August 24, 2023 • 22 mins
Your mind and body are one, not separate as we've been led to believe. And the quality of both your breath and posture mirror the way you show up in this world.
Imagine if a simple shift in your posture could change the way you're perceived or the way you perceive the world around you, or if intentional breathing could bring focus and calm to your life. In this episode, I unpack the profound idea that the body and mind are one and not separate. And as one, your breath plays a crucial role in binding them together.
In this episode you'll learn:
- What the body-mind connection is
- How it influences how you show up in this world
- How breathing and body posture impact your thoughts and how you feel.
Plus, I share details with you on the upcoming five-day challenge: Intentional Breathwork Simplified - a chance for you to kick-start your journey towards a more focused and intentional life.
Resources:
Intentional Breathwork Simplified - www.cairnyogawellness.com/breathworkchallenge
Science Discovers the Perfect Formula for Hugging - Psychology Today
How We Feel App (Android)
How We Feel App (iPhone)
Get started tracking your own rhythms and the rhythms around you - Daily Rhythms Tracker
Grab the full show notes and resources at www.cairnyogawellness.com/podcast84 and subscribe and listen wherever you catch your podcasts:
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Other Episodes like this one:
#59: How You Breathe is Who You Are
#61: The Truth Behind Your Aches and Pains
#49: The Best Way to Ground Yourself
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Your mind and body are one, not separate, as we've
been led to believe, and thequality of both your breath and
posture mirror the way you showup in this world.
In today's episode, you'regoing to learn what the
body-mind connection is, how itinfluences how you show up in
(00:21):
this world, and how breathingand body posture impact your
thoughts and how you feel.
Welcome to Help Harmony andHappiness with Kathy.
I'm your host, kathy Stricker.
(00:42):
I'm a state patrol wife, mamato three lively kiddos, a yoga
teacher, certified NLP coach andan energetic rhythms expert.
As an energetic rhythms coach,I help action-taking women use
their body's rhythms and themoon's cycle to optimize
productivity and avoid burnout,without letting their desire to
remain in control alter theirfocus.
(01:04):
And this podcast is all aboutdoing just that, and perhaps a
bit more, so that you can createyour own path to health,
harmony and happiness.
So come along with me, and maythis episode serve as a nudge to
discover tools that could helpyou on your path towards more
intentional living.
Enjoy the show.
Hey friends, welcome to episode84 of the podcast.
(01:33):
I am so grateful that you arehere today.
Before we get started, I wantto tell you about a little
challenge that I have coming up,actually starting next week,
august 28th through September1st, and it's called intentional
breathwork simplified.
It's a five-day challenge tofocus your overactive mind
(01:53):
faster than meditation.
In this challenge you're goingto learn the basics of breathing
intentionally to regain focusand calm your overactive mind at
any moment, without having tospend a lot of time doing so.
Each day of the workshop you'regoing to learn one new
breathwork technique at leastfor optimal productivity and
(02:14):
ease, that you can integrateinto your day without adding to
your to-do list.
I don't want this to besomething that you feel like
it's another thing you have todo in your day, because I think
I'm speaking to most of you whoalready like to fill your days
with things.
So this is not just anotherthing to add and check off your
(02:34):
list.
Breathwork is something that,once you learn how to do it, you
can seamlessly integrate itinto your life instead of having
it interrupt your life, andthat's the beautiful thing.
So I will link to that in theresources or in the show notes,
but also you can find itdirectly at carnyogawellnesscom
(02:57):
slash breathwork challenge andyou'll just sign up there.
You'll get all the details inyour email of the times that we
are meeting.
If you can attend live on Zoommuch better than if you go back
and rewatch it, simply because Iknow how that goes.
If you're anything like me,you've probably signed up for
things in the past and then notbeen able to attend all or part
(03:20):
of it for some reason or another.
And how likely is it that youoften go back and actually watch
those things?
My guess is and I could beprojecting this on you and I
apologize if I am, but my guessis it's not very often, probably
.
So that's why I just encourageyou to show up live in person if
you can, because it is gonna beso much better than if you have
(03:43):
to try and carve out that spacein your calendar at a later
date.
But if you have to do that forone or two days, fine, do it,
because I know that once youexperience it live in person,
you'll actually want to comeback and get more of the
information.
So just a little plug for that.
Today we're talking a little bitabout breath work, but we're
also talking about what themind-body connection is.
(04:05):
We're gonna talk about how itinfluences how you show up in
this world and how breathing andbody posture impact your
thoughts and how you feel.
So it's kind of a littleprecursor to the challenge or
the workshop that I'm doing nextweek, which is a very cool
thing.
So the body-mind connectionsometimes it's called mind-body,
(04:25):
sometimes it's called body-mind.
You just get to pick what youwant and stick with it.
Today I'm going with body-mind.
It's sometimes referred to asthe study of psychosematics.
Psycho meaning related to themind, so that's your thoughts,
emotions and nervous system, andsomatics meaning relating to
the body, which could alsoinclude your health, your
(04:47):
hormones, your posture, your gutas the second brain, all of the
physical part of you.
So it's relating to the body.
It's the relationship of thingsrelating to the mind and body
as one complete unit instead ofseparate units.
So it's looking at it not withyour brain just being a separate
(05:08):
entity and your thoughts andthose sorts of things being
separate and your body havingall these separate ailments or
separate things that are goingon.
It's instead bringing it alltogether your thoughts, your
emotions and physical health asbeing all one, impacting each
other as one instead of separate.
It's kind of like a chicken andegg situation, right?
Is it the injury in the bodythat's causing the mental
(05:31):
disruption or is there a mentaldisruption in the body that is
causing the dis-ease or the lackof ease or the discomfort.
It can go either way.
It's more like all things allat once, all the time.
It's all happening right.
So when you start to considerthe relationship between your
(05:53):
mind and your body, or your bodyand your mind that way, it
changes things.
I define body-mind as the unitof the body and mind and how it
responds to its environment, asone complete whole rather than
separate parts.
So I'm going to say that onceagain the unit of the body and
(06:15):
mind and how it responds to itsenvironment as one complete
whole rather than separate parts.
I've talked about this beforein episode 61, in regards to how
your aches and pains are simplymessages from your physical
body about something that may beoff in your mental, emotional
health or awareness.
But today we're going to diveinto what that body-mind
(06:38):
connection looks like.
Historically, this has been aconcept more widely accepted by
Eastern cultures, and that'slikely because when we have a
discomfort or something thatisn't working right in our
bodies, we just want the quickfix, and modern medicine has
done a beautiful job of creatingtreatments for individual
ailments, dis-eases, injuriesand discomforts, and praise God,
(07:00):
because that is a good thing.
We can find more comfortsometimes in that quick fix.
It's sometimes also the easyfix.
But if it's not addressing theroot cause to some of the
ongoing dis-ease or lack of thatyou experience, which likely
also lies in the mental andemotional parts of you, you'll
(07:22):
just have to keep treating moreand more individual parts
instead of actually gettingbetter.
So until you can recognize thateverything is one and not
separate, and the way your bodytries to communicate with you
and send you messages is throughits discomforts, you'll never,
ever get to the root cause, beit mental, physical or emotional
.
(07:42):
But I'll tell you that breathplays a huge part in all of that
.
The physical act of breathingcommunicates how you will move
through this life or face thislife.
So if you can harness and evenmaster your breath, you can
master your thoughts or yourmind.
And on top of that, theperceived threats that we have
(08:03):
in our minds also influence howwe breathe.
So let's start with breath.
We train our body, mind, toshow up differently and see
things through a different lens,so that when threats, stresses
or challenges do happen, theyimpact us far less than if we
are unaware of our breath and welet stress dictate how we
(08:24):
breathe.
Consider when someone jumps outat you and startles you.
What does your breath do?
Your body likely responds witha short, quick gasp in the chest
, and that happens so quicklyit's hard to tell if it's your
body or your mind respondingfirst, but the breath is shallow
(08:44):
Now.
Consider that fear responsehappening all the time, day in
and day out, because of littleworries or stresses that we have
just grown accustomed to livingwith.
That's how most of us live, andthe fact that this body mind is
so intricately woven togethergreatly impacts how we show up
(09:05):
in this world.
That's how most of us live allthe time, and the fact that this
body mind is so intricatelywoven together greatly impacts
how we show up in this world.
So let's talk about neuroplasty, because that leads into how we
show up into this world.
Neuroplasty might be a new wordfor you, but it's really just
(09:28):
the brain's ability to adapt andchange based on our experiences
and thoughts.
It means that we cancontinuously change over the
course of a lifetime dependingon what we choose to surround
ourselves with, including ourthoughts.
So this is a really good thing,because it means that phrase
(09:49):
you can't teach an old dog newtricks is totally irrelevant.
Totally irrelevant.
So if you find yourself usingthat phrase, maybe reconsider,
because although it might bechallenging to learn new things,
it is possible with the rightmindset and the desire to change
.
In Philippians 4-8, the Biblesays whatever is true, whatever
(10:14):
is honorable, whatever is just,whatever is pure, whatever is
lovely, whatever is commendable,if there is any excellence, if
there is anything worthy ofpraise, think about these things
.
We are directly beingencouraged to actually think
about good things instead ofnegative things or instead of
(10:34):
what could go wrong.
We are being encouraged andtold to think about the good
things in life.
I think that's just a beautifulverse and that's why I wanted
to include it today, to justgive you a little bit of
inspiration or motivation fromthe spiritual side of things too
, that the universe, the energyaround us, wants us to think of
(10:57):
positive things, wants us tocall in that energy and set our
minds on those things, becausewhen we do, it impacts our
bodies as a whole, it impactswho we are and how we show up in
this world.
Whatever you're thinking about,it's all the direct effect of
what is going into your mind,your thoughts, your internal and
(11:18):
external dialogue with yourselfand from others, and it shows
up in your physical body.
If your mind is unhealthy, yourbody is unhealthy.
So if you're filling your mindwith stress, negative thoughts,
fear, self-doubt, your body isalso going to be unhealthy.
Your body is going tophysically feel the weight of
(11:39):
those emotions, of thatcontractive energy.
Now, all these things presentin different ways in the way
that you hold yourself and howmuch self-confidence and belief
you have in yourself, but itreally involves what's called
emotional resonance.
Just as emotional states canaffect your posture, facial
(11:59):
expressions and body language,they also shape how we are
perceived by others.
But it also goes the other way.
How you consciously orunconsciously hold your body can
dramatically change the way youfeel, as well as the beliefs
you have about yourself.
This is something we have beentalking a lot about with our
kids, because I think at a youngage, it's important to teach
(12:23):
kids to learn that the way thatthey stand and the way that they
hold their bodies definitelyimpacts how they feel and how
they show up in this world.
One of the things that I havebeen using with my kids is to
ask them if their collarbonesare smiling, which may sound
silly and cheesy, but if yourcollarbones are smiling, it kind
of means that they're turned upa little bit, they're upright
(12:46):
and you're standing tall, andthat's a posture that is really
going to exude confidence andbelief in yourself, even if you
don't feel like you have it allthe time.
If you can create that posture,your mind will start to believe
it.
Standing with good posture, inan open rather than closed
stance so ears stacked overshoulders, shoulders down and
(13:08):
back, chest lifted, shouldersover hips, hips over ankles will
communicate self-confidence.
And that's what I mean bysaying are your collarbones
smiling?
It's bringing your shouldersback.
It's bringing your chin backjust a little bit so that your
ears are stacked over yourshoulders and your shoulders are
over your hips, hips overankles.
Just doing will dramaticallychange the way you feel as well
(13:30):
as the beliefs that you haveabout yourself.
Studies have even shown thattaking these open, expansive
postures like power posing orstanding in the posture that I
just described, but with yourhands on your hips, increases
feelings of power and confidence.
So it's kind of a thing.
If you haven't heard of it, itis the thing.
It's kind of an old thingactually.
(13:50):
But power posing is to stand,and even if you do this in front
of a mirror much better,because you are doing mirror
work at the same time, standingand just embodying that feeling
of power and confidence, how youhold your body literally has an
impact on your stress responsein this world.
So how your mind perceivesstress and even responds
(14:13):
biochemically to it, and I thinkthat's pretty cool that science
does show us that these thingsactually work and that
absolutely your body and mindare one and not separate.
I like to believe this openposture also calls in positive
energy and attracts abundanceinto your life.
So here's the woo, woo part ofit.
I'm not sure if there isresearch or science on it, but
(14:35):
I'm sure there is some out theresomewhere that leading with an
open heart and an open presencedefinitely invites good energy.
I certainly would think itwould, and not to be left out is
the idea that how we move ourbody not just in a held posture
but like, for instance, in yogapostures or sequences as I've
(14:58):
unpacked in previous episodes,or how we move through life,
either fast paced or slow andlethargic, definitely plays a
role in how we feel.
But also the touch that wereceive impacts how we feel and
the release of hormones in ourbodies.
Hugging, for instance and I meana good, genuine hug with medium
(15:18):
pressure that you can relaxinto in that lasts 20 seconds or
more causes the feel goodhormone, oxytocin, to be
released into your bloodstream.
This is that hormone.
That's like the love hormone.
Okay, that's what we'll call it.
But a good hug like thatdebates your vagus nerve and the
parasympathetic state, so itbrings you into that calm and
(15:42):
relaxed state so that you canrelax.
It also lowers your cortisollevels.
I'll link to a great articleabout this in the show notes.
It has more to do with theimportance of like moms and
children or moms and babieshugging, but it's a wonderful
article so I will link to thatin the show notes.
(16:04):
But even if you don't havesomeone else to hug you or to
receive hugs from, you cansimply hug yourself and still
receive the same benefits.
Same rules apply 20 seconds,medium pressure until you relax.
You might even throw in someaffirmations or positive
self-talk to reassure and calmyou when necessary.
An alternative to huggingyourself is to simply place one
(16:27):
or both hands on your heartcenter and feel the touch and
movement of your chest as youbreathe.
This has similar calmingeffects to hugging.
Another thing to note is that ifyour body is unhealthy, or what
you're putting into your bodyis unhealthy, your mind will
likely also be unhealthy.
Right when intention goes,energy flows.
(16:49):
So if you are puttingnegativity and you are putting
junk food and you are puttingcrap into your body, your mind
is not gonna be clear, it's notgonna be focused, it's not gonna
feel good and even times oflittle stress, little pressure,
are gonna feel more intensebecause you're not taking care
of your body the way you couldbe to make it feel its best.
(17:13):
Junk food not only makes youfeel lousy, but emotionally and
mentally it also brings you down.
Remember that your mind andbody are one.
They're not separate.
So what's going into one isactually going into all of it,
and that includes the quality ofyour breath.
And now we move on to howbreathing and body posture
(17:34):
impact your thoughts and how youfeel.
Without breathing, we areabsolutely nothing.
And I've got another Bible versefor you today, because
apparently I was on a roll, butthis one comes from Genesis 2.7.
And it's like the most profoundbreath statement Ever, I think,
because this is how we cameinto being and into life as
(17:58):
human beings.
That's what I believe the Lord.
God formed the man of dust fromthe ground and breathed into
his nostrils the breath of life,and the man became a living
creature.
Two things I want to point outthere.
We were, breathed life into us,we were given the great gift of
(18:24):
life and now we get to beresponsible with how we use it.
And it was breathed into thenostrils, which means your nose
is made for breathing, not yourmouth.
And although, yes, you canbreathe through your mouth, it
is not optimal and I'm going totalk about that in intentional
breath work simplified or youcan just check out my Instagram
(18:45):
and see I've kind of beenchatting about that for a little
bit.
But let's get on to howbreathing and body posture
impact your thoughts and how youfeel.
I've said in the past that yogais the gateway to understanding
yourself, and while that may beaccurate, I've also said that,
without intentional breath,moving through things that are
(19:06):
recognized as yoga postures isreally just stretching.
So if we really chunk thatgateway to understanding
yourself down even further, it'sreally about the breath.
Your breath is truly thegateway to understanding
yourself.
The quality of your breath isthe quality of your mind, but
sometimes it takes coming tothat realization through
(19:27):
something movement based,because we are such an action
oriented society and often findit hard to give ourselves
permission to just slow down andnotice the breath, let alone
set aside time to intentionallypractice breathing in a
different way.
Right, but when we can invitebreath work practices into our
daily living, as I mentioned atthe beginning, as integration
(19:49):
rather than interruption, itdoesn't have to be just another
thing to add to your to-do list.
I mentioned before how a short,startled breath is a stress
response, and if your breath islike that consistently over time
, it's likely because you'reliving in a constant state of
low level or even high levelstress.
Stress impacts your body withtense muscles, elevated
(20:12):
shoulders, shortened hip flexorsand abdominals, and because
everything about the stressresponse makes your body want to
curl up and protect itself,everything in the front is
closing in and contracting, andwhen the front side of your body
is curled inward, as it oftengets when working on a computer
or looking at your phone ordriving all things that most of
(20:33):
us do multiple hours a day it nodoubt has a negative impact on
your breathing.
There's no space for your lungsto expand outward and tight
muscles prevent your rib cagefrom moving laterally and your
diaphragm from moving downwardon the inhale.
So here's that chicken or eggtheory.
Once again, stress causes ourbodies to want to protect and
(20:54):
contract, including shorteningthe breath, making it harder to
calm the nervous system.
But when we are stressed likethat, the thing that we most
importantly need, when we'reeven if we're hyperventilating,
the thing we most importantlyneed is to open and breathe.
But it's really hard to do thatwhen we're constantly put in
(21:15):
this stress response.
So the cycle just continues.
So unless we consciously decideto take charge and to start to
be intentional about our breath,about posture, about movement
and thoughts, we'll beperpetually stuck feeling worse
and worse, no matter whatmedicine we try Unless, of
course, that medicine isintentional breathwork.
(21:39):
As we wrap up, when you openyour body, even with things as
simple as changing the way youstand or sit, and begin to
become aware of your typicalbreathing patterns, you can
begin to control your breath andactivate the relaxation
response and begin to approachthe world in the emotional state
(21:59):
.
That's just right for you tofeel confident and at ease with
life.
But it all starts with breath,and when the rhythm of your
breath aligns with the rhythm ofthe life you want to be living,
you indeed will have that life.
Okay, friends, I've dropped alink to intentional breathwork,
(22:21):
simplified in the resources ofthis episode, or you can find it
at CarnYogaWellnesscom slashbreathwork challenge.
It starts Monday and I'd loveto have you join.
Even if you don't join at thestart, you still get access to
the recorded sessions for alimited time, or you can wait
until the next time I hold thischallenge because, yes, it will
be offered again Until next time.
(22:42):
You've been listening to Health, harmony and Happiness with
Kathy.
I'm Kathy Stricker, helping youfind and use the rhythms in and
around you in all you do.
Cheers to cultivating your ownversion of Health, harmony and
Happiness in your life.
Your mind and body are one, not separate, as we've
been led to believe, and thequality of both your breath and
posture mirror the way you showup in this world.
In today's episode, you'regoing to learn what the
body-mind connection is, how itinfluences how you show up in
(00:21):
this world, and how breathingand body posture impact your
thoughts and how you feel.
Welcome to Help Harmony andHappiness with Kathy.
I'm your host, kathy Stricker.
(00:42):
I'm a state patrol wife, mamato three lively kiddos, a yoga
teacher, certified NLP coach andan energetic rhythms expert.
As an energetic rhythms coach,I help action-taking women use
their body's rhythms and themoon's cycle to optimize
productivity and avoid burnout,without letting their desire to
remain in control alter theirfocus.
(01:04):
And this podcast is all aboutdoing just that, and perhaps a
bit more, so that you can createyour own path to health,
harmony and happiness.
So come along with me, and maythis episode serve as a nudge to
discover tools that could helpyou on your path towards more
intentional living.
Enjoy the show.
Hey friends, welcome to episode84 of the podcast.
(01:33):
I am so grateful that you arehere today.
Before we get started, I wantto tell you about a little
challenge that I have coming up,actually starting next week,
august 28th through September1st, and it's called intentional
breathwork simplified.
It's a five-day challenge tofocus your overactive mind
(01:53):
faster than meditation.
In this challenge you're goingto learn the basics of breathing
intentionally to regain focusand calm your overactive mind at
any moment, without having tospend a lot of time doing so.
Each day of the workshop you'regoing to learn one new
breathwork technique at leastfor optimal productivity and
(02:14):
ease, that you can integrateinto your day without adding to
your to-do list.
I don't want this to besomething that you feel like
it's another thing you have todo in your day, because I think
I'm speaking to most of you whoalready like to fill your days
with things.
So this is not just anotherthing to add and check off your
(02:34):
list.
Breathwork is something that,once you learn how to do it, you
can seamlessly integrate itinto your life instead of having
it interrupt your life, andthat's the beautiful thing.
So I will link to that in theresources or in the show notes,
but also you can find itdirectly at carnyogawellnesscom
(02:57):
slash breathwork challenge andyou'll just sign up there.
You'll get all the details inyour email of the times that we
are meeting.
If you can attend live on Zoommuch better than if you go back
and rewatch it, simply because Iknow how that goes.
If you're anything like me,you've probably signed up for
things in the past and then notbeen able to attend all or part
(03:20):
of it for some reason or another.
And how likely is it that youoften go back and actually watch
those things?
My guess is and I could beprojecting this on you and I
apologize if I am, but my guessis it's not very often, probably
.
So that's why I just encourageyou to show up live in person if
you can, because it is gonna beso much better than if you have
(03:43):
to try and carve out that spacein your calendar at a later
date.
But if you have to do that forone or two days, fine, do it,
because I know that once youexperience it live in person,
you'll actually want to comeback and get more of the
information.
So just a little plug for that.
Today we're talking a little bitabout breath work, but we're
also talking about what themind-body connection is.
(04:05):
We're gonna talk about how itinfluences how you show up in
this world and how breathing andbody posture impact your
thoughts and how you feel.
So it's kind of a littleprecursor to the challenge or
the workshop that I'm doing nextweek, which is a very cool
thing.
So the body-mind connectionsometimes it's called mind-body,
(04:25):
sometimes it's called body-mind.
You just get to pick what youwant and stick with it.
Today I'm going with body-mind.
It's sometimes referred to asthe study of psychosematics.
Psycho meaning related to themind, so that's your thoughts,
emotions and nervous system, andsomatics meaning relating to
the body, which could alsoinclude your health, your
(04:47):
hormones, your posture, your gutas the second brain, all of the
physical part of you.
So it's relating to the body.
It's the relationship of thingsrelating to the mind and body
as one complete unit instead ofseparate units.
So it's looking at it not withyour brain just being a separate
(05:08):
entity and your thoughts andthose sorts of things being
separate and your body havingall these separate ailments or
separate things that are goingon.
It's instead bringing it alltogether your thoughts, your
emotions and physical health asbeing all one, impacting each
other as one instead of separate.
It's kind of like a chicken andegg situation, right?
Is it the injury in the bodythat's causing the mental
(05:31):
disruption or is there a mentaldisruption in the body that is
causing the dis-ease or the lackof ease or the discomfort.
It can go either way.
It's more like all things allat once, all the time.
It's all happening right.
So when you start to considerthe relationship between your
(05:53):
mind and your body, or your bodyand your mind that way, it
changes things.
I define body-mind as the unitof the body and mind and how it
responds to its environment, asone complete whole rather than
separate parts.
So I'm going to say that onceagain the unit of the body and
(06:15):
mind and how it responds to itsenvironment as one complete
whole rather than separate parts.
I've talked about this beforein episode 61, in regards to how
your aches and pains are simplymessages from your physical
body about something that may beoff in your mental, emotional
health or awareness.
But today we're going to diveinto what that body-mind
(06:38):
connection looks like.
Historically, this has been aconcept more widely accepted by
Eastern cultures, and that'slikely because when we have a
discomfort or something thatisn't working right in our
bodies, we just want the quickfix, and modern medicine has
done a beautiful job of creatingtreatments for individual
ailments, dis-eases, injuriesand discomforts, and praise God,
(07:00):
because that is a good thing.
We can find more comfortsometimes in that quick fix.
It's sometimes also the easyfix.
But if it's not addressing theroot cause to some of the
ongoing dis-ease or lack of thatyou experience, which likely
also lies in the mental andemotional parts of you, you'll
(07:22):
just have to keep treating moreand more individual parts
instead of actually gettingbetter.
So until you can recognize thateverything is one and not
separate, and the way your bodytries to communicate with you
and send you messages is throughits discomforts, you'll never,
ever get to the root cause, beit mental, physical or emotional
.
(07:42):
But I'll tell you that breathplays a huge part in all of that
.
The physical act of breathingcommunicates how you will move
through this life or face thislife.
So if you can harness and evenmaster your breath, you can
master your thoughts or yourmind.
And on top of that, theperceived threats that we have
(08:03):
in our minds also influence howwe breathe.
So let's start with breath.
We train our body, mind, toshow up differently and see
things through a different lens,so that when threats, stresses
or challenges do happen, theyimpact us far less than if we
are unaware of our breath and welet stress dictate how we
(08:24):
breathe.
Consider when someone jumps outat you and startles you.
What does your breath do?
Your body likely responds witha short, quick gasp in the chest
, and that happens so quicklyit's hard to tell if it's your
body or your mind respondingfirst, but the breath is shallow
(08:44):
Now.
Consider that fear responsehappening all the time, day in
and day out, because of littleworries or stresses that we have
just grown accustomed to livingwith.
That's how most of us live, andthe fact that this body mind is
so intricately woven togethergreatly impacts how we show up
(09:05):
in this world.
That's how most of us live allthe time, and the fact that this
body mind is so intricatelywoven together greatly impacts
how we show up in this world.
So let's talk about neuroplasty, because that leads into how we
show up into this world.
Neuroplasty might be a new wordfor you, but it's really just
(09:28):
the brain's ability to adapt andchange based on our experiences
and thoughts.
It means that we cancontinuously change over the
course of a lifetime dependingon what we choose to surround
ourselves with, including ourthoughts.
So this is a really good thing,because it means that phrase
(09:49):
you can't teach an old dog newtricks is totally irrelevant.
Totally irrelevant.
So if you find yourself usingthat phrase, maybe reconsider,
because although it might bechallenging to learn new things,
it is possible with the rightmindset and the desire to change
.
In Philippians 4-8, the Biblesays whatever is true, whatever
(10:14):
is honorable, whatever is just,whatever is pure, whatever is
lovely, whatever is commendable,if there is any excellence, if
there is anything worthy ofpraise, think about these things
.
We are directly beingencouraged to actually think
about good things instead ofnegative things or instead of
(10:34):
what could go wrong.
We are being encouraged andtold to think about the good
things in life.
I think that's just a beautifulverse and that's why I wanted
to include it today, to justgive you a little bit of
inspiration or motivation fromthe spiritual side of things too
, that the universe, the energyaround us, wants us to think of
(10:57):
positive things, wants us tocall in that energy and set our
minds on those things, becausewhen we do, it impacts our
bodies as a whole, it impactswho we are and how we show up in
this world.
Whatever you're thinking about,it's all the direct effect of
what is going into your mind,your thoughts, your internal and
(11:18):
external dialogue with yourselfand from others, and it shows
up in your physical body.
If your mind is unhealthy, yourbody is unhealthy.
So if you're filling your mindwith stress, negative thoughts,
fear, self-doubt, your body isalso going to be unhealthy.
Your body is going tophysically feel the weight of
(11:39):
those emotions, of thatcontractive energy.
Now, all these things presentin different ways in the way
that you hold yourself and howmuch self-confidence and belief
you have in yourself, but itreally involves what's called
emotional resonance.
Just as emotional states canaffect your posture, facial
(11:59):
expressions and body language,they also shape how we are
perceived by others.
But it also goes the other way.
How you consciously orunconsciously hold your body can
dramatically change the way youfeel, as well as the beliefs
you have about yourself.
This is something we have beentalking a lot about with our
kids, because I think at a youngage, it's important to teach
(12:23):
kids to learn that the way thatthey stand and the way that they
hold their bodies definitelyimpacts how they feel and how
they show up in this world.
One of the things that I havebeen using with my kids is to
ask them if their collarbonesare smiling, which may sound
silly and cheesy, but if yourcollarbones are smiling, it kind
of means that they're turned upa little bit, they're upright
(12:46):
and you're standing tall, andthat's a posture that is really
going to exude confidence andbelief in yourself, even if you
don't feel like you have it allthe time.
If you can create that posture,your mind will start to believe
it.
Standing with good posture, inan open rather than closed
stance so ears stacked overshoulders, shoulders down and
(13:08):
back, chest lifted, shouldersover hips, hips over ankles will
communicate self-confidence.
And that's what I mean bysaying are your collarbones
smiling?
It's bringing your shouldersback.
It's bringing your chin backjust a little bit so that your
ears are stacked over yourshoulders and your shoulders are
over your hips, hips overankles.
Just doing will dramaticallychange the way you feel as well
(13:30):
as the beliefs that you haveabout yourself.
Studies have even shown thattaking these open, expansive
postures like power posing orstanding in the posture that I
just described, but with yourhands on your hips, increases
feelings of power and confidence.
So it's kind of a thing.
If you haven't heard of it, itis the thing.
It's kind of an old thingactually.
(13:50):
But power posing is to stand,and even if you do this in front
of a mirror much better,because you are doing mirror
work at the same time, standingand just embodying that feeling
of power and confidence, how youhold your body literally has an
impact on your stress responsein this world.
So how your mind perceivesstress and even responds
(14:13):
biochemically to it, and I thinkthat's pretty cool that science
does show us that these thingsactually work and that
absolutely your body and mindare one and not separate.
I like to believe this openposture also calls in positive
energy and attracts abundanceinto your life.
So here's the woo, woo part ofit.
I'm not sure if there isresearch or science on it, but
(14:35):
I'm sure there is some out theresomewhere that leading with an
open heart and an open presencedefinitely invites good energy.
I certainly would think itwould, and not to be left out is
the idea that how we move ourbody not just in a held posture
but like, for instance, in yogapostures or sequences as I've
(14:58):
unpacked in previous episodes,or how we move through life,
either fast paced or slow andlethargic, definitely plays a
role in how we feel.
But also the touch that wereceive impacts how we feel and
the release of hormones in ourbodies.
Hugging, for instance and I meana good, genuine hug with medium
(15:18):
pressure that you can relaxinto in that lasts 20 seconds or
more causes the feel goodhormone, oxytocin, to be
released into your bloodstream.
This is that hormone.
That's like the love hormone.
Okay, that's what we'll call it.
But a good hug like thatdebates your vagus nerve and the
parasympathetic state, so itbrings you into that calm and
(15:42):
relaxed state so that you canrelax.
It also lowers your cortisollevels.
I'll link to a great articleabout this in the show notes.
It has more to do with theimportance of like moms and
children or moms and babieshugging, but it's a wonderful
article so I will link to thatin the show notes.
(16:04):
But even if you don't havesomeone else to hug you or to
receive hugs from, you cansimply hug yourself and still
receive the same benefits.
Same rules apply 20 seconds,medium pressure until you relax.
You might even throw in someaffirmations or positive
self-talk to reassure and calmyou when necessary.
An alternative to huggingyourself is to simply place one
(16:27):
or both hands on your heartcenter and feel the touch and
movement of your chest as youbreathe.
This has similar calmingeffects to hugging.
Another thing to note is that ifyour body is unhealthy, or what
you're putting into your bodyis unhealthy, your mind will
likely also be unhealthy.
Right when intention goes,energy flows.
(16:49):
So if you are puttingnegativity and you are putting
junk food and you are puttingcrap into your body, your mind
is not gonna be clear, it's notgonna be focused, it's not gonna
feel good and even times oflittle stress, little pressure,
are gonna feel more intensebecause you're not taking care
of your body the way you couldbe to make it feel its best.
(17:13):
Junk food not only makes youfeel lousy, but emotionally and
mentally it also brings you down.
Remember that your mind andbody are one.
They're not separate.
So what's going into one isactually going into all of it,
and that includes the quality ofyour breath.
And now we move on to howbreathing and body posture
(17:34):
impact your thoughts and how youfeel.
Without breathing, we areabsolutely nothing.
And I've got another Bible versefor you today, because
apparently I was on a roll, butthis one comes from Genesis 2.7.
And it's like the most profoundbreath statement Ever, I think,
because this is how we cameinto being and into life as
(17:58):
human beings.
That's what I believe the Lord.
God formed the man of dust fromthe ground and breathed into
his nostrils the breath of life,and the man became a living
creature.
Two things I want to point outthere.
We were, breathed life into us,we were given the great gift of
(18:24):
life and now we get to beresponsible with how we use it.
And it was breathed into thenostrils, which means your nose
is made for breathing, not yourmouth.
And although, yes, you canbreathe through your mouth, it
is not optimal and I'm going totalk about that in intentional
breath work simplified or youcan just check out my Instagram
(18:45):
and see I've kind of beenchatting about that for a little
bit.
But let's get on to howbreathing and body posture
impact your thoughts and how youfeel.
I've said in the past that yogais the gateway to understanding
yourself, and while that may beaccurate, I've also said that,
without intentional breath,moving through things that are
(19:06):
recognized as yoga postures isreally just stretching.
So if we really chunk thatgateway to understanding
yourself down even further, it'sreally about the breath.
Your breath is truly thegateway to understanding
yourself.
The quality of your breath isthe quality of your mind, but
sometimes it takes coming tothat realization through
(19:27):
something movement based,because we are such an action
oriented society and often findit hard to give ourselves
permission to just slow down andnotice the breath, let alone
set aside time to intentionallypractice breathing in a
different way.
Right, but when we can invitebreath work practices into our
daily living, as I mentioned atthe beginning, as integration
(19:49):
rather than interruption, itdoesn't have to be just another
thing to add to your to-do list.
I mentioned before how a short,startled breath is a stress
response, and if your breath islike that consistently over time
, it's likely because you'reliving in a constant state of
low level or even high levelstress.
Stress impacts your body withtense muscles, elevated
(20:12):
shoulders, shortened hip flexorsand abdominals, and because
everything about the stressresponse makes your body want to
curl up and protect itself,everything in the front is
closing in and contracting, andwhen the front side of your body
is curled inward, as it oftengets when working on a computer
or looking at your phone ordriving all things that most of
(20:33):
us do multiple hours a day it nodoubt has a negative impact on
your breathing.
There's no space for your lungsto expand outward and tight
muscles prevent your rib cagefrom moving laterally and your
diaphragm from moving downwardon the inhale.
So here's that chicken or eggtheory.
Once again, stress causes ourbodies to want to protect and
(20:54):
contract, including shorteningthe breath, making it harder to
calm the nervous system.
But when we are stressed likethat, the thing that we most
importantly need, when we'reeven if we're hyperventilating,
the thing we most importantlyneed is to open and breathe.
But it's really hard to do thatwhen we're constantly put in
(21:15):
this stress response.
So the cycle just continues.
So unless we consciously decideto take charge and to start to
be intentional about our breath,about posture, about movement
and thoughts, we'll beperpetually stuck feeling worse
and worse, no matter whatmedicine we try Unless, of
course, that medicine isintentional breathwork.
(21:39):
As we wrap up, when you openyour body, even with things as
simple as changing the way youstand or sit, and begin to
become aware of your typicalbreathing patterns, you can
begin to control your breath andactivate the relaxation
response and begin to approachthe world in the emotional state
(21:59):
.
That's just right for you tofeel confident and at ease with
life.
But it all starts with breath,and when the rhythm of your
breath aligns with the rhythm ofthe life you want to be living,
you indeed will have that life.
Okay, friends, I've dropped alink to intentional breathwork,
(22:21):
simplified in the resources ofthis episode, or you can find it
at CarnYogaWellnesscom slashbreathwork challenge.
It starts Monday and I'd loveto have you join.
Even if you don't join at thestart, you still get access to
the recorded sessions for alimited time, or you can wait
until the next time I hold thischallenge because, yes, it will
be offered again Until next time.
(22:42):
You've been listening to Health, harmony and Happiness with
Kathy.
I'm Kathy Stricker, helping youfind and use the rhythms in and
around you in all you do.
Cheers to cultivating your ownversion of Health, harmony and
Happiness in your life.
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