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This is Week 6 of our 12-week Workbook Wednesday series. Welcome — you can start here or find earlier posts whenever you'd like.
Your body has been paying attention even when your mind has been somewhere else.
The tightness in your chest when you're in an uncomfortable situation. The way your shoulders rise when you're on edge. The heaviness in your limbs when grief is moving through you. The fluttering in your stomach before something that matters. These are not random sensations. They are your nervous system doing its job — registering your experience, encoding your history, trying to communicate with you.
This week, the Keys to Felicity workbook introduces one of its most grounding tools: the body map.
What Is a Body Map?
A body map is an outline of the human body — and the invitation to notice where in your body you tend to hold different emotions. Where does anxiety live for you? Where do you feel joy? Where does sadness seem to settle?
For many of us, this kind of question feels strange at first. We've often been socialized to live primarily from the neck up — to think our way through everything, to rationalize our feelings, to push through discomfort without registering it in the body at all.
But the body keeps score. Trauma researchers have long noted that our physical experiences are deeply connected to our emotional and psychological well-being. Body awareness isn't just a wellness trend — it's a pathway back to integration.
A Practice to Try This Week
Find a quiet moment, even just five minutes. You might sit comfortably or lie down if that feels right.
Take a few slow breaths, and as you breathe, gently scan your body from the top of your head to the soles of your feet.
Notice:
Where is there tension or holding?
Where does your body feel open or at ease?
If there is an area that holds your attention — what emotion, if any, seems to live there right now?
You don't need to fix anything or change anything. The practice is simply to notice. If you have the workbook, the body map section gives you a place to draw or write what you find.
For Those Who Have Experienced Trauma
Body-based practices can bring up unexpected feelings for those who carry trauma — especially trauma that was stored in or happened to the body. If at any point this practice feels too intense, please trust yourself to slow down, open your eyes, put your feet on the floor, and take a breath.
This kind of work is often most powerful when done alongside a therapist who can support you through what comes up. If you're looking for that kind of support, Felicity Counseling offers trauma-informed care in a space that is genuinely affirming of your full experience.
Why Body Awareness Supports Healing
When we begin to hear what our bodies have been saying, we develop a more complete picture of ourselves. We stop being surprised by our own reactions. We start making choices that are more aligned with our actual experience, rather than what we think we should be experiencing.
📚 Resources That Complement This Week's Work
Body-based healing is profound — and having the right guides alongside you makes it safer and more accessible:
Waking the Tiger by Peter Levine — A pioneering and compassionate look at how the body naturally heals from trauma when given the right conditions; it offers deep context for why the body map work this week matters so much.
A yoga mat — A dedicated, comfortable surface for body scan practices and gentle movement makes it easier to return to the body consistently; having your mat out and visible is a quiet invitation to keep showing up.
A body scan audio or guided meditation book — Audio-guided body scan practices are especially helpful for those who find it easier to follow a voice than to practice in silence; many people find them genuinely settling in a way that reading instructions doesn't replicate.
Follow along with the workbook at keystofelicity.com as we continue this practice next week with mindful moments in daily life.
We'll see you Wednesday for Week 7 — where we talk about how to bring this kind of presence into the ordinary moments of your day.
Felicity Counseling is a trauma-informed, LGBTQIA+-affirming practice in Saint Louis, Missouri. We are honored to hold space for you on your healing journey. Visit felicitycounseling.com to learn more.
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