Body awareness is how conscious and connected you are to your own body.
Body awareness has several benefits that range from physical to emotional health.
Improved balance and stability – It helps to build a strong mind-body connection. If you know the status of your body, you are easily able to direct yourself to do what you want to do.
Weight management – People with low body awareness are likely to eat more of hunger or binge eating. This results in obesity.
Pain managing – Body awareness can help reduce pain if thought mindfully. Lower body awareness leads to lower self-esteem and higher depressive symptoms.
Attaining and fulfilling your needs - Understanding what your body is communicating can help you better meet your own needs, leading to greater health and emotional satisfaction. The body can feel the difference between different emotions like hunger, thirst, tiredness, and emotional distress.
Improved mental and emotional well-being – Optimum body awareness gives you security both in the body and the world around you. It helps avoid depression, anxiety, and vertigo.
Ways you can improve body awareness
- Balancing exercises and yoga are ways to increase awareness of the body. Balance exercises can be as simple as standing on one foot or walking in a straight line. Yoga is very helpful in body awareness. It relaxes your mind, body, and inner peace. Thus, these two things help in relieving stress and improving heart health.
- Meditation and mindfulness for body awareness - Meditation improves sleep, reduces pain, and lessens symptoms of stress and anxiety. Meditation is a process of scanning your whole body and becoming aware of sensations like pain, tension, and numbness.
- Body awareness therapies – Going to a Physical Therapist with a motive to improve mobility and movement after any injury or surgery is physical therapy. Going to a Therapist in order to improve the ability to perform daily tasks is Occupational Therapist. The therapy focuses on fine and gross motor skills.