Are You In Your Body?

Are you in your body? Weird question, right? You’re most likely sitting down, scrolling social media and reading this, so, of course, you’re in your body. Actually, chances are good that, if you’re like most people, you spend a lot of time OUT of your body.

What does this even mean?

Being out of body happens when you – your consciousness, the part of YOU that’s here having this experience on Earth – are not fully seated in the physical body.

Out of body experiences (OOBE), or astral travel as it’s sometimes called, is what comes up when people talk about being out of the body. The name sort of says it all, right? I spent years actively and consciously trying to have an OOBE. Maybe I was traveling out of body while in the sleep state, but nothing was happening with my focused efforts to induce an OOBE, so I eventually gave up. Turns out there are lots of other ways and situations where we go out of body. And, even though I wasn’t experiencing the traditional OOBE, I actually spent a lot of time out of my body. I just didn’t recognize it as such.

Curious about what those other ways and situations are?

Here are some common indicators of being out of body:

• Being in your head and unable to feel any sensations in your body when emotions are running through your system.
•  Feeling disconnected – from other people, from your day-to-day activities, from life in general.
•  Feeling spacy or foggy. Daydreaming a lot, or finding yourself lost in thought. Losing time, or forgetting where you are or what you’re doing.
•  Being easily distracted. Feeling off track. Forgetting where you were going or what you were going to say. 
• Not being in tune with your body and unable to communicate with it regularly.
• Frequently dropping things. Stumbling for no apparent reason, or stubbing your toes.
• Getting sidetracked, or missing turns when driving.
• Struggling with your psychic senses; feeling that they are dulled down or nonexistent.

Do any of these resonate?

Why is being in body important?

We need to be in our bodies in order to feel our emotions, to process our experiences, to heal our trauma. Being out of body is a way to bypass our healing work; it keeps us in our trauma loops, our addiction cycles, and in avoidance of owning the patterns that keep us playing small, hiding, and giving our power away. Being out of body prevents us from connecting to higher dimensions and realms; it keeps our intuition closed down, which perpetuates, among other things, the practice of doubting ourselves.

So, how do we get back into our bodies?

Physical activity is the easiest way to help reconnect us into our bodies. Things like: gardening; dancing; raking leaves; folding laundry; exercising; shoveling snow; riding a bike. Moving the body engages the brain and forces it to interface with our muscles, which pulls us out of our heads and into the present moment.

Mindful meditation that focuses on bringing our awareness to different parts of the body can help pull us back into the body. The trick here is to be able to concentrate on the sensations of the body as attention is moved from one area to the next. Some types of yoga and breathwork can help pull us back into the body and present moment, too.

Daydreams might be fun but the real excitement comes from learning how to be IN your body. When you’re fully in body, all of your senses come alive. Being grounded in the body is what allows you to experience deeper connections on all levels.