Have you ever taken the time to observe yourself? Whether it’s staring at your own skin, discovering scars, moles, spots or textures; or standing in front of a mirror (without judgement) to detail the figures that your body creates in different positions or even dancing; or taking the time to put a camera in front of you and let your inner self emerge freely and express itself without limits to then show that process in photos or video…
¿Never?
I feel that even though we live with one body for our entire lives, the vast majority of people don’t even know their own.
Not only visually, but also at the level of stimuli, health, cycles, mobility, sensations… It is as if we are so accustomed to our body that we do not explore it, we feel that we know it and that it cannot teach us anything new, but that is not the case.
There are many dynamics, activities and experiments that we can do to explore our body, but for now, we will focus mainly on the visual part, and also a little on the sensations. We will talk about how self-portraits are an extremely powerful tool, not only to get to know our body better, but also to experiment with it.
Even though it is becoming more and more common to take photos of ourselves, the experience changes a lot depending on the intention with which we do it. Let me explain: taking a selfie to send to a friend is not the same as taking the time to explore our being with the camera (even if it is our mobile phone). Therefore, many people do not really know the feeling of vulnerability of being in front of a camera.
Feeling watched leads us to experience a mix of emotions that is sometimes difficult to explain… I think it’s like an addictive nervousness, like when you’re a child and you’re doing something wrong and you know that at any moment your mom can catch you, but you do it anyway.
And since you are the one taking the photos yourself, it also mixes with the curiosity of what you are seeing, the fact that you can discover unexpected things.
Our body is constantly changing, and not only does the shape of the body change with the pose we take, but there are also days when it will be swollen, there may be marks from the sun, or from crying, you may have chapped lips, or you may have marks from clothing that was too tight.
Sometimes, seeing ourselves can also result in arousal, and seeing the physical responses our body has to arousal can cause even more arousal, which can become a rather interesting vicious cycle.
Or, on the other hand, we may need to vent, for example, if we are going through a bad time, and what we need is to express our emotions. Using the body to do this is quite healing and can be visually extremely interesting.
Regardless of the purpose of this exploration, I think the important thing is not to think too much and allow yourself to go as far as your body is asking you to. Let yourself be without judging yourself, allow yourself to play with innocence and fluidity.
Self-portraiture is a very powerful practice, which will not only lead you to observe yourself from other perspectives, but can also lead you to feel many sensations (physical and emotional) that you never even imagined. Beyond the final result, it is extremely powerful and healing to allow ourselves to play with our senses, explore our body as if it were an unknown land, move it in unexpected ways or caress it with the affection that perhaps we have never dared to give ourselves.
It is a practice that will help you connect more deeply with your being, with your body and with the now.
Obviously, there are many other activities that can be done for self-exploration, and each one will give you completely different results. But for now, I’ll leave you with this option as a recommendation, and you can tell me if you put it into practice.
