The mind – body connection.

For years I have been talking about the mind – body connection. Recently it was my birthday, and my lovely dog walking friends gave me the book Presence, by Amy Cuddy. I explain to my clients how treating the body can release the stuck emotions, without reliving the traumas of the past. The book, Presence – Bringing your boldest self to your biggest challenges, details the research that backs up the mind – body connection.

In Craniosacral Therapy, we talk about energy cysts that get stuck in the body. During treatment these emotions can be released, subtly, with maybe only a slight change in breathing. Cuddy’s research shows time and time again, how changing one’s posture, can change their minds and thus their lives. Watch this TED talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ks-_Mh1QhMc,, Your body shapes who you are. She explains how posturing can change our lives for the better or for the worse.

One of the studies she writes about, describes the iHunch or  iPosture. It reveals that hunching over a small device can have the same effect as holding a powerless posture. She then studied the relationship of the size of the device and the resulting emotion. The results showed the smaller the device the greater the feeling of powerlessness was.

I’ve been a Physio for 26 years. I’ve treated people pre and post smart phones. Decades ago hunch backs were well over middle aged, now they are teens of all shapes and sizes. this knowledge can help inform us parents and our teens, the bigger the device, the less devastating the posture. The better the posture, the better the mind space and the better life outcomes.

My work helps my client’s bodies to expand and relax. It peels away the flyers of tension that builds up over a lifetime. An expanded relaxed body created an expanded more relaxed mind. The mind affects the body and the body affects the mind. The body shapes our minds, the mind shapes our behaviour and our behaviour shapes our future. To quote her book, ” posture not only shapes the way we feel, it also shapes the way we think about ourselves.”

I highly recommend reading the book, Presence by Amy Cuddy!