The Practice of Awareness

In therapy sessions with my clients, I often will ask "what are you noticing?". Their answer may describe a thought, a memory surfacing, an emotion, or a body sensation. If we are not in the practice of consciously checking in with what is happening internally, many emotions and sensations often go unfelt or unprocessed.

While some folks have a fine-tuned awareness of their emotions and body sensations, many of us were never taught how to be in touch with ourselves in that way. Even further, many have experienced being directly or indirectly told to not feel what they are feeling (e.g. “boys don’t cry”, “don’t make other people uncomfortable or feel burdened by talking about your problems”, “stop fidgeting and sit still”…).

Although emotions and body sensations can be separate phenomena, there is often a link between the two. The dropping in your stomach before a meeting with your manager may be communicating anxiety or fear, and the deepening of your breath while you lay on the couch …