There are endless amounts of examples that show how stress has an effect on the physical body. In its simplest form hair loss, weight gain, and acne can all be inconvenient reactions to stress and depression. However, because of the mind-body connection our emotions have a powerful ability to affect our physical state. They can cause more serious damage to our bodies, proven to manifest as more serious illnesses such as auto-immune function, and cardiovascular health.
We tend to acknowledge the mind-body connection as separate entities but they are very much interconnected. If you’ve felt the tightening of your stomach when you’re nervous or a ball in your throat when you are about to cry, then you’ve experienced this phenomenon first hand. Emotions exist in our bodies.
Understanding how the mind and body work together can encourage you to make lifestyle changes that can improve your physical health, but also your mental health.
Physical reactions are the body's cues that can help you to better understand and maintain your emotions. Learning how to recognize, acknowledge, and understand these cues are clues to the inner workings of your emotions.
Once you recognize what you’re feeling and why, you allow yourself to change how you react in the moment. This also gives you the opportunity to create better habits around protecting your mental health.
Restoring the mind-body connection means adopting techniques that will help your brain and mind handle stress more effectively.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Cognitive behavioral therapy is a way to program your mind to default to positive thoughts and emotions. It begins with identifying your negative emotions and the circumstances that trigger them.
As counselors we work to rewire the brain and neurotransmitters to break negative patterns of thinking so that individuals feel more compassion, empathy and forgiveness. This type of therapy has been proven to be incredibly effective in treating patients with PTSD, anxiety, and obsessive compulsive behaviors but can also work on a smaller scale to help treat anxiety and depression.
In this example, changing thinking more positively can actually rewire the neurotransmitters in your brain and change your physiology to promote positive mental health.
Somatic Therapies
Over the past few decades, many therapists have started to introduce more somatic, or body-oriented, ways of approaching psychotherapy that are empirically based and proven to improve mental health. These approaches allow for the renegotiation of the nervous system and also offer wonderful, practical tools for individuals who are seeking help with managing anxiety, stress, emotional regulation and healing from trauma. Allowing healing in the body allows for mental and emotional shifts.
This therapy works in conjunction with movement so that individuals are re-introduced to the sensations in their bodies. This might include awareness exercises such as breath work, meditation, massage, grounding and dance. This is based off the philosophy that what happens to you in life not only happens in your mind but is also stored in your body.
Yoga and Meditation
For years, ancient yogis and practitioners have known the positive effects of meditation on mental health. Yoga and meditation are both effective as they activate a relaxation response in your body and allow you to step out of your day to pause and reset. This is because both focus on breathwork.
This trains us to naturally slow down our breathing which then triggers relaxation and helps to reset your brain. Deep breathing, even only 3 minutes of meditation a day, can help decrease stress, anxiety and depression.
Practicing Mindfulness
Those prone to anxiety and depression often suffer from ruminations or spinning thoughts that can lead to a pattern of negative thinking. Self-awareness can help curb these negative thought patterns and help get you back to the present moment.
Practicing mindfulness helps calm these thoughts and focus on the present moment. This helps redirect negative thoughts and feelings so we can dodge pain and discomfort and helps us become more self-aware.
Disrupting these thought patterns floods the body with more pleasant neurotransmitters, slows the heart rate, and calms the breath, which will continue to put the body in a state of relaxation.
Nutrition and Food
Food and nutrition play a huge role, not only in keeping our bodies healthy but keeping our bodies in a state of relaxation. It’s normal for us to reach for sweets when we’re depressed or forget to eat when we’re stressed, but maybe these bad habits, a part of your daily routine, is building inflammation in your body.
All of these unhealthy habits can be having an effect on your poor mental and emotional well-being. Processed foods and sugar can build inflammation in the body that can put our bodies under even more stress.
Learning how to eat well also means respecting your body and mind. What you put into your body is what you’ll get out of it. Focusing on incorporating more fruits, vegetables, OMEGA 3 fatty acids, and supplements into your diet and limiting the intake of sugar, and processed foods can help you manage stress, anxiety, and depression more effectively.
Final Thoughts
The mind and body connection is the greatest tool we have in managing mental health and well-being.
Incorporating these practices in your routine can help ground you more in the present and build a stronger connection in your body so that it is not responding to the negativity of your thoughts. Learning how to break free from negative patterns can help you ultimately combat depression, anxiety and stress.
Take the first step today.
Contact our clinic and book a complimentary session.
Let us help you get back to being yourself.
