Every emotion we experience– resentment, anger, emotional pain, joy, or ecstasy, is reflected in the body as physical changes.

Slouching, muscle tension, a habitual tilt of the head, uneven shoulders or hips, these are all traces of emotional wounds and experiences.

Paying attention to your body and your posture can help in many life situations.

Body Language

Here’s an example: you need to make an important phone call. If you sit on the edge of the chair with minimal support and tense legs, your voice will sound uncertain, constrained, and you may slip into a pleading tone.

But if before the call you sit firmly on the chair (your whole backside planted solidly), place both feet flat on the floor, and take a few deep breaths, your voice will be calm and confident.

This creates a certain mood in the person you’re talking to. And even if you’re refused something important, it will be much easier to handle the rejection from this ‘grounded’ position.

The body is a map of our life

There is a well-established system in which each part of the body corresponds to universal human functions.

If you draw a line down the spine and divide the body into right and left halves, the right side is responsible for our social contacts, public life, and interpersonal interactions. The left side represents our feelings and emotions, our self-image, and our inner life.

Posture Test

Try this experiment: stand on one leg. Which leg makes it easier to keep your balance? If it’s the right one, you are currently well-balanced with your environment.

If it’s the left one, you are in harmony with your feelings today. If you have trouble balancing on either, you need to calm down, breathe slowly while sitting firmly on a chair, and try again.

Why do muscle clamps and imbalances appear in the body? Because civilization forces us to suppress our natural reactions to stress. What does an animal do when it is frightened? It runs away. When angry? It attacks. And what do we do?

Our boss yells at us

Our boss yells at us, and we habitually lower our head, shift from foot to foot (at best!), and patiently wait for the ‘execution’ to end.

Meanwhile, we have a lump in our throat or a spasm in our stomach. We are tense. Constricted. And later comes a headache, constipation, a cough. All of this is the body’s reaction to stress.

What can we do if we are financially dependent on this tyrant? Or dependent on our career or position in the company? And we can’t stand up for ourselves?

Make a Fig

In such cases, a childish trick helped me: making a ‘fig’ (fist with thumb between fingers) behind my back or in my pocket. On one hand, ‘screw you!’ On the other, when someone yells at us and we sincerely suffer, we feed that person with our fear and helplessness. The ‘fig’ is a magical lock; try to bite that!

And of course, once we’ve calmed down a bit, it makes sense to honestly assess how truly dependent we are on bosses, husbands, lovers, or others who scare or humiliate us.

Take a Deep Breath

Very often our ideas about these threats turn out to be exaggerated. Our fears are largely imagined.

I highly recommend moving your body after any traumatic contact or event. Breathe deeply. If you’re very angry, it’s great to scream somewhere in nature.

Walk home at a brisk pace instead of taking the bus. Close yourself in a room and punch or kick a pillow. Release the resentment and anger onto something inanimate.

Otherwise, it may spill over onto loved ones, because the emotion has to go somewhere, or it will come back later as some kind of illness.

Love Yourself

Unfortunately, in the culture of our generation, it is common to either criticize the body or ignore its needs and desires.

I’m glad if you genuinely love yourself, feel gratitude toward your body, and always support it. However, the experience of most people is different…

How do we usually look at ourselves in the mirror? Critically, like at someone guilty who has failed to meet our expectations. Guilty of stretch marks on the hips, folds on the waist, wrinkles around the eyes.

That’s it. I refuse to continue in this vein

Psychologists have repeatedly conducted surveys showing that most women evaluate their appearance much more harshly than it actually is. Yet the body is the home of our heart and soul, the most accessible source of pleasure we have.

‘Hello, beautiful!’

I myself have been guilty of this my whole life. Once, while leading a group, I was given this exercise: every morning, no matter what the mirror shows, smile at yourself and say, ‘Hello, beautiful!’

CLICK THESE WORDS TO CALM YOURSELF WITH A WARM BALLAD

I started doing it every morning, and the group later said that mornings begun with such a greeting turned out much brighter. Day by day, self-acceptance quietly grew.

What do you think about the idea of thanking your legs for carrying you through life? Your hands, for doing so many necessary and useful things?

Your belly, for giving life to your children? Your bottom, for being so comfortable to sit on? Your neck, for proudly carrying your head? We could continue this list for a long time.

Listen to your body

And even if the body sometimes lets us down, gets sick, or refuses to overexert itself or meet imposed standards, be gentle with it. Try to hear what it is trying to warn you about, what it is protesting against through its signals.

Talk to your body, listen to its needs, pamper it with a fragrant bath, aromatic cream, or a nice new outfit. And it will respond. It will delight you with new muscle tone and a willingness to serve you faithfully and truly.

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