"Body Talk": how to improve the relationship with your body
Get a pen and paper and choose a space where you are alone and undisturbed and where you can move safely. Bring your mobile phone or any device you can listen to music with. If you can't hear the music through the speakers, use your headphones.
Choose a song that energizes you, generates pleasant feelings and makes you feel alive. Is it a song about freedom? Is it about escape? Or is it about fortitude? Regardless of the lyrics, still choose a song that makes you feel good and energizes you.
You can dance or stand still. You don't need to move.
If you choose to move with the music, try to use your body in a way that is pleasant for you: any movement is allowed! Do not move with the intention of impressing anyone: move or dance only for yourself! Give yourself permission to feel your body and the pleasure its movement generates.
If you choose NOT to move with the music, or if for some reason you are unable to do so, sit down (or lie down) and observe how the vibrations of the music resonate in your body. Observe how your muscles, heart, lungs, internal organs react as you listen to music.
Once the song is over, sit down and take a few breaths with the intention of connecting deeply with your body.
Now take a pen and paper and ask yourself this question: "If my body could talk to me now, what would it say to me?" and write whatever emerges. Don't censor ideas or thoughts - anything that comes up will be good for you. You will realize that your body has a lot more to tell you than you think.
Finish the exercise by taking a few breaths and thank your body for helping you complete this task. Without it, it would not have been possible.
"“To lose confidence in one’s body is to lose confidence in oneself.”
Simone De Beauvoir
Author: Paolo Assandri is a HCPC Registered Counselling Psychologist and a UKCP Registered Full Clinical Psychotherapist. He is also a fully qualified Italian psychologist (Ordine degli Psicologi del Piemonte). He lives and works in London offering counselling and psychotherapy.
Warning:
This exercise is not intended to replace any kind of medical/psychological therapy. Its only purpose is to help you improve your general wellbeing. If you need medical or psychological support, please contact a qualified health practitioner. Authors, producers, consultants involved in the production of this exercise are not responsible for anything that can happen during or after the exercise.
