I’ve just returned from a course I run with my sister in Goa. The highlight for me is the Meditation in Movement which we begin the day with, on the beach.
Many of us spend so much of our time “in our heads” that we end up believing that thinking things through is the answer to our difficulties, that all our problems can be resolved intellectually.
We also devote time to working on our bodies, through straightforward exercise and through practices such as Yoga and Pilates. We invest in increasing our fitness, our flexibility and our balance. We tend to forget though that the way we move also has an impact on our brain, on the way we think and the way we feel. Our posture impacts on our mood.
Walk around for a few minutes, stooped over, looking at the floor. Straighten your spine, let your shoulders drop, look up. How does it feel? Does your mood lift?
Try frowning and tightening your lips or turning them down, then bring a gentle smile to your face. Do you feel different?
Such simple practices give us an insight into the fact that how we carry ourselves impacts on how we feel. Our body is always in the here and now, unlike our mind which predominantly focuses on past and future, often in a ruminating way. Being fully present when moving our bodies can anchor the mind. If this is done in the spirit of curiosity and self care, rather than competitiveness and toughness, it can bring about a peaceful yet energising state of being.
This is why I incorporate a movement section into each of my Introduction to Mindfulness workshops. I truly believe that sitting meditations are wonderful but for me they have to be accompanied by moving the body. After all, as complete human beings we are mindbodies.
