Nalani's Blog

Body Sensations Inventory

Written by Nalani Rodriguez | November 26, 2025 at 7:59 PM

The foundation of self-awareness is knowing what we're feeling - both emotionally and physically in our bodies. Without the right language to describe what we're feeling, these experiences live in the abstract. We can't change what we can't name. 

Below is an inventory of body sensations to practice building your vocabulary of what you feel in your body.

 

Texture
Soft → Rough
  • soft
  • fluffy
  • squishy
  • spongy
  • mushy
  • doughy
  • fleshy
  • gelatinous
  • pulpy
  • bumpy
  • smooth
  • satiny
  • glassy
  • velvety
  • rounded
  • curved
  • angled
  • pointy
  • prickly
  • bitter
  • spicy
  • stinging
  • coarse
  • rough
  • sharp
  • cutting
  • piercing
  • searing
  • raw
Energy & Movement
Fast → Still
  • fast
  • fleeting
  • racing
  • rapid
  • brisk
  • pulsing
  • creaking
  • bumbling
  • slow
  • still
Open → Closed
  • open
  • expansive
  • ample
  • spacious
  • airy
  • expanded
  • full
  • light
  • relaxed
  • narrow
  • constricted
  • closed
  • contracted
  • small
Hot → Cold
  • hot
  • burning
  • scalding
  • steamy
  • tepid
  • sweaty
  • warm
  • cozy
  • cool
  • frozen
  • cold
  • shivery
  • shaky
  • trembling
Energized → Constricted
  • activated
  • breathless
  • buzzy
  • electric
  • energized
  • floating
  • radiating
  • tingling
  • twitchy
  • pulsing
  • explosive
  • fiery
  • tense
  • tight
  • throbbing
  • suffocated
  • numb
  • knotted
  • clenched
  • congested
  • constricted
  • blocked
  • armored
  • frozen
Intensity & Charge
Full → Empty
  • full
  • strong
  • heavy
  • intense
  • powerful
  • airy
  • weightless
  • burdened
  • weighted
  • hollow
  • untethered
  • vacant
  • draining
  • weak
  • empty
Painful → Healing
  • painful
  • achy
  • bruised
  • open
  • piercing
  • prickly
  • raw
  • sensitive
  • sore
  • dense
  • knotted
  • burning
  • firey
  • explosive
  • clenched
  • constricted
  • touched
  • warm
  • aglow
  • tender
  • soothing
  • grounding
  • clarifying
  • calming
Alive → Dead
  • alive
  • vibrating
  • electric
  • radiating
  • pulsing
  • vivid
  • shimmering
  • active
  • bubbling
  • bright
  • shiny
  • still
  • spacious
  • dull
  • shapeless
  • dormant
  • withered
  • limp
  • sluggish
  • dead