The only step that is critical is step one. The rest is up to you and your comfort but is highly recommended.
step 1: you must be completely alone and feel safe and comfortable. By “safe and comfortable” I mean that you know that no one is going to walk in on you, see you, come home early, etc. No fear or insecurity can exist even in the farthest part of your mind. You need to be able to focus entirely on the task at hand: getting to know your body.
step 2: you need to have a lot of time to spend. Ideally, it’s an unlimited amount of time. Nothing looming, no place to be.
step 3: you must be naked—completely naked. I believe that you must be able to really see your body to be able to form a relationship with it. I know this step is hard for some, but I swear it helps you better pay attention to its nuances, the way one side looks versus the other, and how it might change over time. If you despise being naked, then this step is even more important.
step 4: for the same reasons as above, using a full-length mirror to better see your body move is important.
step 5: you need a space to be able to move around. Ideally enough space to stretch and move on the ground freely, but at least enough space to dance and move while standing upright.
step 6: loud music. I prefer to be able to blast music over my speakers but if you have neighbors, headphones will do just fine.
step 7: your favorite music—songs that get your heart racing, dopamine levels up, make you want to move, while also being open to experimenting with different types. For example, if I’m doing this in the morning, I’ll play slower music that sets a different type of mood and results in me moving differently.
step 8: alter your consciousness. This helps me move in different ways, see my body in different ways, and explore in different ways than I would soberly.
amateur: alcohol
mid: weed
pro: shrooms
step 9: dance! Dancing is unlike other movement or exercises. I believe that we should incorporate into our day-to-day anything that humans have been doing for all of humanity, music and dancing as examples. Dancing is good for the soul, helps you learn about how your body moves (or is unable to move), and is an incredibly therapeutic practice. Twist! Twerk! Open those hips! Find a move that you enjoy and do it repeatedly, first on one side and then on the other. Repetitive movement is good practice for both your body and your mind.
step 10: observe. You can learn so much about your body just by paying attention to how it moves and responds to different movement. Through my own exploration, I learned that I’m not great at doing the same move repeatedly (aka it’s hard for me to do something for a minute straight), that my left hip is stuck in a way that my right is not, that my left leg is longer than my right, etc. So, move into a position and hold it—close your eyes, take a deep breath…does your left side feel the same as your right? Vice versa? Getting a baseline of how my body feels as well as being able to see it has helped me feel and see the changes that have happened as a result of the time and energy I’ve invested in my body. Once you start, you can’t stop.
next steps: keep coming back and trusting the process. Anything worth doing in life requires consistency. You can’t just do this once, only in doing this over and over again do you begin to want to explore or understand parts of your body on a deeper level. That exploration will surface things you can do to change your body (e.g. becoming more flexible or strengthening that hurting hip), and then you will be able to actually see and feel the benefits of those practices manifest. You’ll also be surprised at how quickly some changes can occur while others take a bit more dedication. I had to be patient with myself and with the process, but getting to know my body in this way has forever changed my relationship with it.
Once I realized the aspects of my body I wanted to make feel better or improve, I pulled on certain threads that led me to the videos below. These are specific to my body but have been incredibly helpful:
hamstrings, quads, straightening
Deep Hip Rotators: The four steps to unlocking your S.I. pain & pelvic floor issuess/quads
how to fix forward head posture
How to Fix Upper Back / Rhomboid Pain for GOOD (4 Effective Exercises)
3 Top Exercises to Wake Up SERRATUS ANTERIOR (PLUS Anatomy Explained)
best thing for myself based on that guys webinar
fix your rounded shoulders (link to five min of exercises that have really helped mine)