Deepening Awareness

The following exercises for deepening your awareness are playful, sometimes provocative, ways to recreate your relationship with your belly.

Gather the supplies you'll need-pens or pencils, a notebook or journal, a stack of plain white paper, and colored markers, crayons, or pastels-and keep them with this book in one place, perhaps in a special basket or box. With your supplies already collected and close at hand you can enter into these experiences as you're inspired to do so.

These awareness exercises are invitations to reinvent your relationship with your belly. Many of us have regarded our bellies as shameful. We've tried to make them disappear. We've denied the wisdom and power they offer us. We've hidden or minimized the hurts they've suffered. These awareness exercises invite us to respect our bellies and reclaim their experience.

Each of us has a unique story. Many of us have experienced emotional or physical trauma relating to our bellies that may require the attention of a qualified health professional. The "Honoring Your Belly" program doesn't substitute for proper medical or psychotherapeutic attention. Properly practiced, it can serve as a powerful adjunct to such treatment by gathering and directing your self-healing powers. Please consult with your health care provider as necessary to address signs of emotional or physical distress.