Mindfulness of the Body is the basis of the practice and it helps us to be grounded because the body is always there in the present moment. And especially if we are going off, spacing out, into some of the Five Hindrances, coming back to your body is very helpful for interrupting whatever it is we are involved in and bringing up body awareness, which is a moment of mindfulness, a moment of objective awareness.
How do we bring more body awareness into our normal life? The mindfulness activities help, and basic physical actions, being aware of our movements. One of my favorites is, when I am walking somewhere, to always drop into my footsteps, the feet on the ground. Wherever I am walking, it is a rest. Sometimes it is the only rest I get, especially in large retreats. But it is a rest, a rest in the moment. We don't have to think about where we are going, we don't have to think about where we have been, we can just rest in the footsteps. I use it a lot in my normal life, in normal activities, in everyday life, to just rest in the footsteps.
Standing, feeling the touch of the feet on the ground, feeling the touch of this, feeling the touch of that, coming back to the body. It is very helpful to have more body awareness, then we have a basis for our practice, a bit more objectivity. Even if there is a lot of fear, just becoming aware of the body helps. This is where the investigation of the body and mindfulness of the body is very helpful. Sometimes if there is fear or agitation, just feeling the fluttering, observing the changing of body sensations takes us out of the story, giving us space, a break between the thoughts so that the mind clears a little and we are able to think of what is appropriate to help to balance whatever is going on.