How to do a body scan to bring you back into the present moment

Your mind and body are instruments and the way you align and tune them will define how your life unfolds.

When we’ve learnt to dissociate when we are faced with challenging conversations, something that scares us, or something that triggers deep seated wounds or trauma, we leave our bodies. This is a survival skill learnt from childhood, because as a child, traumatic events are actually so toxic for the developing brain that the only way to deal with such events is to mentally leave them.

As adults, we are not as vulnerable as children, but when something that our brain perceives to be threatening happens, we often still default to those same mechanisms to deal with it.

This makes effective communication very challenging, especially in romantic relationships, but also with family and friends or at work.

One way to bring yourself back into the present moment is to do a body scan.

Start at the crown of the head and work your way down to your toes, notice where you’re holding tension, Practice non-judgment as you notice these sensations. Simply notice and move on.

Perhaps your whole body feels tense, or maybe you realsie that you're holding tension in your shoulders. This is important information about our physical and emotional states.

If we learn to be curious about these physical sensations we can find healthy solutions to cope with them instead of turning to toxic patterns.

Once we have identified how our bodies feel, we can implement positive practices to manage stress, tension, and pressure of general unease.