Our bodies talk to us if we listen

By guest author and Mindful Movement Master Teacher Douglas Groesser

As I stood waiting for my hiking group at the head of a six-mile trail, I sensed a twinge in my lower back. Panic erupted, a fear that my malingering back injury would stop me from enjoying the tropical forest of the Aiea Loop Trail. I decided to sit, calm myself, and have a real dialogue with my body to see whether the twinge made sense.

Our bodies talk to us if we listen. The body has its own instruction manual that always informs us via body sensations. This living instruction manual doesn’t just sit mutely in a glove compartment or cupboard. It’s always speaking, delivering information to us

Many of us use the phrase, “Oh, that makes sense.” That satisfies our minds. We feel reassured. How about our body, can we “make sense” of the signals it sends us, such as the twinge in my back?

How do we determine whether a movement or position makes Body Sense? Simple: We engage in conversation with our bodies.  At the Academy of Mindful Movement, we call this Two-Way Dialoguing with our bodies.

So, sitting at the trailhead, I simply asked my body: “How is your back feeling, now?” Hmm… I sensed that the twinge was starting to subside.

I tuned in to see whether anything else was acting up in my body. I sensed that my throat felt dry, so I took a good swig of water. My feet felt a bit crammed in my shoes, so I loosened the laces. I noticed that the cool air felt great on my neck. And my tight chest panic response was just about gone.