What is BodyMindfulness?
. . . like mindfulness on steroids!
Dr. Susan LaCombe
If you're wondering what is bodymindfulness and what it can do for you let's start with this...
Definition: a therapeutic self-skill that shifts emotional, mental or spiritual states by directing your attention to how they're expressed in bodily physical movements and sensations.
And if you're wondering how it differs from mindfulness...
A bodymindfulness practice might differ from mindfulness in that there's no intentional goal towards a curious, non-judgemental and tolerant mental attitude. That's because this mindset arises naturally and as a consequence of your ability to "hang out in your body"!
Yeah...very cool.
Wait, here's the best part . . .
The Body Mind Connection
Ever try and tell yourself to feel okay when you're feeling crappy? Yeah, it doesn't work does it - at least not beyond the few minutes you give it.
The real power behind bodymindfulness is based on the fact that your state of mind, or emotional state, is correlated to a particular "body-state".
There’s actually a strong bias at work here…the body influences or acts upon the mind (through the brain) much more strongly than the mind can affect the body!
...than neuropathways going from your mind to your body.
Far more neuropathways going from your body to your mind...
You see, there are four times the number neuropathways travelling from the body to the brain than those travelling the opposite direction.
Of course, body psychotherapists see the effects of this "imbalance" everyday in their clinical practices. By consciously working deeply and subtly with the body's signals and patterns, clients learn to shift between emotional states.
Compared to talk therapy it's really simple because it's totally ego-less - no judgements, no analysis, no explaining - just an experience.
Millions of yoga fans experience the same thing on a daily basis. They learn through experience that calming the body automatically calms the mind. It's the way we're wired.
Want to get out of your usual funk?
I didn't arrive at these conclusions easily. I had to re-learn them many times over the years. So let me get to the punch line quickly...
Therapeutically speaking, the fastest most efficient way to permanently change the way you think (and thus the way you feel) is to change the firing pattern in your body.
Yes, it sounds too good to be true, but can it really be that simple?
Well, the hard part is the fact that most of us fight it every step of the way. We can't let go of the idea that:
("I know that if I just think this thing through, I'll feel better".) ~NOT~
We fight thoughts with thoughts.
So, if you want to jump the queue and avoid learning this the hard way, open your mind to other possibilities 🙂