Mindfulness, Movement, and Posture - the Mind Body Connection
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- Опубліковано 14 лип 2024
- Mindfulness, Movement, and Posture - the "Mind Body Connection" - A few key issues explained (2022)
We have all heard people make reference to the "Mind Body Connection."
But what does this actually mean?
For many of us, we go through life constantly in a state of anxiety, worry and overthinking. Now believe it or not, this often can be mirrored by our posture and movement.
If we are afraid to move because of an injury and pain, for example, we tend to modify our positions and posture to avoid certain positions. This type of compensation is the most easy for us to understand.
However, if we dig a little deeper and think about how position ourselves and how we identify with both our thoughts and our physical body, we can start to notice patterns emerge in our posture and movement that mirror our state of mind.
For example, many of us tend to feel our center of thought-based identity in between our ears, somewhere in the skull behind our eyes but in front of the back of our head. Because our strongest sense organs live here, it is easy for us to feel like this is where our conscious awareness is located, and for many of us, we feel that we ARE our thoughts.
If we couple this identification with "being in our head" with thought patterns that constantly push us to strive, push forward, solve problems, or project ourselves towards our needs, wants and desires, we often have a psychological sense of pushing forward and reaching that can be mirrored physically.
This type of pushing ourselves forward in space can manifest as both anxiety, dissatisfaction, but also as a forward head posture or a rounded shoulder posture.
In another example, we may identify with the idea that we know the correct way to sit, stand, or otherwise position ourselves in space. Or we know what "good form" is and the "best way" to train our bodies.
If we identify with these stylized positions and ideas about movement, we are more likely to hold and move ourselves in ways that may be in conflict with what our body actually wants/needs.
A prime example of this is a ballerina, who first learns to posture in a very stylized way for the sake of art, then later becomes identified with "being" a ballerina. She then walks with an exaggerated posture of mid back extension and shoulder depression because she is embodying what it means to be a ballerina.
However, over time our identification can become so overpowering that even if our body is begging to allow the shoulders to raise and to round the mid-back, we just can't sense it because we lack the baseline level of awareness.
These are just a few thoughts I humbly present and I'd love to continue the conversation in the comments.
If you need help improving movement or posture, visit: chaplinperformance.com
You are absolutely correct. Psychosomatic experience is very real. One of the best books about this mind body relationship is written by foremost specialist and psychologist in trauma Dr.Bessel van der Kolk who wrote "The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma". It is an exception psycho-medical analysis of the complexities of the human body and consciousness. Humans are complex and nuanced.
Neurologists have claimed that smiling when you are perhaps having a bad day can signal the brain to produce dopamine (happy drug) that elevates one's mood. The same can happen if you slouch and drop your shoulders, your brain perceives these signals as being low, sad, depressed and it does little for one's wellbeing. This is why posture, standing up straight and spreading one's shoulders is actually a beneficial exercise not only for the self which boosts confidence and a sense of personal value but also it positions one in the world, in space, and how others perceive you.
If you also take dreams as an example, why do they feel so real? There were some studies that showed that if a person ran a marathon or did some form of physical activity in their dream, the brain processed it and perceived it as real. The person who dreamt would have physiological effects of this dream to their muscles, heart rate, vessel dilation, etc.
There is so much we still do not know. It is such a curious thing as we discover more.
I agree with Mary Jo.. the best discussion to date!! This made me realize the correlation between mindfulness (I have been reading “Letting Go” - Dr. David Hawkins, and “The Power of Now” - Eckhart Tolle) and posture correction.
I notice that when I am being drawn into my work behind the computer, my thoughts are often racing, I am in a rush to arrive somewhere (that doesn’t exist lol) and my head shifts forward! If I take a moment to realize this, I can relax the shoulders, press the tongue on the roof the mouth, draw the chin in, and breathe deep through the rib cage. Thank you, Greg.
I 100 percent agree. Also, a huge Eckhardt fan myself.. Who isn't? The problem solver mind can often hijack our presence, which isn't only manifested psychologically but also physically. It really is a daily project to begin again. It is amazing how the head can follow our mindset. Thanks a lot for watching!!
Wow! So great to hear this talk! I went through childhood with poor posture and it wasn’t tell much later in life that I realized I was shielding my heart from the world as I had experienced a lot of “traumas” I know it’s a popular word but very fitting, I actually don’t see a lot of it as trauma but over the years sharing and seeing people reactions I realize it was but for me it was my life now my past and still a part of me and I don’t wish it away because well first of all it would do no good and secondly I am who I am because of it. Fast forward to teenage and young adulthood I found a plan I was going to be somebody. I had a vision I became pretty active and fit but very vain, stressed and selfish. I wanted a fit active body paid no attention to my stress strived to have a nice shape, flat belly, which included very shallow chest breathing and ended up with a spontaneous pneumothorax x2, I have been on the journey you have talked of and I hope this mind and body connection gets more attention in the world. I like listening to Alan Watts too along with Joseph Campbell who studied and wrote on Native Americans. Although my first awaking was with “What the bleep do we know” movie and more recently “Finding Joe” I think quantum physics fits in here nicely although I can’t elaborate specifically at this time. Thai Chi and Qi gong have also personally helped me on my move to back mind body connection. I ranted but felt moved to share and hope you continue on this path of mind body body connection Thanks for your time!
Hi Leticia,
Thanks a bunch for your comment. It sounds like you’ve been through a lot.
Like you, I had a period where fitness and aesthetics were top priority. Took me a long time to realize these tendencies came from a place of low self esteem and feelings of inadequacy.
I have found that as you said most of the behaviors we have as adults, and most of the chronic conditions we face, are the result of unprocessed past trauma.
Whether it is therapy, mindfulness, grounding techniques, strength exercise, breathing drills, or expressive writing, we need to find ways to build capacity to tolerate our emotions and learn how to feel them in our bodies.
Thanks so much for your comment!!!
I WAS WAITING FOR A PROFESSIONAL TO TALK ABOUT THIS MAN
So glad you enjoyed the video. It was an uncomfortable video to make but it has been on my mind and I think we need to talk about this more within the medical community. Thanks a lot for watching!!
Greg, I was late seeing your video today, and this is your best discussion to date for me. I hope you enjoy your discovery of Alan Watts. My favorite of his books are “The Meaning of Happiness,” “The Wisdom of Insecurity,” and “The Joyous Cosmology,” You are so correct in your own wisdom about the “polarities” of right/wrong. push/pull, etc. It can take many years to understand that all “problems” and polarities are personal perceptions (inventions). It is interesting that you mentioned Alan Watts because one of his most intriguing observations (to me) is when he wrote that the only physical awareness a person really has is muscle tension. In my own experience, I have searched high and low for solutions to “problems,” including leg tension (arising during stressful situations), and only when I stopped searching and started listening to my own body, instead of so many outside “experts,” did I finally receive the guidance I needed. However, having said that, your channel has been particularly helpful to me for over a year now, and I am deeply grateful. As with everything in the universe, resonance is the key, and for whatever reason, your personal approach resonates significantly with me. Thank you!
Thank you so much Mary Jo. I really think our experiences have been similar. I had the same (prolonged) experience of reaching and searching for answers, and then later started really listening to my body and understanding patterns.
Now I get the gift of listening not only to my own body but also to others, who help me understand patterns of tension within their bodies, which helps me to help others.
You might also enjoy the 1952 very classic film "Limelight," which is so beautifully written and directed by Charles Chaplin (another great Chaplin!), so full of the most profound philosophy and sentiment on life and movement and the mid-body connection. To generalize the plot, it is about a professional clown who saves a ballerina from suicide. The ballerina has lost the use of her legs, but the clown diagnoses her mind-body problem, and she returns to the stage. Here is a clip from the film in which the ballerina has a momentary psychological relapse: ua-cam.com/video/7Inho_a-CQI/v-deo.html
Found your channel while searching for materials on ischialgia. Good content. Hope you grow your channel big
Thanks a lot!! Appreciate that. Ischialgia... good luck!
Interesting, I have never think about that. But it is for sure that our internal reaction express through all body
A great book that I should have probably referenced is "The Body Keeps The Score," which is mostly related to physical behaviors as it relates to trauma, but if you are unfamiliar, that's a really great book. Thanks for watching!
@@ChaplinPerformance 💪🏿
I posted another clip too, but I see UA-cam deleted it (happening more and more). The title of the video is "Thomas Hanna - we are nothing but somatic process." Please do search it because it is a very meaningful and timely excerpt from an interview, in the 1970"s, with the founder of Clinical Somatics.
Wow!! What a passage. This is exactly right. If we treat the body like a machine without regard for the mind, we are asking for trouble!
I feel like a lot of us are in a hurry and PULL ourselves forward, leading with the head and pulling from the quads. I’m going to try the half step back and PUSH from the glutes. I’ve been trying to fix myself for about 12 years now and when breathing is involved it’s like a 12,000 times a day reminded that something is wrong with me. It’s about to drive me to suicide, seriously. I was an MMA fighter for about 6 years but fell into some kind of muscle imbalance that’s affecting my entire body including my diaphragms. If I can figure out a way to get to you, is there any way you might try to help me?
Hi Rod. I have been in that mindset of trying to fix myself. For me it was about 10 years. I have hit rock bottom and had suicidal ideations myself at my lowest point.
What I would say based on my personal experience is that if this is the point you are at, improving mindfulness and/or working with a mental health professional (who you trust) is likely just as (if not more) important than figuring out the movement side of things alone.
The order I would be working on things is trying to conquer the mental side first before looking any further at the physical side.
@@ChaplinPerformance i’ll look into that today, thank you
Yet another clip from the film "Limelight," the context being that after medicine and therapies and finally giving up trying to walk again, the ballerina suddenly loses her disability upon forgetting herself while giving encouragement to her friend and savior the clown (read my previous posts below): ua-cam.com/video/xqks2d_NVNk/v-deo.html
Mary Jo!!! Thank you so much for posting these comments and sharing these clips (from a sadly unrelated Chaplin).
I also believe for many of us, letting go or forgetting about our disabilities, diagnoses, etc. is a truly necessary step in allowing for healing to take place. At least that has been my experience.
So much of this likely has to do with mindfulness, fear, pain and how to body processes (or fails to process) traumas in our lives. While this is certainly not my realm of expertise, my experience is that these domains are very much related to improving movement. Thanks again for your comments and for sharing those clips!!