Practice this short meditation on a regular basis whenever possible
To prepare, simply do some stretching exercises to bring feeling and awareness to your body as a whole.
Firstly, stretch out on your yoga mat or on your bed without a pillow and with your arms comfortably extended from your body, palms upwards. Cover yourself with a thin blanket if you believe you might get chilly. Breathe calmly and naturally into your lower abdomen for something like twenty or thirty breaths. Then begin to relax any tense areas of your body.
Starting with your toes, slowly and gently work your way up your body, noticing any discomfort you might begin to sense or feel on the way up. Ask yourself as you do this whether you might have had any twinges, pains or unusual sensations in your recent past. Then ask your body if any problems that you might have could be made clear to you, even if you might have been ignoring any symptoms. If you then find any areas that need attention or work, such as your liver, stomach or your back or neck, take a note of this mentally and then carry on with the exercise.
When you get to the crown of your head, end the targeted body scan and meditation. Take a few minutes to relax yourself and then slowly and gently sit up and begin to write down any problems you might have discovered during the process. If you feel like they could be anything serious, then try and get in touch with your normal health practitioner or doctor. Don’t worry – your mind isn’t so powerful (yet) that it can know when you need to digging out that critical illness insurance. You might be just imagining being unwell. Or it might just be that you think you have areas of your body that need some exercise, stretching or could do with being improved through changes to your diet – or making your diet healthier in some way.
Repeat this exercise every few months and over time you will see that this practice can help you to stay in tune with the needs of your body and how it lets you know those needs.