“How can you move your body to heal your mind?” Leading trauma researcher, Bessel Van der Kolk, began with this question at a workshop I attended many years ago.
And it’s a question I’ve experimented with my adult professional life in helping people with anxiety, depression, and trauma.
Are there particular practices that get you out of your head and quickly bring relief and comfort and even an integration of difficult experiences?
The answer is a resounding yes!
In modern psychology, body based practices are only becoming more influential as the research shows their benefits:
EMDR, Somatic Experiencing, Trauma Conscious Yoga Therapy, Bioenergetics…just to name a few.
In JoyBoots practice, I’ve identified 5 ways to move the body, shift your nervous system and have a better ability to tolerate frustration, stress and discomfort:
Bilateral stimulation
Tension/release
Linking breath to movement
Getting grounded
Breathing into physical resistance
What’s the goal?
To interrupt your automatic ways of thinking and moving.
The interruption creates a space where you have a moment of freedom and neutrality to breathe deeply,
come into the present moment,
choose your responses
to what life brings,
and be open to possibilities.
