This month, I’ve chosen to focus on the theme of Awakening. The world is waking up again, and it’s time for us to follow suit as spring approaches.

To kick off the wellness posts for this month, I wanted to spend some time exploring ways to wake up our bodies and how we can awaken our intuition and understanding of our bodies.

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Boost Alertness with Breathing Exercises

Breathing is one of those bodily functions we do without thinking, but mindful breathing can help us relax.

One of my favourite intentional breathing exercises is 4-7-8: breathe in for four, hold for seven, and exhale for eight. Allegedly, this can help with sleep – which initially sounds counter-intuitive to awakening your body. However, much like with taking time to relax and meditate, slowing down your body allows you a chance to pay attention to the little signs your body is giving you.

Breathing exercises like this can be done in conjunction with, or as an alternative to, meditation.

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Start Your Day with Meditation

Although it sounds almost counterintuitive to slow down to wake up, I think taking five minutes to meditate can help you awaken your body in a few different ways.

For me, taking a few moments to slow down and pay attention to my body. When I allow my mind to clear, it lets me tune into different things. If I stop thinking, I suddenly notice little things about my body: where I’m holding tension, how my skin feels, if my breathing sounds off compared to normal.

This is less about making the body itself awaken, but awakening the awareness you have of how your body is doing.

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Stretch Your Way to More Energy

I’ve talked about stretching in a few different posts before, especially ones related to the body.

When I used to teach very young students, a quick stretching exercise was one of my tricks for perking them back up again in the afternoon. I’d have students stand up, reach to the sky, touch the ground, and then shake out their body. They promised me that after this little break they were ready to get back to work.

So, this one is a bit more literal. But if you’re feeling tired, why not give it a go? I find myself being tired a lot, and I think it’s because I don’t always have a reason to get up from the computer with the type of work I currently do. It’s a bit odd, though, isn’t it? You do one thing you don’t particularly want to do and it magically makes you feel better!

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Go For a Walk to Reawaken Your Senses

The seasons are changing! There are so many little things to notice in nature now – buds slowly emerging, little snowdrops popping up. Insects are starting to buzz again.

One thing I love about going for a walk during this season is how interchangeable the weather is. I can feel the warmth of the sun on my skin one moment, and the gentle drops of rain the next. There’s something about the change that makes me feel so alive.

This one, like stretching, is a little bit more literal. I always feel re-energised after a walk and some fresh air.

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Tune in to Your Senses with the 5-4-3-2-1 Grounding Technique

Grounding exercises exist in many forms. There’s one in particular that I love, though, because of its simplicity.

I use it myself a lot when I need to calm down, and I’ve helped many students out of impending panic attacks with it. If you haven’t guessed yet, the grounding exercise I’m talking about is the rather well-known 54321 exercise.

It’s quite easy, and you can adapt it if you need to. You simply take a few deep breaths and name:

• 5 things you can see
• 4 things you can touch
• 3 things you can hear
• 2 things you can smell
• 1 thing you can taste

Although grounding exercises are often associated with calming you down when you need regulation, I think they can help you tune in to the environment you’re in for any reason.

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Not a particularly long post today, but I thought some of these methods might help anyone looking to get more in tune with their body. I’d love to hear your ideas in the comments – how to you wake yourself up?

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