Your Sense of Life
Steiner described the Sense of Life as the ability to perceive our own vitality. It includes the awareness of comfort or discomfort, pain, fatigue, hunger, satiety, thirst, and other internal states. In good health, this sense works quietly in the background; when something is wrong, it calls for our attention.
You may notice it as the steady beat of your heart, the rise and fall of your breath, or the warm fullness after a nourishing meal. It might speak through the tension in your stomach before a difficult conversation, the dry pull of thirst on a hot day, or the heaviness in your limbs when you are overtired. These life senses are the body’s way of telling you exactly how it’s doing, if only you pause to listen.
The life sense is connected to the autonomic nervous system (ANS), which is connected to all the internal organs.
I found that listening to my life sense was one of the most life affirming things I've ever done. After studying nutrition, I started eating the foods that I was taught were good for me, but when I tuned into my life sense I realised that they were making me sick. When I changed from eating the foods that textbooks told me I should eat to foods that my body was telling me to eat my health improved dramatically.
Ear Centering Exercise
We naturally tune out the abundance of sounds that are going on around us so that we can focus on what’s important. In this ear centering exercise we will listen to the sounds we don’t usually noticed.
Find a comfortable place to sit, stand, or lie down. Close your eyes, take a few deep breaths, and release any tension from your body. Become aware of your ears.
For about a minute listen intently to any sounds you can hear outside the room. Pause for a few seconds.
And then, for another minute, pay attention to the sounds you can hear inside the room. Pause for a moment.
For the next minute, listen to sounds coming from inside your body, such as heartbeat and breath. Pause.
Now, instead of listening with your ears, use your body to listen to the sounds and activities coming from within. You can move your arms, twist your neck, wiggle your toes, stick out your tongue, or lightly tap your teeth to elicit sounds from your body. When you are done open your eyes.
If you want to do similar exercises get hold of The Centering Book, Awareness activities for children & adults to relax the body & mind by Gay Hendricks and Russel Wills.
This book, first published in 1975, is intended as a teacher’s manual to help students become mindful and attentive in and out of the classroom. The exercises within, can however be used by anyone in any situation. The Authors believe, that in traditional education, the rational and logical parts of the brain are stimulated, while the creative and intuitive part are left virtual untapped. With the help of the activities they describe, students can learn how to tap into their creativity. Exercises include yoga, meditation, dream analysis, imagery, relaxation, and more.
Sounding your body
Before you start this exercise be sure to let anyone nearby know that you will be experimenting with sound and voice. You don’t want anyone thinking that you’re going crazy.
Sit, stand, or lie in a comfortable position. Close your eyes, and take a moment to relax your mind and body. When you’re ready scan your body with your mind’s eye, looking for points of tension, stiffness, or physical discomfort. Select one point.
Make an ah, ooh, ee, or ay sound while visualizing the tension or discomfort in your body being released through your voice. Experiment with higher or lower sounds until you find a pitch, tone and timbre that feels just right to you.
Hum this sound for a few minutes while keeping your attention on the spot. Never strain your voice, and make sure to rest every minute or so.
The point of this exercise is not to heal the body but rather to listen to it. Sometimes, discomfort in the body has an emotional cause, and by humming, it’s possible you may gain an understanding of the emotional origins of your discomfort.
This exercise comes from The Mozart Effect by celebrated teacher and music visionary Don Campbell. His focus is on health, while mine is on mindfulness, so I’ve made a few minor tweaks to this exercise.
If you’d like to gain an in-depth understanding of the effect music can have on the body, mind, and soul then give this insightful book a read. Campbell shows how modern science is beginning to reveal the ancient wisdom hidden in sound and music.
The Mozart Effect by Don Campbell explores the idea that music, especially the compositions of Mozart, can have a transformative impact on various aspects of our lives, from health and learning to creativity and personal growth. The book encourages readers to consider the role of music in their daily routines and how it can potentially enrich their lives.
I’m Dr. Rodger Douglas, DMH, a South African-born homeopath now based in Osaka, Japan. With a psychology degree from Nelson Mandela University and a diploma from the Hahnemann College of Heilkunst, I specialize in holistic care for fibromyalgia. I serve clients by phone or video across the US, Canada, the UK, and beyond, shipping remedies directly from Japan.