Are you too much in your head...
Do you connect mind and body?
I have just started to read Brené Brown's book Strong Ground and the start of the book is her working with a personal trainer called Tony. At the start of her journey with Tony he makes it very clear that "This is about you making a commitment to body, mind, and spirit, and holding yourself accountable to that commitment".
When Brené begins the work she finds that whilst using her body she is completely disconnected from it. She explains "I am deploying my body in the service of what I want to get done, but I'm not fully inhabiting it, or seeking to understand or appreciate it" . Tony moves Brené forward by stressing "Use your mind & your body - find the ground" This is the key messaging Brené needs to turn into her own messaging of "Strong Ground, Brené strong ground" . By using this mantra she finds the muscles in her body that she needs to be working. Connecting the messaging from the head and directing it to the body.
The work of Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn's on mindfulness positions it beautifully "awareness that arises through paying attention on purpose, in the present moment, non-judgmentally...in the service of self understanding and wisdom".
My own recent journey into PT sessions has been the same, I have tried so hard to focus on the exercise and the counting that I have not fully inhabited my body. One of the attendees at the gym said "I love coming here as I am so focusing on what we are trying to do that I don't think about anything else, it is like a mindfulness session". Whilst I agreed with her that I had no capacity to think about anything else, I began to wonder if I was focusing on the right things.
I have always been too much in my own head with thoughts and feelings. Whilst I am fully present at the gym I am not inhabiting the body as my attention is on learning the exercise and the counting. My commitment should be around where the exercise is showing up.
Tomorrow I will try "Strong Ground - Bev - Strong Ground!!!"
