How mind and body connection improves health
Why is it important to listen to our body signals? It not only builds a mind and body connection, but allows us to want to take better care of our mental and physical selves. When you understand the reason behind these signals sent from the brain, you can take control of your life, instead of the other way around. It can even improve your health and overall being. It all begins with your thoughts!
Our own thoughts begin a chemical reaction in our body that creates the experience of overwhelm, stress, boredom, etc. When we don’t understand or realize the thought creating the feeling, we often escape or “buffer” the negative feeling without even realizing it. Escaping or “buffering” consists of doing something to temporarily ease the pain, or gives us instant gratification; This can look like eating, shopping, scrolling on social media, or something else.
Are you unable to lose the weight because you mindlessly eat or overeat? Think of the last time you were stressed, did you make extra trips to the pantry to deal with it? Or did you sit and scroll on Instagram to avoid it?
Instead of caving into the instant gratification, understand why you are doing it in the first place. Journal your thoughts for a full day and notice what thoughts come up for you. Are they mostly positive or negative thoughts? This isn’t permission to judge yourself, either. It is something to notice now and decide if and how you change them later. This is the first step to an improved mind and body connection.
Practicing feeling your feelings help you process it quicker because avoiding them actually amplifies it. causing MORE problems like over eating or spending over your budget.
This may sound counterintuitive, but when you allow the negative emotions to stay, breathe through them and NOT resist them, they will become less intimidating.
This takes practice and intentionality.
If heading to the pantry is your biggest escape mechanism, first understand why you might be doing that. What is going on in your mind? Are you feeling stressed because of your endless to-do list? One way to move you in the right direction is a thought reframe.
Instead of thinking “I will never get all of this done”, consider the next believable thought, such as “I haven’t yet figured out how to get all of this done”, or better yet, “I will figure out a way to get all of this done”. The second and third statements are more empowering and will have your brain in problem solving mode.
Are you buffering or actually hungry?
If you have trouble understanding whether you’re bored or actually hungry, it is important to understand your hunger and fullness queues.
Hunger: Your stomach may growl, feeling slight dizzy or light headed, or may lose focus.
Fullness: Slight pressure in your stomach.
Use a scale to determine the level of hunger or fullness. When you wake up in the morning from a 7-8 hour fast, how hungry do you feel from a scale between 1-10? Start there and use that as a basis for eating the remainder of the day.
How to improve mind and body connection
- Write down your thoughts and body sensations (e.g hands begin to tighten, clench your teeth) for a few days in a journal.
- Notice the action (or inaction). Do you want to keep or change this result?
- If you want to change the result, start by finding the thought to reframe and practice the next believable thought.
- The next time you have a negative thought/feeling, breath through it, then practice the new thought. Repeat!
Watch your world change to an empowering and problem solving mentality. Once you have this down, you will be comfortable enough to face your negative emotions and no longer need to over eat to feel better, and finally lose the weight!
Looking for more ways to succeed with weight loss? Check out Learn how to plan ahead and get the results you want.
