As I’m writing this, we’re having a steady snowfall that has already required one round of shoveling my driveway. I have a snowblower but it happens to be a Sunday and there’s no rush to clear the snow. I’ve also made a resolution to myself to take any opportunity to put the attention into my body and away from my mind. Shoveling surely requires my attention to be on the physical activity, to see how I’m moving my body to control where I’m moving the snow to, and observing how my back and legs are feeling after a half hour. It feels relaxing not to think about anything other than what is happening in front of me and how my body feels. It seems like I’m off to a good start for my New Year’s resolution.
Get Away from the Mind and Into the Body
After I place the acupuncture needles, the person on the table then lies there for between twenty and forty minutes, allowing the body to respond to the stimulation and input. There’s a pillow under the head, and a bolster under the knees, and the table may be warmed during the winter months. There is gentle music playing and soft light in the room. The person may feel subtle tingling in the body, or some fullness at the needled points, but mostly just rests on the table. It’s an opportunity to bring one’s attention to their body and to the space they are in. But often the thoughts take a lot of the attention. Often the mind has to do some thought processing for a bit until it settles down and allows the attention to be more on the senses. On the acupuncture table, it’s common for people to become mentally and physically relaxed enough to then fall asleep.
In our modern lifestyles, there’s a lot of attention going toward our mind and its thoughts throughout the day. Over time our incredible minds have created many ways to be more efficient, more comfortable, and ultimately less demanding of our bodies. It’s only relatively recent that many of us have become deskbound for eight hours of the day while looking a few feet in front of us at a computer. It’s become important to take breaks from that, stand up and move around, look further away, and stretch your muscles. That’s the moment to put your attention on your body rather than the thinking part of you. I’ve recently been jogging in place in my office for a few minutes at a time, several times a day. I’m paying attention to my various joints, keeping them loose, and shaking up my body. I’m realizing that I’m doing a lot of sitting, in front of my computer taking notes, or in front of my patients listening. I move around throughout the day, but I’m primarily in my mind, thinking about others or what needs to happen next. My resolution is to spend more time focused on my body, and taking a few minutes here and there throughout the day to jog in place has been effective and simple.
Don’t Forget to Play
Getting massage therapy is another way to put your attention into your body and receive a multitude of benefits. I’ve recently incorporated this myself in a more committed way. The wonderful therapist and some others have wisely reminded me that play is another important way to be in my body. I love to downhill ski and play tennis. These activities uplift me, excite me, challenge me, and force me to really bring my attention to my body and what’s in front of me. I’ve done them since childhood yet have let them pass me by season after season as my focus has been elsewhere. I realize I’m sharing this to inspire others and also solidify my own commitment.
I also greatly enjoy the practice of Qi Gong, a gentle form of movement exercise taught to me during my Chinese medical education over twenty years ago. Some months I practice daily while others I lose the habit. Qi Gong, as well as Tai Chi, forces me to bring my full attention to my body, not to what is happening later today or what happened yesterday. The mind guides the movements, similar to other movement therapies, like yoga. In general, I believe we’ve gotten imbalanced in this way, with too much mental activity and not enough of the physical. Pain and weakness can surely limit us. However, I hope you can find some enjoyable ways to put more attention into your body, leaving your thoughts behind for some part of the day.