Our society promotes a culture that encourages us to live in our minds. And as we continue to live in our minds, we automatically lose connection with our bodies – more precisely our ‘inner body’.

So what is the inner body? On a rudimentary level, your inner body consists of over 70 organs that run extremely complex processes, non-stop, to keep your body functioning at optimal capacity. And all of this happens on its own – no effort required.

For example, at this very moment, whether you are aware of it or not, your lungs are drawing in oxygen from the air you breath, enriching your blood with this life sustaining energy which is then pumped to various organs and tissues by your heart.

So now the question arises – how do we give attention to our inner body? We cannot see our inner body, so how is it even possible to give it our attention?

That is true. The inner body cannot be seen, but it can be ‘felt’. And the way to give attention to your inner body is to ‘feel it’ consciously. To feel your body consciously is what ‘inner body meditation’ is all about. It is also called body awareness meditation or body scanning meditation.

What does it mean to feel consciously?

To feel something consciously is to feel it fully, with all your attention, without engaging in thinking. In other words – you ‘feel non-judgmentally’.

As you begin to feel your body, thoughts will inevitably arise and pull your attention. But try not to give too much attention to the thoughts. Instead keep bringing back your attention to the act of feeling.

Inner Body Meditation for Deep Relaxation, Healing and Sleep

The following inner body meditation will help you get your mind and body in a state of deep relaxation which will promote sleep and healing. In most cases, you will fall asleep midway and that is perfectly fine.

As you continue to do this meditation every night, you will get more and more in touch with your inner body. This will help you in understanding your inner body better and also help you better understand emotions and their connection to thoughts.

So let’s begin:

Inner body meditation – here’s the technique:

Step 1: Feel the weight of your body

As go to bed tonight, lie on your back and feel the entire weight of your body being supported by the bed. Feel the parts of your body that are in contact with the surface of the bed. Realize that no part of your body needs to be stressed or strained. Just relax and let the entire weight of your body sink into your bed.

Step 2: Bring your attention to your breath

Now slowly bring your attention to your breathing. Breath in deeply and relax as you breath out.

At this point we start to ‘feel consciously’ and enter our inner body. Here’s how:

As you breath in, feel the cool air caressing the inner walls of your nostrils, as it enters your inner body. Feel the air entering your lungs, feel your lungs and abdomen expand. Hold your breath for a few seconds and feel this breath of air inside you. Realize that you are holding in pure life energy and that you are surrounded by it.

Now breath out and while doing so, feel the warmth of the air as it caresses the insides of your nostrils and upper lips as it glides out.

Try to feel more and more as you continue to do this exercise. If your attention gets lost in your thoughts during the exercise, gently bring it back to ‘feeling’. As you feel, part of your attention will be on the images that the mind produces and that is perfectly fine. The idea is to stay alert so you are not fully lost in these images and that a major part of your attention is always on the ‘feeling’.

After feeling your breath this way for roughly a minute or two, let’s now start to feel some other parts of our body.

Step 3: Feel the soles of your feet

Shift your attention to the soles of your feet. See if you can sense anything here. In most cases it would be a light tingling sensation or a sensation of warmth. You can also sense mild aches at times. Spend a few seconds here. Shift your attention now to the palms of your hands. As you feel your palms and soles, try and relax them as much as possible.

Note: Your attention can be at multiple places within your body at the same time. For example, you can feel both your palms and soles of your feet at the same time or you can keep your attention localized at a single point, like the palm of your right hand or sole of your left feet.

Step 4: Feel your head area

Now bring your attention to the top of your head, spend a few seconds and see if you feel any sensations here. There is a high likelihood that you might feel a tingling sensation. If you don’t feel any sensation, do not worry. Just relax this area.

Now move your attention to the back of your head and feel its entire weight lying on the pillow. If you find any tightness in this area, which is highly possible. The back of the head is where a lot of thought activity happens and hence it is likely to be very stressed. So consciously relax this area.

Take your attention to the sides of your head, your forehead and then onto your face, eyes, lips and the inside of your mouth. Spend a few seconds in each of these areas and see if you feel any sensations and consciously relax these areas.

Step 5: Feel your neck area

Move your attention to the front and back of your neck and then onto your upper and lower back. Try to feel your spinal cord and the muscles surrounding it. As you do this, feel the entire weight of your back resting against the bed.

Step 6: Feel your stomach/abdomen

Shift your attention to your stomach and abdomen areas and relax them.

Step 7: Feel your entire body

Now let your attention run free within your body. Shift your attention anywhere you feel an ache, tingling or tightness and relax these areas.

Before you finish this exercise, and in most cases, when you are midway, you should be already deep asleep.

Dealing with emotions

As you take your attention within the body, you might encounter emotions. Realize that these are suppressed emotions that the body is holding onto without your knowledge.

Emotion is the language of the body, just like thoughts are the language of the mind. In other words, emotions are the way the body speaks to us.

When you encounter an emotion, do not shy away from it. Instead, try to feel the emotion completely.

When you feel the emotion this way, it begins to release. Once suppressed emotions are released, you will be better able to feel your inner body.

Your inner body loves your attention

When you do not give your inner body your attention, and when your attention is mostly lost in your thoughts, your inner body feels ignored.

As mentioned earlier, most of us do take good care of our bodies, but that is only on an external level. We generally ignore our inner bodies. Our inner body loves our attention. So when you shift your attention inside, every single cell in your body rejoices and the obvious result is healthier cells that heal quickly and are stronger in their resistance against negative energies.

Many great thinkers have associated the inner body as the gateway to deeper intelligence and pure consciousnesses. So by getting in touch with your inner body, you also strongly enhance your intuition and your vibrational frequency raises.

“Do not turn your attention elsewhere in your search for the truth, for it is nowhere else to be found but within your body. Through the inner body, you are forever one with God.” – Eckhart Tolle

So if you have never thought about this, give the inner body meditation a try and I assure you, that you will find it transformational.