This is something that I have been thinking about and reading/researching recently, a subject that not only fascinates me but is an incredibly powerful tool as we can use this knowledge to change our moods, how we feel and ultimately how we respond.
It literally can be life changing.
Now, as a Pilates teacher, movement therapist, mindset educator, my interest and belief in the Mind/Body connection has always been strong. Those of you who attend my Pilates classes will have experienced first hand how I can get you to increase your range of movement (ROM) dramatically by working with your Brain. I do exercises that make your Brain feel safe and consequently your body responds by releasing and your ROM is significantly improved.
I will often get you to visualise yourself going further/deeper into a move, which again achieves a much greater ROM.
Basically I am working with your Mind/Brain to get the desired response I want in the body.
However, it works the other way around too – in fact recent research is coming through that says that the Body has a far, far greater impact on our minds than we have previously thought. In fact, the Body is the genius behind how we feel and not the Mind…..”we’re not smart and have bodies – we’re smart because we have bodies”.
We are now moving away from the idea that our thinking is happening just in our Brains to an integrated, whole-system experience….our gut, the senses, the immune system, the lymphatic system – our Body.
Let’s take Botox, for example: Botox basically stops our faces from moving and hence reduces our wrinkles, but the problem with stopping our faces from moving is that it doesn’t just alter how we look, it alters how we FEEL. In studies where people have had Botox, it was found that they couldn’t empathise with others – they couldn’t feel their joy or share their sorrow! Facial expressions are hardwired into our emotions, we feel empathy by mimicking each other’s facial expressions and when someone has Botox, this just can’t happen – we end up feeling almost nothing at all.
Botox has been used for people with serious depression – it has been injected into their frown lines – and yes, it does help lessen depression (as it’s impossible to make sad faces), but it also lessens all other emotions!
We have (in the West) for many years always believed that the Mind drives the Body, but this thinking is now changing as when the body is blocked (e.g. as with Botox), this produces changes in the Mind.
So how does all this help you?
Well, we do all know that laughing makes us feel better – we now have laughing yoga, so smile more, even (and especially) on those days where you feel low. Smile at everyone, watch a funny film, play with children, listen to something that makes you laugh. Sing and dance – music has a powerful effect on us, dancing and rhythmically moving our bodies changes our mood, so put on your favourite tunes and dance like no one is looking.
Spending hours hunched over a desk, closed down, shut down, will make you FEEL just that, so make sure you take regular breaks and lift your arms, your breastbone, your eyes up to the ceiling and breathe.
If you have a presentation to do or something that makes you feel nervous, then power pose. Stand like Wonder Woman, hands on hips, legs apart – it only takes 2 minutes of power posing to create that change from fear to excitement, from nervousness to calm. This changes your psychology and physiology – mood and hormones!
If it only takes 2 minutes to create these changes with the Wonder Woman pose, imagine what you can change when you spend an hour doing Pilates or Yoga 🙂
Touch – your body loves and responds to touch, we release all sorts of wonderful feel good hormones, so hug more and for longer. If you’re by yourself, rubbing your arms and legs, shoulders and neck will lift your mood and make you feel better. We all know how good it feels to stroke a cat or dog.
There are many more ways you can use your Body to alter your Mind, so why don’t you spend this week trying this out and notice how fabulous you feel.