Get into your body

Your thoughts are like Netflix autoplay.   One finishes, and…BAM!…the next one starts.  Past, future, what-ifs, should haves.  Before you know it, your mind is playing a full-blown drama series.  But a thought is just a thought.  It isn’t the truth.  

How do you get out of that insane thought stream?   Get into your body.  Your body is always here, now.

Start with your breath.  It never takes a day off.   Notice the air at the tip of your nose- flowing in, flowing out.  Or check with your belly.  Breathe in, your belly expands like a balloon, breathe out, balloon deflates.  Keep breathing.  The more you pay attention to your breath, the more you land in the present- the only place we actually live.

Throughout the day, for 1-2 minutes, step back from whatever you are doing, notice and feel your breath.  Do it first thing in the morning, at bedtime, or while waiting in line at the store.  The more you practice, the more your busy mind calms down when you need it most.   Here is the magic.  When your body calms down, so does your mind. Psychiatrist and trauma expert, Bessel Van der Kolk, put it in fancy, “Cognition follows physiology.”  Trust your body.  It’s wiser than your thoughts.