Movement Menu: 12 ways to gently reconnect with your body
🎉 Happy Friday, Friends!
Today, we’re kicking off a series of newsletters about one essential topic:
Getting in touch with your body… for FREE
The next three issues of this newsletter are meant to equip you with tons of free tools to reconnect with your body. In light of the supplement boom and more sponsored posts online than ever, consider this a little revolution. Over the next three weeks, we’ll create a full on Reconnection Menu, starting with some appetizers today.
Each week, I’ll focus on a different theme. Today, it’s gentle reconnection. These are tips to get you back into your body without a major move or overhaul – think stuff that can be done while you sit at your desk, while you’re waiting for the microwave or oven, or in some cases, even while you’re driving. (But please don’t go for any neck stretches that require you to take your eyes off the road!)
Appetizer Course: 12 Ways to Gently Reconnect With Your Body
1. The classic box breath. Inhale, hold, release, and rest for the same count. It doesn’t have to be four!
2. Massage the back and sides of your neck. Try rotating your head around in between applying pressure to see how your mobility changes.
3. Put a hand on your heart and ask yourself the following questions – where am I experiencing discomfort right now? What is this discomfort trying to tell me about what I need or want? What’s going on in my life right now? Has anything changed? What am I telling myself about what I should be doing or feeling?
4. Massage your hands and forearms or feet, especially if you’ve been doing a lot of typing, scrolling, or walking.
5. Focus on an object at least 20 feet away to give your eyes a rest from their usual job of focusing on something close.
6. Unclench your jaw and give your tongue a stretch by sticking it all the way out! Experience the instant stress relief…
7. Give yourself a scalp rub, focusing on un-sticking your scalp from your skull.
8. Take a second to simply close your eyes and see where your mind goes. Notice your thoughts, but don’t get lost in them.
9. Place your hands on the sides of your rib cage and take a deep breath in that you feel all the way up to your shoulders.
10. Let your mind wander to the last time you had a positive, nourishing experience with your body. Whether it was a meal, movement, intimacy, or something else.
11. Take a deep breath in, relaxing your pelvic floor on the inhale. This can feel like unclenching your butt. On the exhale, observe the way your pelvic floor adjusts, but doesn’t go back to the same level of tension.
12. Ask yourself if your belly or butt is clenched. Notice how this changes in different positions. Breathe into either or both areas to release your pelvic floor.
I hope you try a couple of these and gain a little bit of closeness with your body today! Stay tuned for small plates next week...
With you (gently),
Dana