will ease your practice as mind wandering will reduce and connection to your inner body will become stronger in the days to follow.
One of the best times to do this meditation is during bedtime as this mediation will deeply relax your body and enhance sleep. In most cases, you will fall asleep midway during the meditation and that is perfectly fine.
If you want, here’s a guided body scan meditation you can listen to right now or you can read this article to know all the steps involved:
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Step 1: Feel the weight of your body
Lie down comfortably on your bed, on your back or belly as per your preference.
Close your eyes and feel the entire weight of your body being supported by your bed. Feel the parts of your body that are in contact with the surface of the bed.
Realize that you need not make any effort to support your body. So completely let go and let the entire weight of your body sink into your bed.
If you find this hard here’s a simple visualization you can do. Think of your body as light as a feather as you are freely floating through air. You completely let go and allow yourself to glide slowly through the air.
As you visualize this in your mind, it will be a lot easier for you to let go.
Step 2: Bring your attention to your breath
Slowly bring your attention to your breathing. Breathe in deeply and relax as you breathe out.
As you breath in, feel the cool air caressing the inner walls of your nostrils, as it enters your inner body. Feel the air entering your lungs through your wind pipe and as you do this, feel your lungs expand. Hold your breath for a few seconds and feel this air inside your lungs. Realize that you are holding in pure life energy and that you are surrounded by it.
Now breathe out and while doing so, feel your lungs deflate while also feeling the warmth of the air caressing the insides of your nostrils and upper lips as it glides out.
Repeat this for a few times.
If your attention gets lost in your thoughts any time during this exercise, gently bring it back to ‘feeling’. As you feel, part of your attention will be on the images that your mind produces and that is perfectly fine. The idea is to stay alert so you are not fully lost in these images and that a major part of your attention is always on the ‘feeling’.
After feeling your breath this way for roughly a minute or two, let’s now start to feel some other parts of your body.
Step 3: Feel the soles of your feet
Shift your attention to the soles of your feet. See if you can sense any sensations here. In most cases it would be a light tingling sensation or a sensation of warmth. You can also sense mild aches at times. Spend a few seconds here.
Slowly move your attention to your calf muscles, your knees and then to your thigh muscles followed by the muscles in and around your glutes and lower back.
You can start with the left leg and move to the right, or do both at the same time.
Step 4: Feel your gut area
Feel in and around your gut area. Often times when you are stressed, you tend to unconsciously clench this area, so if you find any tension in this area, let go and let it soften.
Move your attention to your stomach/abdomen area and do the same.
Feeling and relaxing your gut and stomach this way can help immensely in the digestion process and heal any related issues that you might have.
Step 5: Feel your heart area
Slowly move your attention up to your chest area. Feel your heart beating and pumping life energy to all parts of your body. Realize that your heart has been beating non-stop since the beginning.
If you want, you can place a hand over your heart to feel the beats.
Step 6: Feel the palms of your hands
Shift your attention now to your traps and shoulders, and then to your arms, elbows, forearms, wrists and fingers. Feel the tip of your fingers and then the entire palm of your hands. See if you can sense the movement of energy in your palms.
Step 7: Feel your neck area
Move your attention to the front and back of your neck and then onto your upper and lower back. Try to feel your spinal cord and the muscles surrounding it. As you do this, once again feel the entire weight of your back resting against the bed.
Step 8: Feel your head area
Bring your attention to the top of your head, spend a few seconds and see if you feel any sensations here. There is a high likelihood that you might feel a tingling sensation. If you don’t feel any sensation, do not worry. Just relax this area.
Now move your attention to the back of your head and feel its entire weight lying on the pillow. If you find any tightness in this area, which is highly possible, gently let go and relax.
Take your attention to the sides of your head, your forehead and then onto your facial muscles, eyes, lips and the inside of your mouth. Spend a few seconds in each of these areas and see if you feel any sensations and consciously relax these areas.
Step 9: Feel your entire body
Now let your attention run freely within your body. Shift your attention anywhere you feel an ache, tingling or tightness and relax these areas.
Before you finish this exercise, and in most cases, when you are midway, you should be already deep asleep.
Dealing with emotions
As you take your attention within the body, you might encounter emotions. Realize that these are suppressed emotions that the body is holding onto without your knowledge.
Emotion is the language of the body, just like thoughts are the language of the mind. In other words, emotions are the way the body speaks to you.
When you encounter an emotion, do not shy away from it. Instead, try to gently feel the emotion.
When you feel the emotion this way, it begins to release. Once suppressed emotions are released, you will be better able to feel your inner body.
Benefits of inner body meditation
Here are the 5 amazing benefits you can experience through inner body meditation.
1. You experience deep relaxation
Inner body meditation is one of the easiest ways to deeply relax your mind and body.
For one, it helps take your attention away from your thoughts and come to the present moment. Secondly, when you focus your attention within your body, your body naturally begins to relax.
This is why doing this meditation during bedtime can help you experience deep restorative sleep. You are sure to wake up with a lot of clarity and energy in the morning.
2. Your body begins to heal
Most of us take good care of our bodies, but that is only on an external level. For example, you exercise, eat the right foods, take showers, etc. While this is all good, your focus is mostly on the external while your inner body gets ignored.
Your inner body loves your attention. So when you shift your attention inside, every single cell in your body rejoices and the obvious result is healthier cells that heal quickly and are stronger in their resistance against toxins and negative energy.
Plus, healing only happens when your body is completely relaxed and in parasympathetic mode. When you are stressed, your body’s priorities shift from restoration to being on high alert. This is why, a relaxed body is the gateway to healing and as we discussed earlier, inner body meditation helps you deeply relax.
3. You become calmer
Emotions live in your body and hence the only way to understand your emotions is to get in touch with your body.
When you feel your emotions consciously, they begin to lose their power over you. From reacting impulsively to external stimulus, you will have the power to pause for a moment, think and respond appropriately.
This is why inner body meditation helps you become a calmer person.
4. You become more intuitive
Your inner body is the gateway to deeper intelligence and pure consciousnesses. Every cell in your body carries the intelligence of the universe within.
By getting in touch with your inner body, you strongly enhance your intuition and your vibrational frequency raises.
5. You can release stuck emotions
When emotions get stuck in your body, they can cause undue consequences like for instance, body aches, stress, confusion etc.
By bringing attention to and consciously relaxing your body, you begin to release stuck emotions. Over a period of time, you will see noticeable difference in how your body feels much lighter in comparison to before.
So if you have never thought about this, give the inner body meditation a try and I assure you, that you will find it transformational.
Also Read: 50 Unique Meditation Gift Ideas For Someone Who Likes To Meditate
