What is Mind Body Connection Anyway
There is a lot of talk about mindfulness and mind-body connection, both in general and concerning exercise. It sounds great and surely is something we all want, right? Tell me where to buy it? Many articles say buy it at Yoga, Pilates, or tai chi studios.
Even as a teacher of Yoga and Pilates, and meditation, I reply, you cannot buy it. I also reply that just because you're doing yoga or pilates or mediation doesn't necessarily mean you are discovering what people refer to as the mind-body connection, or that you are being mindful.
So what is mind-body exercise and how do you know if you're doing it or not? Let's start by breaking down the words. If we take “mind-body connection” - we can see that the mind and body should connect, so mind telling body what to do, body listening. This is often how it is looked at. So let’s think a little deeper, we ALWAYS tell our body what to do with our mind. I'm doing that right now typing. Weirdly, unconsciously, because my fingers know the letters so well, all I do is think and my body moves, and it gets it right. It is quite amazing honestly. If this is always how we operate, then what is so special, or maybe it’s a marketing gimmick.
While it definitely may be used to get marketing attention, it isn't just that. Not in our case. The difference from the previous description that actually creates a mind-body connection, is that it is two-way communication. So it is actually mind/body and body/mind. What does that look like? Well, the mind still telling the body what to do, however, the how to do it comes from the sensation of the body. An example would be, as I sit here typing, my body signals that my right shoulder is getting tense because I'm experiencing discomfort, my mind notices it, and I use my mind to make my body shift and change how it’s operating, and I know I resolved it when the pain improves. Now if I want it to remain improved, my typing must become a mind-body activity I must feel my entire body all the while doing the activity of typing. When I do that, I notice my shoulder continually trying to get tense and I repeatedly release it. Each time my attention reverts to a mental imbalance, my shoulder will creep up and hurt more.
Ignoring a body's communication is not a mind/body connection. Telling the body to endure the pain is not a mind/body connection. They are connected, they benefit one another, they rely on one another. So if the mind is dominating and forcing the body to be ignored, it is the mind that is ignoring it. So both are suffering imbalances in that action or lack thereof.
A decent article about the mind-body modalities on Ideafit – a well-renowned fitness organization, says that it includes a perception of spatial awareness. I would counter that description and say that perception is mental and is an imbalanced use that relies solely on the mind. In my experience, this is the biggest mistake made around this topic. We THINK about where we are in space, we THINK about our alignment, we THINK about our movement and muscles, and if we are doing that, we THINK we are doing mind-body work.
When your body guides your mind and mind guides your body, this is a true mind-body connection. Any electrician can understand this based on their knowledge of electricity.
The entire structure of Life in the Body is the very process of establishing two-way communication between mind and body and vice versa. It will be noticeably different than movement that did not contain that foundation. The results will be noticeably different and the effect on your overall well-being versus just your physical condition will be a great proof of why it matters.