To Live with more Joy, Start Here

July 26, 2016

Rachel Shanken

To live with more joy, start right here. There is an invisible bridge between your body, your heart and your mind. They are in constant communication with each other. Much of the time, they speak in a secret language.

Sometimes, you can make sense of your mind-body communication without even trying…

When you accidentally put your hand on a hot stove and you experience pain, your body speaks to your mind and says “DANGER!” Your mind then sends a signal back to your body saying “OUCH! REMOVE YOUR HAND IMMEDIATELY!” Maybe your heart says, “I’m sad and angry that I made that mistake.”

Other times, the secret language of your body, mind and heart is much more difficult to decode…

When you’re going on a job interview and you feel your heart beating more rapidly, your breath quickening, your palms a bit sweaty and your thoughts racing — the messages are slightly more cryptic: Is this fear? excitement? danger? anxiety? or is this your body responding to the stress of rushing out the door to get to the interview on time after spending a little too much time on looking “just right”?

Then, there are those times when you forget that all of these parts of you are silently at work…

Like a complex multifaceted secret security system, they’re quietly watching, constantly monitoring, gathering information, exchanging signals, and doing their often thankless jobs. Then, unexpectedly you have a rush of feelings and sensations, for what seems like no apparent reason with no warning.

Have you ever…

burst into rage while experiencing searing heat throughout your whole body? Maybe you feel your eyelids get heavy, as if they weigh 10 pounds each and you’re overwhelmed by exhaustion.

felt a lump in your throat and tears flowing (before you can even name the experience as sadness)?

noticed the corners of your mouth turn up and before you realize it, you’ve already broken into a fit of laughter?

The reality is, these feelings have been percolating within you, probably for a while (maybe for years!).

It’s now been proven that our memories get stored in disconnected mosaic-like fragments, hidden in the nooks and crannies of our bodies, and these memories bubble up with gusto because some outside circumstance triggered them or because there was no space left to push the feelings down, deny them or ignore them anymore.

You only have a limited amount of storage space before you become over-filled, overloaded and overwhelmed. It is then that the feelings emerge, with or without your say.

Tip: No matter what arises with in you, see if you can: welcome it, be receptive to its message and thank your body for doing its job!

With embodied mindfulness and receptivity, you can be more in touch with your whole self. The more awareness you cultivate about all of your layers, the less you will get surprised by what arises from within you and the more agency you will have over your life.

With deep mind-body awareness, you can navigate your life with more presence, appreciation, ease and joy.

P.S. I’d love to hear from you, so if you have a moment – hit reply and let me know about you bring more presence to your mind-body connection (or just say “hi”!).

P.P.S. Not sure how to cultivate more mind-body awareness and acceptance? Let’s talk.