Posts Tagged ‘mind-body connection’

• Worried about Worrying? Discussing Childhood Anxiety on THE INTENTIONAL PARENT

  Date: 2011.11.23 | Category: Parenting, The Brain | Response: 8

  Here’s a recent episode from my new web-based parenting show, “The Intentional Parent.”  This episode features the amazing Dr. Andre Van Rooyen.  Andre, Greg, and I discuss what anxiety is, how to identify it, what different kinds exist, what can cause it, techniques to deal with it, and when/how to manage it with medication.  You can also view it at “The Intentional Parent” website, where there’s a minute-by-minute breakdown of the episode’s content.

   

• I Like to Move It Move It! (revised)

  Date: 2011.06.22 | Category: Parenting, The Brain | Response: 11

  We tend to think that our emotions reside in our brain.  And they do, but they also can begin with our bodies.  In fact, by the time you realize that you’re anxious, your body has already known for a while—your shoulders are tight, your jaw is clenched, your stomach might be churning.  By the same token, you can make yourself feel more calm and peaceful, just by focusing on your body.

  Try it right now.  Wherever you are, pay attention to your body for the next few seconds.  Take a deep breath, then slowly let it out.  As you do, relax your shoulders.  Do you feel that?  Do you feel some of the tension in your body begin to dissipate?  Do it one more time.  Deep breath, relaxed shoulders.  Do you see how you can feel more calm and serene just by adjusting what your body’s doing?

  The reason is that our emotions are intensely connected to the sensations of the body.  Because the nervous system runs throughout the body and is part of the brain, what our body does significantly impacts our brain, including the way we experience our emotions.

  This is great news, because it’s just one more example of how we can intentionally influence, to a fairly significant extent, how we experience the world.  We can’t always choose how we feel, but in important ways, we really can influence our own emotions. You might have heard about experiments where Read the rest of this entry »

  

• I like to move it, move it

  Date: 2011.01.09 | Category: Parenting, The Brain | Response: 13

  We tend to think that our emotions reside in our brain.  And they do, but they also spring from our bodies.  In fact, when you realize that you’re anxious, your body has already known that for a while—your shoulders are tight, your jaw is clenched, your stomach might be churning.  So, one way we can change our emotional states is by moving our bodies.

  When your child is having a hard time or acting difficult, one quick trick to try is to get them to move their bodies in a different way.  You might grab a big ball and begin a game of catch.  Turning on music and dancing together can quickly shift things for both of you when frustrations are running high.  You can also have them do a few yoga-type stretches by asking them to show you how an alligator snaps its jaws (have them  lie on their belly, arms stretched out far in front of them, with their palms together), or how a bear would climb a tree, or any other type of animal doing some sort of movement.  This can be a surprisingly quick way to move moods in a better direction.

  It works for older kids, too, by the way.  I told my nine-year-old’s Little League coach about this principle, and he ended up having the boys jump up and down in the dugout  when they got discouraged after giving up a few runs during the championship.  Their movement brought a shift of excitement and new energy into their bodies and brains, and they eventually came back and won the game.  (Chalk up another victory for neuroscience!)