Body Literacy Helps to Regulate Emotions

Body literacy entails the skill of attuning ourselves to sensations originating from within our own bodies, much like how we acquire reading literacy in childhood. We can develop the ability to tune in to these bodily sensations and decipher how our "body sense" influences our daily decisions and behaviors. As Gendlin (2007) noted, one can directly perceive their living body (their sensory experience) beneath layers of thoughts, memories, and familiar feelings. Becoming aware of these sensations provides what Gendlin called a "body-sense of meaning," granting conscious access to information about life experiences through bodily sensations.

Imagine going outside during a snowfall in just a T-shirt. Inevitably, you'll feel cold and discomfort, compelling you to seek warmth indoors, don a jacket, and return outside feeling more comfortable. Similarly, when facing emotional distress from personal challenges or global concerns, we can detect this distress not only in our thoughts and feelings but also in our bodily sensations. Our heart rate may quicken, breaths may become shallow, muscles could tense, and anxiety can creep in. To alleviate these sensations, we might choose to call a friend, take a leisurely walk, or seek solace in a substance. These responses can vary from healthy coping mechanisms to unhealthy patterns, like excessive drinking.

Learning to Distinguish Between Distressing and Well-being Sensations

Body literacy extends to understanding how the nervous system responds to our thoughts and emotions, enabling us to distinguish between pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral sensations linked to our feelings, memories, and thoughts. This discrimination allows us to consciously choose our focus. For instance, when angered, someone might say, "I was so 'hot' when my boss yelled at me, and it was hard to 'cool' down." Attempting to control anger through self-talk may not always be effective. However, by learning to attend to more pleasant or neutral sensations, we can better manage emotions, returning to a state of well-being characterized by a slower heart rate, deeper, relaxed breathing, a cooler temperature, and eased muscle tension. These bodily sensations, intimately connected to thoughts and emotions, offer a wealth of information to navigate life's experiences. As sensory awareness expands, we can cultivate enhanced emotional regulation and deeper states of well-being.

The insula, a brain region, plays a vital role in facilitating communication between the body and mind by interpreting physical states like pain, itchiness, and temperature. It signals the cortex to take action to maintain internal balance based on this information. As Farb (2015) notes, our ability to perceive signals from within our bodies is fundamental to our sense of embodiment, motivation, and overall well-being.

As we navigate our daily lives, filled with the inevitable highs and lows of our journey, it's essential to keep in mind our inherent capacity to tune in to the sensations associated with what motivates and uplifts us. Whether it's a friendly greeting from a neighbor, a compassionate gesture, or a warm hug from a loved one, these moments nourish our embodied sense of well-being.

Simple Steps to Begin

• Step 1: Start by building a sensory vocabulary during your daily activities. When you wash your hands, take a shower, or do the dishes, pay attention to the sensations you experience. Notice the warmth, wetness, or coolness of the water and assess whether these sensations are pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral.
• Step 2: As you engage in your daily activities, pay attention to sensations connected to something pleasant you do every day. For example, perhaps you take a walk. As you stride, notice your surroundings, the sounds, the smells, and the nourishing images. Then, notice what happens on the inside. Draw your awareness to sensations that are pleasant or neutral.
• Step 3: Identify the persons, animals, places, and things in your life that are uplifting, bringing a body sense of peace, calm, or pleasant excitement. Notice the body sensations connected to what uplifts you. For example, your best friend uplifts you, and while thinking of them, you become aware of a body sense of well-being through your relaxed muscles and deeper breathing. As you develop body literacy, it is essential to notice the sensations connected to your personal resources to savor the embodied experience.
• Step 4: When you become aware of unpleasant sensations, you can shift your attention to pleasant or neutral sensations with practice with greater ease. Sometimes, it may be necessary to remember one of your resources and then notice the sensations that are pleasant in order to shift out of sensations of distress and return to a state of well-being.