Mindful Body Movement
By Carinthia Bank , Therapist in Pennsylvania
Struggling with stress? Racing thoughts? Confusion? Self-doubt? I’d like to offer you an exercise that may help.
This exercise is about tuning into your body and what it wants. Personally, this exercise helps me feel both grounded and mobile - a feeling that reconnects me with confidence and motivation, acceptance and change, comfort and hope.
A note on inspiration for this exercise
Note: Inspiration for this exercise comes from Waking the Tiger: Healing Trauma by Peter Levine, Cognitive-Behavioral Treatment of Borderline Personality Disorder by Marsha Linehan, and a mindfulness course taught by Michael Baime, MD and Karen Bowles, MD that I took as an MSW student at Penn. This specific exercise and the name I use to describe it (“mindful body movement”) come from my own thoughts, but I want to acknowledge the sources that contributed to my thinking.
When should you try this exercise?
-after experiencing conflict with someone else
-after spending time in an environment where you don’t feel you can be yourself
-after a job interview, audition, or other high-pressure situation
-for therapists, before seeing your first client of the day and after seeing your last client
-for retired athletes, when you wake up and before you go to bed
-and any other time it feels right!
Starting the exercise:
Find a space where you feel relatively comfortable (it may help to be by yourself, away from mirrors - you’ll figure out what works for you)
Select a piece of music and play it
Listen to the music
The exercise
As you listen to the music, notice if your body responds. If you feel your body want to move in response to the music, allow your body to do so.
If your attention starts to wander, just acknowledge where it is going and gently return it to the music.
Sometimes our attention wanders to:
Judgmental thoughts about ourselves or the exercise
Other things you need to do outside of the exercise (like cleaning the house, etc.)
Distractions in the room - for example, a strange noise or feeling cold air
Emotions/thoughts/memories that arise
If your attention moves to any of those things (or other things, as well), acknowledge where your attention is, notice what you are feeling, and gently return your attention to the music. Continue to direct your attention to the music, and allow your body to do whatever it wants in response to the music.
When the music finishes, allow your body to complete its movement and then gently return to a position that feels comfortable and stable. As you move into that comfortable and stable position, notice how your body feels, the thoughts in your head, and any emotions you are experiencing. Allow yourself to be with that experience for a few moments before proceeding with your day.
Extra tips for mindful body movement:
Music
I like using piano music with no words, such as Philip Glass’s Etude No. 2. But you can use any music that feels right for you or even use a track of nature sounds.
If listening is not the right sense for you to use, you can try this exercise with another sense. For example, you can look at a picture or touch objects and move according to your body’s response to the picture or objects.
Pay attention to your comfort
In order to get the most out of this exercise, you need to be as comfortable as you can reasonably be. The exercise is different for everyone so, if my guidelines and directions don’t feel comfortable to you, I encourage you to make it your own.
Your movements can be as big or small as feels right for you. This exercise is about tuning into what your body wants to do, not about the exercise looking a certain way. If your body doesn’t want to move at all, that’s totally okay.
If this exercise brings up difficult emotions for you, consider giving yourself a hug afterwards, talking to someone you trust, journaling, drawing, or doing any other activity that feels supportive for you.
Carinthia Bank is a therapist in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Carinthia works with people struggling to navigate major life transitions and specializes in athlete mental health. She is especially passionate about helping the highly passionate - those who have been involved in sports, the arts, and hobbies and find themselves navigating life around them, with them, or after them.