How to Practice Presence

What does connecting with your body even mean?

The common link between overeating, under-eating, stress-eating, emotional eating, binge eating and following strict plans (basically any kind of weirdness with food) is the same thing: disconnection from the body and distrust of the self.

And it makes so much sense. We live in a world that values intellect! We seek out an expert in absolutely everything, and we often value higher education above experience.

And for all of the value that we place on intellect, we completely devalue our emotions.

How many times have you heard: “Handle your feelings in private.” “Don’t let anyone see you cry.” “Suck it up, buttercup.” “Just think positive or find the silver lining and everything will be ok.”

What this has created is a world full of floating heads.

We make choices based on information collected in our brains from “experts” (as well as crafty advertising campaigns that we don’t even realize have taken hold), and we do everything possible to ignore, mute, or even numb out our emotions and feelings.

So when I tell people that in order to build strong, healthy relationships with food and their bodies, they need to actually connect to the body, usually I get a blank stare.

We don’t even realize that we are disconnected from the body.

“I mean, it’s mine and I live in it every day,” does not mean that you are connected with your body’s cues.

If you are struggling to figure out what that actually means or what you need to do to feel connected with your body, you are not alone!

It seems like such a simple concept, but just because it is simple it doesn’t mean it is easy.

After all, we have spent a lifetime promoting the opposite.

The best place to start (this is a little free coaching for ya) is with presence.

I know, what a letdown. Another seemingly obvious thing.

But think about it, how much time in a day do you spend rushing from one thing to another, thinking of the next thing, planning some future event, or multitasking? Probably a lot.

Practicing presence is an art form in today’s “busy” world. And it requires CONSTANT intention.

Not just for 5 minutes a day. Literally whenever you can all day, every day.

Here’s what you do:

That’s it! Get in the practice of doing this and you will begin to experience what connecting with your body feels like.

Even better is going through this practice before you sit down to eat. This will slow down your system and help you to more fully enjoy your food and be aware of your fullness cues.

Comment below when you give it a try and let me know how it worked for you!

If you are ready to take this whole connecting with your body thing a layer deeper, sign up for a free discovery call and let’s see if 1:1 coaching is right for you!