The Mind-Body Connection

A little reminder to BREATHE

Do you love affirmations, but sometimes find they aren’t working for you?

That’s because we sometimes forget an important part of the mind-body connection.  We are aware of the fact that the body listens and responds to our brain BUT our brain also responds to our body. We can work from the top-down (brain to body) and from the bottom-up (body to brain) and it is most effective to do BOTH.

This means that, although affirmations, mindset, positive thinking and expressing our emotions can be extremely helpful, our body needs to feel safe to be able to receive those messages from our brain.

One effective way to tap into our nervous system and help our body feel safe, calm and open to mental suggestion (rather than be in flight or flight mode) is to BREATHE. Take a few minutes to calm your nervous system by breathing in and out through your nose, making the exhale longer than the inhale. You can try the in for 4, hold for 5, out for 7 pattern or simply inhale for 4 and out for 8, or whatever feels comfortable.

Use your essential oils to calm your body - they work by triggering chemical processes in your brain which create physical responses like slowing your heart beat, lowering blood pressure, releasing hormones and inducing calm. Calming oils include Lavender, Bergamot, Adaptiv blend, Balance blend, Vetiver, Roman Camomile and Frankincense.

By practising easy techniques like affirmations and meditation, together with pausing to breathe and using your essential oils, you can manage your emotions, and nervous system response.  This way you can maximise the mind-body connection (both brain-body AND body-brain) to enjoy your day in a more balanced and conscious way.