Feeling the Inner BodyAlthough body identificationis one of the most basic forms of ego,the good news is that it is also the one that you can most easily go beyond.This is done not by trying to convince yourself that you are not your body,but by shifting your attention from the external form of your body and fromthoughts about your body beautiful, ugly, strong, weak, too fat, too thin to the feeling of aliveness inside it. No matter what your bodys appearanceis on the outer level, beyond the outer form it is an intensely alive energyfield.If you are not familiar with inner body awareness, close your eyesfor a moment and find out if there is life inside your hands. Dont ask yourmind. It will say, I cant feel anything. Probably it will also say, Give mesomething more interesting to think about. So instead of asking your mind,go to the hands directly. By this I mean become aware of the subtle feelingof aliveness inside them. It is there. You just have to go there with yourattention to notice it. you may get a slight tingling sensation at first, then afeeling of energy or aliveness. If you hold your attention in your hands for awhile, the sense of aliveness will intensify.Some people wont even have toclose their eyes. They will be able to feel their inner hands at the sametimes as they read this. Then go to your feet, keep your attention there for aminute or so, and begin to feel your hands and feet at the same time. Thenincorporate other parts of the body legs, arms, abdomen, chest, and so on into that feeling until you are aware of the inner body as a global sense ofaliveness.What I call the inner body isnt really the body anymore but lifeenergy, the bridge between form and formlessness. Make it a habit to feel theinner body as often as you can. After a while, you wont need to close youreyes anymore to feel it. For example, see if you can feel the inner bodywhenever you listen to someone. It almost seems like a paradox: When youare in touch with the inner body, you are not identified with your bodyanymore, nor are you identified with your mind.This is to say, you are nolonger identified with form but moving away from form identificationtoward formlessness, which we may also call Being. It is your essenceidentity. Body awareness not only anchors you in the present moment, it is adoorway out of the prison that is the ego. It also strengthens the immunesystem and the bodys ability to heal itself.~ from A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle