psyche | J Cohen/Unsplash
Let’s return to your recent stream of consciousness: were you purely absorbed in abstract thoughts or were you also aware of your body? Could you feel your heart beating? The rhythm of your breath against your chest, mouth or nose? Maybe a flutter in your stomach? If so, what thoughts or feelings, if any, occurred at the same time as, or just before or after, the bodily sensations? My colleagues and I refer to these body-related thoughts in the stream of consciousness as ‘body-wandering’, a mental process that we think could play an important – yet overlooked – role in many people’s emotional wellbeing.