Sit comfortably in your chair or lie down. Now, take a few deep breaths. Let the atmosphere settle down with peace. Feel open curiosity, love and acceptance in your mind. Next,keep your focus on your toes and feet. Can you stay with this body awareness? Can you feel any sensations? Does it feel relaxed or tense?Can you say something positive and accepting of your toes and feet? If you are getting any negative messages about your body, don’t judge, but just let it go. Move your focusto bothyour legs. Feel the sensations here and say a kind word about your legs. Be grateful for its function and say one positive word about the legs.
Next, move on to the hips and the pelvic area. Can you be more accepting and connected to the part of your body? Say some words of acceptance in your mind. Let go of any resistance that may be critical of your body. Replace those thoughts with gratitude and a message, “Your body is well and safe; Thank you for being there”. After the lower part of the body is brought to awareness, move your attention to your abdomen area and then the chest. Can you feel any sensations here? Can you trace this to any emotion? If so, what is the emotion? Does it trigger an event or a person in your mind? Let this go, but don’t force it out of your body. Think that waves are washing away any negativity from your body. Slightly move your fingers and bring your awareness to your fingers.
Feel the weight of your fingers, arms, and forearms on your lap as you move them. Feel the heaviness and say a few words of kindness. Focus on your face and all its aspects. Try to relax your face and head. With this awareness, gratitude and acceptance, open your eyes, take your pen and paper and write down five statements of “I am…” e.g., “I am sad, I am annoyed, I am tired, I am feeling hot”, and so forth.
Now change the beginning of the sentences to
“ I think…
“ My body is…
“ The place is…
“ I feel…
And so forth….
This writing exercise helps you recognise your thoughts and emotions. You should know how they feel in your body as sensations to differentiate between them. By being more aware and distancing yourself, you can defuse the thoughts. You bring a distance to your thoughts and emotions and don’t suffer its effects.
- Do you feel more aware and connected to your body and mind? What can you do in everyday life to keep this connection? Can you take breaks from work to do this little mindfulness of acceptance and gratitude? This is a vital component of self-compassion.
- Do you feel kinder and more accepting towards yourself? If you don’t, reflect on why you don’t feel kinder towards yourself.
- Do you know what you think and feel isdifferent from your identity?
In Chennai Minds we offer exclusive treatment for Insomnia and have developed packages which incorporates diet, psychoeducation, CBT, yoga and mindfulness. Chennai minds , the Best Psychiatrist in Chennai now also offering Telepsychiatry including Online Counselling for OCD and Depression as well.
