Practicing Attunement

Often, our feelings in our body were not attuned to by caregivers, instead we needed to repressed them. Part of the healing process is attuning to yourself and understanding why you feel the way you do, and identifying what you need.

1) Pay attention to how you’re feeling. You can do this by putting one hand on your heart, and one hand on your belly, closing your eyes, and tuning in (attuning)

2) Name the sensation (“felt-sense”) in your body. Some examples of words to describe felt sense are: achy, floaty, fuzzy, numb, heavy, tight, wobbly, warm, cold, energized & light.

3) Sit with this felt-sense in your body for a few moments (or as long as you can tolerate this).

4) Name the emotion that you are feeling. Some examples of words to describe emotion are: sad, scared, lonely, worried, frustrated, joyful, happy, ashamed, loving, depressed.

5) Sit with the felt-sense and emotion in your body.

6) Notice the beliefs you have in this moment. Examples are: I am worthless, I am okay, I am terrible, I am loved, the world is ok, the world is not safe.

7) Sit with the felt-sense, emotion and beliefs you have in this moment.

8) If this feels like a positive feeling/belief, sit with it as long as you’d like. Move to a place of understanding and be present with the felt-sense, feeling and belief.

4) If it feels distressing, move to a place of understanding. Remind yourself that it doesn’t have to be about something that has happened recently. Questions to ask yourself in order to understand: When have I felt like this in the past? What is my body telling me? How does this make sense, considering what happened to me?

If you are getting stuck here, try journaling out your feelings.  

6) Then, communicate with yourself about the needs you have, to be in alignment with yourself.