How to Listen to Your Body

We are told to listen to our body. But mostly everyone I know just doesn’t know how to do this. We have a headache and what do we do? Take a paracetamol.

Headache

We have back ache and we pop an aspirin or put on an ice pack. We have a stomach ache and we think – I must have eaten something that didn’t agree with me.  We just don’t take the time to listen to what our body is trying to tell us. We just want a quick fix and off we go again. 

Painkiller

Over time we lose touch with our body’s messages and often it takes a serious illness before we stop and properly look after ourselves.

An easy way to listen to your body is to tune in to your feelings. Then ask yourself the question:  

“If this pain/ache had an emotion behind it, what would it be?”

Or if you are tuned into an emotion already:

“Where do I feel that {insert emotion} in my body?” 

For example, say you were feeling stressed out with work.  You could ask yourself  “Where do I feel that stress in my body?”.  This then gives you the opportunity to get in touch with how your body is feeling that stress. 
 
Examples:
Do I feel a knot in my stomach?
Is my heart constricted?
Is there a lump in my throat?
Has my breathing become fast and shallow?
Are my shoulders tense?
 
Describe your body’s feelings in more detail i.e. is there a size, shape, weight, pressure, temperature associated with it? Is there a colour or sound associated with it?
 
Examples:
Sharp blue stabbing lump in my throat
Red hot burning knot in my stomach
Black heavy weight in my shoulders

Whatever response you come up with, you can then use that for your EFT setup statement. 

Examples:

Even though I feel my work stress like a red-hot burning knot in my stomach, I deeply and completely accept myself and how I feel.
 
Even though I feel this sharp blue stabbing lump in my throat, I’m ok.
 
Even though I feel this black heavy weight of my problems pressing on my shoulders, I choose to relax and let the load lighten.
 
Keep on tapping using your body descriptions.  Sometimes you’ll do what Gary Craig calls “chasing the pain”.  This happens when the body sensations move location or change in quality.  Keep tuning into how you feel and keep following the body sensations until you feel calm, relaxed and peaceful.
 
I hope using your body’s feelings helps you get even better results with Emotional Freedom Techniques.  If you have any questions or feedback then please get in touch, I’d love to hear from you.

You can email me on: louise@freeflowingenergy.co.uk or use the form on my contact page. If you want a free consultation, just give me a call on 07866 013 637. I’d love to help you listen to your body’s wisdom.

I work face to face in Exeter and Tavistock in Devon and in Cardiff. I work over the phone or on Skype worldwide.