The Magic of MINDFUL MOVEMENT

Your body and your mind are inextricably connected, and for that reason, how you TREAT it, MOVE it, and NOURISH it directly impacts how you feel. For your body to truly THRIVE you must learn how to tune in and listen to what it needs. Movement is VITAL for both the health of your body and the stability of your mind. The decision to move your body should come from a place of LOVE.

Although some level of stress is required for our survival, society has become CHRONICALLY fatigued and weighed down by the amount of worry and stress that is carried today. There is a very distinct compression in the physical body when you’re continually strained and thinking about things so much.

We are CONSTANTLY taking in the EXTERNAL world, when what we need most is to turn back to and tune in to the INTERNAL world, the world within us. Get familiar with the voice that lives inside you, and begin to understand what limiting beliefs and negative thoughts exist here. This voice has been loud, alive and ever-present in you since birth, forming a template for your life. This template of your upbringing and your experiences is made IN the body, and as you go through life, the template remains and becomes engrained in you. You see life through this lens of your past experiences and there tends not to be a lot of deviation from it. When you realize that this template is built on a series of things that happened (emphasis on the PAST tense) in your early days and upbringing, then it is easy to see how you could get STUCK in thinking this way forever.

Once you cultivate this inner-knowing and self-awareness, then, and only then, can you start to alter and take control of the narrative with movement. By taking your thoughts and stressors and intentionally putting them into a PHYSICAL format, the result then becomes one of RELEASE, rather than a build-up of anxiety and feelings of stagnation. You have to start moving with INTENTION in order to move the parts that aren’t facilitating growth, awakening and the feelings that you are searching for.

It can often be difficult and uncomfortable to have to figure out for yourself what needs changing, but it can also be invigorating and liberating to do so, especially if its something that feels as if it is soothing a passion of yours and comes from a place you WANT to be in. You have to trust yourself and know that it will be okay. Even if it takes time, a sense of loss or struggling in the process, the end result — a new narrative and a more empowered way of being — will be WORTH IT. The external things that we tend to rely so heavily on are usually set up to make you feel comfortable, but change is UNCOMFORTABLE, processing feelings and facing internal beliefs about yourself is UNCOMFORTABLE, and moving towards a more fulfilling path is UNCOMFORTABLE.

When you use mindful movement to release old narratives and LIMITING beliefs it might not feel better at first, but you will feel a SHIFT. This is because it requires you to do the hard work; to confront your reality and face the pain required to heal. When you stir up the thoughts, beliefs and emotions that persisted for so long, things are bound to build up. More likely that not, you will feel yourself rub up against an edge in the process. This is a good thing. WHY? It creates an OPPORTUNITY for you to work through the pain, release it and REPLACE it with more advantageous things and superior feelings. Mindful movement physically CLEARS OUT the old, negative judgments, and helps you BRING IN the new, more powerful convictions, realizing along the way that what you said to yourself in the past did NOT serve you. If certain patterns are not servicing you, then they have to come to an end because, at some point in your life, you have to decide what you WILL and WILL NOT accept, and then REJECT anything that isn’t that.

Moving with intention and MINDFULNESS facilitates growth and nourishes your body NOT for how it looks, but for how it FEELS & what it DOES for you. Movement should build your confidence, improve your sleep, release endorphins, and increase strength, while also preventing cognitive decline and reducing anxiety and depression.

MINDFUL MOVEMENT:

+ improves circulation

+ enhances tissue oxygenation

+ stimulates lymphatic drainage

+ improves mood and overall happiness

+ reduces stress and tension that builds up in the body

+ enhances mental clarity and memory function

+ balances key brain neurotransmitters

When we change the INTENTION behind WHY we engage with movement, it can be seen as joyful, pleasurable and fun. By focusing on how we FEEL, we CONNECT with our body on a much deeper level and create NEW GOALS for ourselves that are not centered on our outward appearance (how we look or how much we weigh). MINDFUL movement goals, on the other hand, focus on MIND and BODY LIBERATION, and on improving things like strength and flexibility, mood and energy, cardiovascular endurance and performance, and the mind-body connection. The goal is more BRAIN CAPACITY to think about your dreams and passions. The goal is to AUTHENTICALLY KNOW that your value and worth is inherent and NOT connected to your appearance. The goal is to RESHAPE YOUR VIEW of health to be HOLISTIC and include all parts of your lived experience. The goal is to take up space and REJECT OLD NARRATIVES that “less/smaller/thinner” is better, more valuable or more lovable. The goal is to BE LIBERATED from all outside expectations, even our own. The goal is simply FREEDOM. Mind-body-spirit approaches look at the BIGGER picture of health and wellness, and unify the body as a holistic system, recognizing that everything is linked together. The body holds messages, and it is ALWAYS communicating. By learning how to pay attention to and monitor these cues, you can approach discomfort as a detective and look for patterns or trends that arise. Whether you come to a conclusive outcome or not, you will most certainly increase self-AWARENESS, self-ACCEPTANCE and self-COMPASSION throughout the process.

Xx, Leah Kutsch

P.S. Keeping IIN Touch