Don’t judge your body by what you see on social media or in magazines. Your body makes you special and unique. The next time you are in a group of people, look around. Notice how different everyone looks. Each of us has a different shape, color, and way of moving. There is a beautiful variety of shapes, sizes, ages, genders, and abilities in our world… including yours!
Your body is a gift
Notice the special gifts your body offers: the ability to move and stretch, to enjoy and digest food, to breathe and pump blood, and so many other functions are true gifts.
Most days we don’t notice our body, or worse, we criticize it. Our skin is wrinkled, our eyesight is poor, our knees ache, our palms sweat. Instead of being critical, try to simply be aware—aware of how your body functions and how it struggles.
Body scan meditations can improve how we feel about our body
In this 22-minute body scan, you will be guided to find a comfortable position either sitting or lying down. You are given the opportunity to connect with your breath which will help you to focus on the present moment. Then, starting with your toes and moving all the way up to the top of your head, you are asked to guide your awareness for a few moments to different parts of the body. You may notice you feel less stress both physically and mentally when you take the time for this and other mindfulness practices.
Using evidence-based Whole Health tools such as this mindful body scan can have a positive impact on your day-to-day well-being. Whole Health incorporates self-care techniques, including mindfulness, to help you to be more conscious of your thoughts and feelings.
To learn more about mindful awareness visit: Mindful Awareness – Whole Health (va.gov).
A great tool to help you practice is the Mindfulness Coach app, which leads users through steps to learn how to practice mindfulness to reduce stress and cope with unpleasant thoughts and emotions.
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Find your center and calm your mind with seated Tai Chi ? Embrace the gentle flow of movements, even from the comfort of your chair.
When are you going to bring back Tai Chi I relly miss it and it helped with my PTSD.
Thank you! I don’t know if this would have made the difference in Tahoe when a poor handicapped woman was dumped in the unit directly overhead. She had cerebral palsy from birth, wore heavy clunky shoes round the clock and had never lived in independent living quarters before. And she was terribly angry AT ALL HOURS! Nobody would help either of us! Total corruption in El Dorado County! After three months I needed a pacemaker! I never assumed it was her kharma to be treated like that. But approaching 80 I was good at getting up from sleeping on the floor! (living room floor with earplugs, door to bedroom closed, and fans running) Now in a new town, in a quiet one-story home, I have been doing a really simple meditation for as little as 15 minutes — recommended by Esther Hicks (You-Tube). It sure works! And as I learn my first mobile phone, iRene iPhone 12 mini, I was over the moon to download your app.
Marylon Routh, USAF, Capt, 64-69