I Am Not This Body — A Meditation on Freedom and Inner Awareness
Rediscovering Who You Are (Hint: It's Not Just Flesh and Bone)
“You are not the body. You are not even the mind.”
— Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj
There’s a quiet revolution that begins when we stop identifying with our pain, our tension, and even our breath. For years, I saw myself as my pain—my GI issues, my old injuries, my emotional stress. I believed I was the knot in my stomach or the pressure in my chest.
But through breath and awareness, that identity began to shift.
In the Pneuma Yoga Method, we invite students to explore subtle movement and breath as a way to reconnect—not to control the body, but to witness it. The body becomes a field of sensation, not a prison of pain. And when you practice from this lens, something powerful happens: you begin to observe instead of identify.
This is where the meditation “I Am Not This Body” becomes a gateway.
What This Meditation Unlocks
The practice gently guides you to scan your body, feel your breath, and witness sensation without ownership. You're not trying to fix anything. You're simply listening. And the deeper you listen, the more space you find inside yourself.
This is the heart of interoception—your ability to sense your internal environment. It’s the foundation of nervous system regulation, emotional clarity, and true embodiment.
And as your awareness grows, so does your proprioception—the sense of where you are in space. These two skills together form the inner map that allows us to navigate life with balance, sensitivity, and ease.
Why This Practice Is So Effective
Most people live outside of themselves. We chase external solutions for internal problems. But this meditation brings you inward. And from that space of inner attention, the following begins to shift:
Stress hormones lower as the parasympathetic nervous system is activated.
Heart rate variability improves, a key marker of overall resilience.
Chronic pain lessens as your brain updates its map of the body.
Emotional regulation increases—you’re less reactive, more spacious.
Your identity loosens—you begin to understand that pain, thought, or mood are passing waves, not who you are.
This is the bridge between the physical and the spiritual. Between the self we think we are and the deeper Self we can become aware of.
As Patanjali wrote in the Yoga Sutras:
“Tada drastuh svarupe avasthanam” — Then the Seer abides in Its own true nature.
This is not a mystical statement—it’s a functional truth. When we release identification with body and mind, we return to the spacious Self within.
Support for Your Journey
You can now explore this meditation in two formats:
🎧 Audio version available in the Pneuma Yoga Store
📹 Guided video practice in the Members Area
Each offers a slightly different tone and guidance, so you can return to whichever version supports your practice best.
If you’re a beginner to meditation or have struggled to stay consistent, this is a great place to begin. You don't need to force anything. Just breathe, feel, and follow the voice.
Practice In-Person
I'll be teaching a special Saturday morning class on July 26 at 10:00 AM, focused entirely on this meditation and the breath awareness practices that support it.
We'll dive into:
Deep diaphragmatic breathing
Gentle somatic movement to awaken awareness
The practice of witnessing sensations without clinging or resisting
This class is free for members and open to all who want to feel more present, more relaxed, and more rooted in their inner space.
Final Thoughts
This isn’t just about meditation. It’s about freedom.
The more we practice, the more we remember that we are not our pain. We are not our patterns. We are not even our thoughts.
We are the awareness behind it all. And from that awareness, healing unfolds.
Join us this week in the practice.
🌀 I am not this body. I am the breath that moves through it. I am the space that contains it. I am the stillness that sees it all.
Explore now at pneuma-yoga.com
