Observing the body

Observe your body to stay mobile in the long run.

Observing the body

Body sense

Body sense is often referred to as our sixth sense. Since we usually only think about our sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch, our body sense is often forgotten.

Are you in touch with your body sense? Observe how you sit, how you stand, or how you breathe.

Without our body sense, we wouldn’t be able to perform everyday movements like walking.

This sixth sense is responsible for complex activities that take place automatically, without us having to think about them.

Maybe it’s easy to forget about our body sense because it doesn’t have its own sense organ. We observe it instead through a variety of sub-senses, such as touch, balance, and our depth perception.

Our body sense is continuously receiving stimuli from our surrounding environment and from internal systems.

Our sub-senses are what connect us to our body sense.

The perception of movement ( or kinaesthesia) is processed by the brain and spinal cord. Our bodies then respond with corresponding movements.

The brain receives information about movement, posture, and tension through little ‘measuring stations’ located in the joints, muscles, and tendons. A large number of these stations can be found in our arms, legs, and trunk.

All internal and external stimuli are processed in the brain.

Experience is the teacher of all things

Experiences and opportunities for comparison are necessary so the brain can interpret and respond appropriately to sense stimuli.

Small children, for example, need many attempts before being able to push down a door lever. At some point, they only need to look at a door to know whether they’ll be able to open it or not.

We collect experiences like this all the time and in this way, learn how to interpret body signals and respond to them accordingly.

Are you reading your body signals correctly?

Body sense and brain health

How is body sense related to our brain health?

Well, since we don’t always have to think about the movements we make, this protects our brains from overload.

The automatic behaviours that come from our body sense prevent overstimulation.

There are many movements in everyday life that are carried out without much thinking: walking, bending, brushing our teeth, scratching…

The problem:

Because so many of our movements are automatic, it’s easy to overlook our body signals.

Over time, we become used to movement that at some stage, our brains interpret as normal. We then stop noticing the body’s warning signs about incorrect posture and overstimulation.

Retraining our body sense and awareness is important to our health.

Learn to recognize your body signals again.

This is important so that we’re able to:

Notice tension in our back and act accordingly

Correctly interpret pain

Timeously recognise warning signals from our body

Assess physical limits

Perceive when we’re stressed and under mental strain

Develop a positive self-image

Training our body sense

With the help of simple movement and observation exercises, we learn not only to train our senses (like our sense of balance), but also to interpret body signals such as our breath, heartbeat, and muscle tension.

These body sense, or body awareness exercises are helpful and can easily be incorporated into our everyday lives.

When doing body awareness training exercises, breathe evenly, doing them slowly and mindfully.

Observation exercises

Observing the body parts

Lie on your back on a mat with your arms and legs stretched out. Place your feet in the air and bend your legs, pulling them close to your body with both hands.

Observe how the position of your pelvis and spine changes. Repeat the exercise using one leg at a time.

Take your time when moving and observing the body. Don’t rush!

Still lying on your back, now place your legs in the air and your arms behind your head. Feel here, too, how the position of the chest and spine changes.

You can also do this exercise standing. For this, place all your weight on one leg, gently swinging your free leg back and forth. Observe how your pelvis and spine move. Repeat the exercise with the other leg.

Explore how the position of your spine changes.

Observing the spine

Lie on your back on a mat with your arms and legs stretched out. Close your eyes and observe where your spine touches the floor.

Where do you notice hollows? Then, use your hands to feel where your spine touches the floor and notice what shape it takes.

Now concentrate on your breath: breathe in and out evenly. Taking several breaths in each area, start by placing your hands on your stomach, then your flanks (lateral belly), moving up to the chest.

Each time, direct your breath to the place where your hands are resting. Notice how your breath changes the shape and stability of your spine.

With awareness, direct your breath to each body part.

Observing an upright posture

Stand in a stable position, with your legs hip-width apart, your feet turned slightly outwards.

With your head upright, chin slightly tucked, and sternum pushed forward, direct your gaze in front of you with soft eyes.

Breathe in and out deeply, remembering to smile as you do this. Take a few steps and notice how your body and mood seem to lift!

Now repeat the exercise, imagining a situation where things aren’t going so well. How does your posture and mood change?

Barefoot, the exercise feels very different. Try it!