Twenty-four hours a day, your body/mind is communicating to you; giving you feedback about what it needs for its survival, its pleasure, its growth, its balance. Usually, these messages go unnoticed. To be more conscious the body needs you to listen to what it is saying. Trust what you hear and act on it.

Often pain or disease is the body's attempt to solve a problem, feedback that something isn't working properly. That "something" is probably more than a pain or an ache. These symptoms may point to the need for a change in diet, movement, lifestyle, or emotional expression. Your body needs and thrives on your care and attention, and this means you need to be more conscious about it.

What Being More Conscious About Your Body Does for You

• It tunes you into the constant stream of information your body is sends you about what it needs. You learn to listen to your body's reactions to foods, environments, and people. You learn where your vulnerable parts are — the places where disease often first appears. For many it’s the throat, others can feel a cold approach in their back and shoulders. With this sensitivity, you can often make interventions (like rest or liquids) to prevent an illness from developing.

• You develop a deep sense of awe and gratitude about your body and naturally want to take better care of yourself.
• It encourages you to live in the present moment. You’ll be more in tune with yourself both physically and emotionally whether pleasant or painful. You will experience life more fully.

A Simple Exercise — Meet Your Feet

• Let’s begin with your feet. Remove your shoes. Lift one foot onto your lap and massage it vigorously, bringing energy back into your foot. How does that feel? Now work on your other foot. Your feet have carried you, supported you… for how many years? They deserve some attention and gratitude.
  Try this: stand up, keeping your attention on your feet without looking at them. Become aware of how your feet “work” when you stand still, how they move as you walk, what they do as you sit down again.
• Put aside time to practice increased awareness of other areas of your body. You can do this while watching TV, standing in line, or just take some time to do this exercise. Place your hands softly on one area of your body, then bring your consciousness there. Sensitize yourself to what this area “feels” like under your hands — is it tight, relaxed, warm, cool, at peace, or distressed? Be aware of any fears or judgements you have about this area of your body. Continue doing this for other areas — you can do internal organs as well as external parts.
• Watch your language and notice any ways you judge or condemn your body. Replace negative statements: "There goes that damn back, again..." with simple statements of fact: "My back is painful."
  Even better, send positive thoughts to your back for the pain it is experiencing; and the feedback it is giving you. What is your back asking of you?