Sensing
Of the familiar five senses the tactile sense is particularly significant in awakening awareness of the concrete physicality of the body, as well as developing embodied self-compassion.
We also have the ability to sense our movements and to be conscious of where we are placed in relation to the space around us. In fact, the whole body is a sensate organism, and all our experience registers in and through our body in various ways. At a deep level, the felt sense enables us to become aware of how we experience events, relationships and situations in our body.
Just as the Lost Son in the gospel story ‘came to his senses’ and returned home, cultivating sensory awareness of our body, especially how our body feels from within, can help us come home to ourselves and to God’s presence with us in the here and now.
Awareness of the body also helps to still the mind and provides an anchor for the movements of the spirit in prayer.
See video for more about sensing…
