Emotions and Body Awareness

For over-thinking, cyclical thinking and catastrophising when you get into a certain mindset it can be difficult to stop the mind getting carried away with itself.  The mind will latch on to memories and stories from the past or it will make stories up about the future. Try this simple exercise to flip the script.  Take time to practice this and cultivate it as a learned skill. It's not easy to step away from the ever dominant left brain. Be compassionate with yourself!

1. Notice

• When you are experiencing a moment of negativity, or spiralling with your thinking.

2. Pause

• Take a moment to pause the story.
• That is playing out in your head, associated with who, what, where, why and when.
• The story is the problem here, not the feelings and emotions behind the story.

3. Reframe

• Bring your thinking mind into your body.
• The feelings and emotions behind the story may be presenting as physical sensations whether unease, discomfort, pain, tension etc.
• Seek out the location of the discomfort within the physical body.
• Is it in your stomach, feeling tight and knotted?
• Is it in your shoulders, all clenched and tense?
• Where is the sensation, how does it feel, what does it look like in your minds eye / feeling brain, what temperature is it, is the feeling static or moving, etc?
• Map out your tension, feel into the physical sensations with body awareness.
• This helps shift your focus and distract you from the thinking mind and the video reel of the story.

4. Simply Be

• Sit with and feel into those sensations, feelings and emotions
• Allow them to just be.
• Without judgement, opinion, fixing etc.
• Allow yourself to be expressive if need be.
• Allow them to radiate through you and out of you.

5. Breathe

• Inhale deeply and softly into those sensations, feelings and emotions.
• Exhale slowly and gently to release.

6. Repeat

• When in a heightened stressed state, your mind will keep wanting to return to the story attached to the feelings and emotions.
• Keep bringing the thinking mind back into the feeling body.
• Keep breathing deeply.
• Keep relaxing.
• Notice any changes within the mind or body.
• Keep repeating until the mind no longer wanders into the story and you can maintain a level state of awareness.
• Use anytime you need to!
• This helps you acknowledge the feelings and emotions behind the story.
• Bringing you back to you.