Let’s try an exercise… using our body to change our mood.

Remember the last time you felt sad, depressed, or aggravated over some loss.  Picture and/or feel how your body was.  Were your shoulders rounded and your , chest drawn in as if to protect your heart from more hurt?...Did you keep your eyes cast downward?  If you were fortunate to have a friend or partner  put her or his arm around you did that touch allow you to expand even just a little bit, to feel less alone in your body?...Were you able to take a deeper breath?  Did the physical comfort ease some of your emotional tension?...

If you have any sad or depressed feelings now, straighten your posture but without forcing anything.  Lift and open your chest so that your shoulders unwind themselves; pick up your head so it isn’t falling forward, then look straight up at the ceiling as you tilt your head back. ..

Whenever I sense I may be on the verge of crying in a situation where it’s not appropriate, all I do is gaze upward and suddenly the urge for tears is gone.  If you find yourself feeling sad while driving a car, lengthen and straighten your spine by pushing down with your  

buttocks and reaching with the top of your head toward the roof of the car…  Instead of slumping over the steering wheel, straighten and lengthen your arms. …

To deal with emotions other than sadness, you can try a different exercise.  For example, even if you’re not angry or anxious right now, you can practice by thinking of and picturing something or someone that really gets you furious or .  Fearful.  Get worked up……

Really feel it…...

Pay attention to how you’re breathing .  Is your breath short or shallow?.... Is your heart beating wildly?....  These are some of the physical sensations that go along with anger and anxiety…

Now consciously breathe deeply and slowly:  Fully inhale into you abdomen, chest, and back, then gradually let out all the air….

Do this until each round of breathing exercise is effortless…

Notice that as you have changed physically, you have also calmed down emotionally.  Are you still irate or angry?...  You used your body to affect your mind. 

Discovering the Body’s Wisdom by Mirka Knaster