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Areas › Your body › Feeling from the inside
The far edges of the body carry less charge, so they are a gentle place to find your bearings. Include the back, which people tend to skip: attention to what is behind you, resting against the chair, usually feels like being held up rather than exposed. Stop wherever it gets loud. Reaching the top of the head was never the point.
God is aware of the most furtive of glances, and of all that hearts conceal (Quran 40:19). Even the parts of you facing away are not out of view, including the back you cannot see.
غافر
يَعۡلَمُ خَآئِنَةَ ٱلۡأَعۡيُنِ وَمَا تُخۡفِي ٱلصُّدُورُ
God is aware of the most furtive of glances, and of all that hearts conceal
Qur’an 40:19read it in the library
Translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.
A meta-analysis of MRI studies of meditation found consistent involvement of the insula, the region that maps the internal state of the body. That tells you attention to the body has a reliable footprint in the brain. It says nothing about which order to move through the body in, which remains clinical practice rather than a finding.
Boccia M, Piccardi L, Guariglia P. (2015). The Meditative Mind: A Comprehensive Meta-Analysis of MRI Studies.. BioMed research international doi
Strength of evidence: one line of research. A single study, or a theoretical account.
Beginning where feeling is quieter lets you build some confidence before you reach the tender places.
If you are going to bring attention to your body, start with where your body is rather than what it feels. Feet on the floor, back against the chair, the weight of your hands in your lap.
One question does a lot of work: is what my body is doing right now a fair match for what is actually in front of me? Ask it plainly, and let the answer be either yes or no.
There is more than one way to feel your body. The outward senses, the inward signals like hunger and tension, and the sense of where your limbs are in space are separate channels, and on a hard day one of them will be easier than the others.