Mindfulness, Movement, and Posture - the Mind Body Connection

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.

[fineartlifestyling]

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.

[skylarbuttecali]

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.

[leticiagarcia]

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!

[maryjomagar]

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!

[jayinderkaushik]

I WAS WAITING FOR A PROFESSIONAL TO TALK ABOUT THIS MAN

[husslerwlf]

Found your channel while searching for materials on ischialgia. Good content. Hope you grow your channel big

[timful]

Interesting, I have never think about that. But it is for sure that our internal reaction express through all body

[maryjomagar]

I posted another clip too, but I see YouTube 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.

[Juggernaut]

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?