Regular check-ins with the body

Engaging in body scans daily to get to know how our mood and bodily sensations may be correlated. This can allow us to better understand internal cues that hint to us that we are experiencing stress.

Body scans allow us to give our attention to each part of our body from our toes to the tips of our hands and head. We may not realize how each part of our body feels so intentionally holding space for our attention to be on each part of our body can allow us to grasp a lot more information than we may think. Here is a short 5 minute video you can follow along as you start your body scan routine. 

Physical activity

Remember when your muscles are sore and all of the sudden you are cognizant of what muscles you use in your day to day? Many forms of physical activity require us to stay attuned with how our body is feeling and build trust with our body that it will let us know when it is overwhelmed.

Maybe your preferred form of physical activity is a team sport, maybe it is going to the gym, maybe it is an at home yoga practice. No matter the form, physical activity allows us to build strength, resilience, and stamina that we may not have known we had. Our bodies may surprise us in its capacity to grow and know when it needs rest. Building that trusting relationship with our bodies helps us find our balance between challenging ourselves and taking breaks.

Engage in mindful eating

Eating is an everyday experience and within our busy day to day lives, it is easy to overlook eating as a mindful practice. Some days eating may look like a quick 10 minute meal while watching a show and catching up on emails. 

Being present with our food and remaining mindful, nonjudgmental, and intentional with the sensory experience of eating will allow us to better understand what pleasure and satiety looks like for us (Nelson, 2017). This may not feel attainable for every single meal we have, but putting aside maybe just one meal a day where we can focus on the experience of eating and noticing what sensations arise as an opportunity to better connect with our bodies.

Deep breathing

Deep breathing involves fully expanding our diaphragm and letting the air fill our chests through our nose and blowing the air out through our mouths taking more time to breath out than we did to breath in. This can activate our Vagus nerve that regulates our stress response and fight-or-flight systems. 

We may unknowingly engage in deep breathing when we feel activated or nervous, but also utilizing deep breathing as a regular exercise allows us to notice any slight changes in our mood and attend to our own needs. 

Visualization

The mind-body connection is a two way connection, meaning that our mind can also influence our body the same way our body can influence our mind through the exercises shared above. When we feel dysregulated or overwhelmed, visualizing a place where we feel calm and peaceful and committing to bringing ourselves to that place can allow our bodies to also transcend to that location and regulate on its own. Visualizations of positive images such as a safe space can influence our body to physically and emotionally be in a positive state. 

Reference

Nelson J. B. (2017). Mindful Eating: The Art of Presence While You Eat. Diabetes spectrum : a publication of the American Diabetes Association, 30(3), 171–174. https://doi.org/10.2337/ds17-0015