Where Does Your Mind Live in Your Body?

If you have an old dance injury, ongoing pain, stiffness, or an area of your body that constantly demands your attention, it’s easy for your mind to get stuck there, often without you even noticing.

In this video, we'll explore what happens when your attention becomes localized and how gently expanding your awareness can help you stop feeding that one area and begin experiencing your whole body again.

We won’t be ignoring pain or forcing yourself to relax. You’ll discover how to notice what's happening, allow yourself to take in more, and give your body a little more space to reorganize.

A simple practice for highly sensitive former dancers and movers who want to move and live with more ease.

If you’d like to go deeper, I offer free consultations in which we can discuss what you need and how to apply this work to your body and your movement.

A transcript of the video is below if you’d prefer to read rather than watch and listen.

Hello, friend.

Where does your mind tend to live in your body?

I'd like you to ask that of yourself now, even if you're not exactly sure what I mean by that question. Take a moment and let it in. Where does your mind tend to live in your body?

There's usually some area the mind gets a little drawn into. Perhaps because of an injury, some pain that's going on there, some stiffness, some bracing.

And this is normal. It's protective. It's okay.

What happens when the mind tends to live in one area of the body, perhaps an old knee injury, the mind keeps going to the knee, going to the knee, going to the knee.

There's this bracing that happens, this subtle tension that starts to creep in, not just in that area, but in other areas of the body as well, because the mind has left. It's gone. It's getting localized, focused on one place to the detriment of the whole.

What we can do is instead start to expand that awareness out. Not trying to override the pain or wherever the mind was, but instead begin to expand, to take in more.

When the mind gets stuck in one area, it's like it's feeding that area. So, if there's pain, it's almost like the mind is living in the pain. Which is very different from noticing what's happening.

So, instead of living in the pain, you might notice that, hmm, there's some achiness in the knee.

I also have another knee.

And hips.

Breath.

Shoulders. Chest. Head. Way up here.

You don't need to make your head be way up at the top. It already is.

And when you allow your mind to get more broad, to start to take in more of the body as it is right now, what it is right now.

It tends to reorganize itself. It tends to let go of unneeded tension.

And pain tends to soften.

This is not a promise to get rid of pain or discomfort. This is not a fight against it.

It's taking away that energy that feeds into it. That makes things worse.

So, I'll ask you again, where does your mind tend to live in your body?

Perhaps an answer is coming to you now. If not, that's okay. Keep the question in the background. And you might be surprised when an answer shows up and what shows up.

When you discover it, it's not there to criticize. It's not bad. It's not wrong. It's simply something to notice.

To be aware of that now you know that's where your mind tends to go. And then, start to let it expand out. Take in more of what is right now.

When I say you have a head, I don't mean your head is supposed to be a certain way or do something specific. I'm just inviting you to remember that it exists. That it is at the top.

When I say there's breath happening, I'm not saying your breath has to be a certain way. It doesn't have to be better.

It's already happening, and I'm inviting you to know that it is.

As you go through your day, have that question in the background. And if you notice, oh, this is where my mind lives. Pause. Just a moment.

What's happening now? What is the body now?

And then, continue.

Watch how that shifts the way you move, the way you use your body, the way you experience what's happening.

Let me know what you discover. If you want to explore more, need a little extra help, want to go deeper, get in touch with me. That's what I'm here for. Till we meet again, take care.