Shifting Your Conditioning: Managing Your Physical Domain

So, we’ve talked about changing your thoughts, getting clear on your emotions and clearing your negative emotions. All of this is connected to, and manifests in, your physical body.

When you notice feelings that you don’t want – such as fear, terror, panic – they show up in your body with tense muscles, a constricted throat or abdomen, clenched fists and furrowed brows. You might notice the bodily sensations before you are aware of your thoughts or emotions. Think of each of these domains as a portal through which you enter to become aware of what is going on with you. Some people are more mentally, emotionally or kinesthetically-oriented.

In the physical domain, all of life happens through expansion and contraction. Negative emotions create tension and contraction. Positive emotions are expansive, relaxing and uplifting.

It’s important to release the tension in a safe way – such as going for a walk, running, punching pillows, lifting weights or some other kind of physical exercise or activity. I know someone who goes on a raging cleaning and decluttering binge when they are angry. Also, what you put in or on your body also plays a role in how resilient your body is in handling the stress and toxins that negative thoughts and emotions create.

With physical activity, the single most important thing you can do is to breathe more deeply. This gets more oxygen to the brain. Movement gets the blood circulating, literally moving the emotions and thoughts through the body. The focus is on release and discharge, not holding onto these thoughts and feelings that are not serving you.

Once the negative emotions and thoughts are discharged, you want to ground the positive ones in your body as well. Going for a walk in nature can be meditative and relaxing, allowing your body to open up to expansive ways of thinking, being and knowing. Stretching your body, specifically rolling and releasing your shoulders helps.

Try closing your eyes and reciting outloud to yourself your new mantra. The example I used yesterday was “I have abundance.” As you take deep breaths in, visualize what this means for you. Allow yourself time and space to be in your body with these positive thoughts and emotions – literally stretch into them to take them in. Allow yourself full expression of the joy, fullness, and excitement of this thought and the emotions it evokes.

When you are happy and enthusiastic you might jump up and down, put a skip in your step, dance, hug someone, clap, hum or sing – even as an adult! The more you can play with this physical way of expressing the new thought and emotion, the more likely it is that you cement the new conditioning. Repetition and having fun help.

So, give it a try: grab a hold of possibility and breathe deeply into it while skipping a beat.

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