Are you paying attention to your body?
As you read these words, pay attention to how your abdominal area feels.
Is it relaxed or tight? Now notice how your jaw area feels. Is it clenched or relaxed? If you are sitting, notice the sensation on your buttocks against whatever you are sitting on.
You may realize that those sensations were there before I asked you to notice them.
However, you probably did not experience these sensations before I asked you to pay attention to them. This body awareness, noticing how parts of your body feel at any particular time is instrumental to develop stronger communication muscles.
If you are attempting to communicate with your spouse and are unaware of accumulating tension in your body, there is a good chance you will automatically react to remove that uncomfortable tension. You may do this by a fight or flight reaction such as yelling, withdrawing or acting out an addiction. If you choose to be aware of what is going on in your body, you can simply notice it and apply a creative maneuver to deal with the pain.
Your conscious choices can include:
- Enduring the discomfort while you stay focused on your partner’s discomfort
- Sharing your feelings with your partner
- Self soothing to relax and let go of tension
Many of us, especially men rarely put our attention on the sensations and feelings in our body.
It is not difficult to do; simply take your attention off whatever you are focused on and consciously refocus onto your body. Pay particular attention to your heart and abdominal areas.
There is a lot of information about us in our bodies that we can learn about but only if we pay attention to it.
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