What are body-mind approaches and how can they help you?
Body mind approaches combine mindfulness, somatics, sensory awareness, and self-regulation practices. This approach can help people heal emotional, mental, and physical symptoms. As well, help people to develop self-awareness, emotional regulation, self-compassion and greater resilience.
Body-mind approaches are now among the most used forms of complementary medicine. There is great healing potential that the mind has on physiological systems in the body. As well, that the body has on the mind, emotions, and behavior.
The primary principle of this approach is that there is an inherent wholeness within.
We don’t need to add anything to be well. Rather, we need to remove obstacles in the way of accessing our wholeness. Body-mind approaches help us to access this self healing capacity. Research is now providing quantitative data to support this inner capacity.
One research study, using specialized imaging, provided insights around how body-mind approaches work. It demonstrated the connection between brain activity and physiological, behavioral, and emotional changes. Showing us how impactful our mind is on our body-state and the experience within our body is on our state of mind.
So what are body mind strategies?
Body-mind approaches use movement to modulate mental or emotional states. That, in turn, affect our physiological function. A few examples of body-mind practices include: tai chi, authentic movement or dance, yoga, body-mind dialogue, and qigong.
You may have also seen this term written as mind-body approaches. When written this way, it refers to practices that use thought, emotion, or mental imagery to impact the body. These techniques may include: guided relaxation, hypnosis, biofeedback, meditation and breathwork.
What conditions can body-mind approaches help with?
- Chronic conditions
- Anxiety
- Stress
- Trauma symptoms
- Chronic pain in any area of the body
- Fibromyalgia
- Fatigue
- Insomnia
- Sensory processing challenges
- Headaches and migraines
- And many other symptoms
How to get started with body-mind approaches?
Radiance Therapy & Wellness is a somatic occupational therapy and somatic wellness coaching practice. We offer in-office, online, or in-home therapy and somatic wellness coaching. Body-mind approaches are a part of every therapy or coaching program we offer.
For in-person programs, sessions may include hands on light touch myofascial techniques. Additionally, guided somatic practices and body mind dialogue are often incorporated. Online somatic wellness coaching may include mindful movement, body-mind dialogue, and breathwork.
The primary principle of the body mind approach is that we all have an innate healer within. With skilled guidance we can remove obstacles in the way of our body wisdom and as a result live a full, radiant life.