Coping Through Crisis: Mind-Body Connection

This past year, I’ve been learning a lot about the mind-body connection and it’s really changed the way I understand and approach my emotions. The main idea is that we can access and regulate our emotions through either the mind or the body and that what we experience in the mind manifests in the body. As James Gordon explains in his book The Transformation, the body is a reflection of our subconscious mind.

If this global crisis happened just one year ago, I would be in a totally different state than I am now. That’s mostly due to mind-body practices that I have developed to engage with and release my emotions. Before last year, I only knew how to deal with my emotions by numbing, distracting, or feeling completely overwhelmed by them. All my life, I’ve had bouts of moods that I would get stuck in. I accepted it as an inevitable part of my life, but now I’ve learned that tools like writing, body movement, and breathwork can help me move through moods and emotions in a healthy and empowering way. These tools help me to investigate emotions and create a positive release.

Here are two practical ways you can use understanding of the mind-body connection to process, move through, and release your emotions:

Releasing through the Mind

When our anxiety is manageable, we can engage the mind to redirect our thoughts through a  release of emotion. Writing has been a huge game changer for me when it comes to emotional health. For so long, I felt all these things, but didn’t have the language to understand what I was feeling. Now, I can sit down and write my way through the jumble of thoughts and come out the other side with a better understanding of the why behind my feelings. It’s like I’m treading water with ankle weights on, but writing helps me to take off the ankle weights and tread easier. After writing, I’m lighter without the heavy load of thoughts and worries.

Journaling with Morning Pages

I follow a practice created by the artist Julia Cameron called Morning Pages. It’s a simple journaling practice where you handwrite anything that’s on your mind for 2-3 pages. It’s basically a stream of consciousness brain dump. Some days I write about how I’m feeling, some days I write about all the things I need to do, some days I write out gratitudes. Either way, by the end of it, I’ve created more space in my brain by getting my thoughts out of my head onto the page.

Many of us may be afraid that giving ourselves space for all our thoughts and worries can feel like we’re giving them power over us. And yes, it may feel overwhelming at first, but it’s been proven that providing a designated time and space to acknowledge these thoughts allows our brains to feel safe and relax. Instead of holding onto anxiety or repressing it, we are telling our brain yes, you’re right, there are things to be worried about and this 20 minutes (or however long you choose) is the time to do it. The remaining hours of the day can be reserved for more productive thoughts. 

Releasing through the Body

When our stress levels intensify (at a 7 or above out of 10), it is actually easier to first calm down through your body. We have the power in our physical movement to reset our brains so that we can move out of a stress response and into relaxation. By linking breath, body, and movement, we can change the chemistry of our body from a stress response and activate our parasympathetic nervous system, which means our bodies return to a relaxed state.

Probably the most well-known mind-body practice is yoga, which is scientifically proven to help people with depression, anxiety, and trauma by connecting them with their body and sensory experiences and increasing emotional awareness. Yoga has helped tremendously in my own healing journey.

After years of coping through emotional repression, my brain’s automatic response is to suppress the experience of my emotions. Unfortunately, we can’t just escape emotions. No one is immune to emotion; we are hardwired to feel. If we don’t express and release our emotions, then they stay in our subconscious and manifest into symptoms in our physical bodies in the form of muscle tension, migraines, digestive issues, teeth grinding, etc. 

I lived with chronic body pain for 6 years that radiated along my spine, and on the worst days, everywhere ached. This past year, after learning more about the mind-body connection, I finally realized that my pain was directly related to how much stress I was under. My brain was working so hard not to register or feel my emotions that my anxiety and stress were converted into muscle tension and body pain.

Shaking and Dancing

Luckily, I discovered Shaking and Dancing, a powerful healing modality that goes deep into our subconscious to release stuck emotions and heal years of trauma. Think of this practice as a flotation device when you’re treading water and are in need of rest. It can help keep you afloat so you can rest and find true relaxation.

Shaking and Dancing is an expressive meditation created by Dr. James S. Gordon, a Harvard-educated psychiatrist who founded The Center for Mind-Body Medicine and created international programs for healing trauma. Shaking and Dancing is exactly what it sounds like: you vigorously shake your entire body, from head-to-toe, for about 10 minutes and then stand still and breathe deeply for a few minutes. The body movement releases pent up energy and emotions that manifest in our bodies as muscle tension due to trauma, fight or flight, and stress. 

When I first read about it, I thought it sounded pretty woo-woo. But, I was desperate. I had recently been triggered, fell back into a deep depression for the first time in years and had so much body pain that everything hurt. I put aside my judgement and kept my mind open to finding healing, and I’m so grateful that I did. I’ve now gone 9 months almost completely pain free! Shaking and Dancing is now a regular part of my self care routine. I practice it at least 4 times a week to keep the tension from creeping back in. It’s an amazing way to shake off stuck emotions and realign my mind and body so that I can start my day.

Dr. Gordon likens it to ceremonial dances of tribal communities to welcome warriors home from hunting or battle. I quite like this analogy because sometimes my struggle with emotions can make me feel weak, but this reminds me that I am anything but weak - I am a strong and resilient wellness warrior who has gone to battle many times and survived. This practice takes me from just surviving to thriving. 

As we are all stuck inside a lot more these days, getting movement through our bodies to release that pent-up energy is crucial for maintaining emotional health. Whether through yoga, going for walks, workout videos, or Shaking and Dancing, it’s important to get your physical body moving every day. Your mind and body are so deeply connected. To heal the body you need to heal the mind, and to heal the mind you need to heal the body.

Ready to Start Healing?

Now that I have started coaching, I’m so excited to help you heal and cope through the crises in your life. With all the tools, resources, support, and guidance I have gained during the decade of my own healing, I’m here to support you and catalyze your journey!

I’m offering a special highly discounted offer to anyone who is ready to make this change. If that sounds like you, email me with the subject line “I’m Ready!” for a discount on your first three months of coaching with me. Let’s co-create a life that you love and feel inspired by!