Matter Over Mind: On Using Your Body to Increase Your Well-Being

There is deep wisdom within our very flesh, if we can only come to our senses and feel it. ~ Elizabeth A. Behnke

You have a lot on your mind.

And most of what’s in there is causing you stress: bills, work concerns, family problems, anxieties, longings.

Maybe you’re spending a good deal of time worrying about your life and whether you’re making a difference in the world. Maybe you struggle with negative thoughts, exacerbated by a world that seems to be becoming more and more dangerous every day. Maybe you’re longing for the moment when all the mind chatter would just stop.

We’ve long been living in the age of the mind. Whereas our forebears needed to use their bodies to earn their daily bread, we’re paid to think. We hardly use our bodies anymore. We sit in our cars on our commutes to and from work. We sit our desks all day barely lifting our fingers off our computer keyboards.

Yes, we may spend thirty minutes to an hour a day exercising but other than that, we basically sit around all day thinking, ruminating, and worrying. No wonder so many of us are mentally tired and burnt out.

All the while, we downplay the wisdom and intelligence of our bodies. We literally forgot that we inhabit our bodies, living in a state of perpetual disembodiment.

Tara Brach, in her book Radical Acceptance, expresses our predicament in this way:

“We experience our lives through our bodies whether we are aware of it or not. Yet we are usually so mesmerized by our ideas about the world that we miss out on much of our direct sensory experience. Even when we are aware of feeling a strong breeze, the sound of rain on the roof, a fragrance in the air, we rarely remain with the experience long enough to inhabit it fully.”

Our inability to be fully present to our lives is the source of much of our stress and emotional pain. And often our bodies must resort to physical pain or discomfort to get our attention.

The body’s intelligence

Try this experiment.

What’s your emotional state right now? Are you happy, anxious, worried, or angry?

Whatever you’re feeling, try to locate where that feeling is being manifested in your body. As you take time to notice what the body is doing, you may realize that your jaw is clenched, or that your leg is shaking, or that you have muscle tension in your back.

You may think that your body is just manifesting what your mind already knows, but I believe it’s the other way around. There’s a way in which the conscious mind is always playing catch up to the body’s intelligence.

For instance, I’ve noticed how when I’m feeling anxious or stressed, I get a feeling of having a lump stuck in my throat. It’s an unpleasant feeling but I often don’t notice it until my stress level is high. By becoming mindful of my body, I now realize that the gradual onset of that feeling in my throat precedes my mental awareness of stress.

I realized that I often use my mind to deny my stress in ways that my body does not and cannot. So there’s a way in which the “intelligent” capabilities of our minds can work against us. Is it really intelligent to deny reality? But this is what we do constantly.

What if instead, we could use our bodies as a way of gauging reality instead of trying to control it. What if we could use our bodies to heal our anxieties, worries, and even emotional trauma?

What if we could use our bodies to quiet the inner chaos that’s constantly raging and manifesting as physical illness of every kind?

Some ideas to help you re-engage the body

You may not remember this, but you were once fully engaged with your body. If you don’t believe me just watch children at play. They are all about embodiment. Here are some ways you can reclaim the wisdom of your own body:

1. No matter how busy you are at work, get up from your desk once an hour for a brief stretch or walk. Try to go walking outside at least once a day.

2. Pay attention to your posture. It sends messages to yourself and the world.

3. Do a body-scan meditation.

4. Go to sleep when your body is tired.

5. Pay attention to the five senses, especially touch. Touch and embrace those you love regularly.

6. Explore self-massage exercises that help relieve physical pain and mental stress.

Matter over mind

The mind is undoubtedly powerful, but so is the body.

And the connection between the body and mind is a two-way street.

So don’t forget about the body. Use it in order to avoid mental burnout and experience greater well-being.

Because the body is a terrible thing to waste.