We live in a very busy world and with the increase number of people suffering with anxiety, digestive disorders, Chronic fatigue syndrome and Inflammatory conditions, it is good to ask ourselves, are we in control of our life or is our life controlling us?

I am sure you would agree that modern technology has been a great tool to make communication, education, research and development much more accessible to the average person.  We could also state that with supermarkets and modern modes of transport, the need to walk to these establishments are not required and so we can drive to one location and purchase our shopping within a short period of time.

However, these advancements and changes to our routine also have their disadvantages which could lead to us feeling we have lost control of our life.  For instance, whilst walking around the supermarket, powerful food giants have invested a lot of money in to the psychology of the consumer.  Your subconscious mind is being fed a message every time you walk past an inviting, glittering, enticing junk food promotion.  There may be days you food shop on an empty stomach or your stress levels are already high and the thought of ‘comfort food’ catches you off guard.  You decide to eat that enticing food.  Unfortunately the ‘comfort food’ is full of refined sugar and bad fats, which remind you of this fact a short time later.  You may feel the effects on your emotional or physical health quite quickly as the chemical cocktail impacts on your endocrine or hormonal system.  For more information on this subject, check out my blog entitled “Mood and Food.” https://totalsomatics.com/mood-and-food/

The introduction of technology can also have its disadvantages.  Friends and employers expect you to answer to their emails and text messages almost immediately.  They expect your phone to be an additional limb, always attached to you.  They feel that they should be able to contact you any time of the day.  With this attitude, people never truly relax and looking at screens into the evening actually affects the depth and quality of one’s sleep.

The invention of the car has been fantastic but as with labour saving devices, we now fit much more in to our day.  This is great, but sometimes ‘jam packed’ days can leave us feeling exhausted and having very little time for ourselves to recalibrate and recuperate.  For more on this subject, check out my blog entitled “ The trap of busyness.”  https://totalsomatics.com/the-trap-of-busyness/

You brain is an amazing piece of engineering.  It senses, perceives, interprets, feels, reacts or responds to events and stimuli.  If life events are gathering a pace and beginning to affect the natural homeostasis or state of balance in our mind and body (or whole being/soma), we become chronically ‘out of sync’ with our body’s actual needs.

How can we take control of our life and create a state of balance within our soma?

As much as it sounds as if I am stating the obvious, we cannot underestimate the road to recovery and repair begins with healthy eating, regular exercise, mindful somatic movement and getting enough sleep.

Over the years I have often encouraged clients to adopt these points because over time they serve as an insurance policy.  When challenges, illnesses and trials meet us, we still have to deal with these issues, but our resilience can be greatly improved from creating a foundation to our health and well being.

You may be reading this and feel that it is too late to change.  It is never too late to change.  You may suffer with ailments, but imagine how much more resilient your soma could be if you were able to introduce these 4 layers of foundation to your health.  Surely it has to be a more pro-active approach than what your daily habits currently are.

In order to make changes to your health and well being, plus CREATE time and opportunities to build these 4 layers into your life, significant changes in our habits and structure of our life have to shift.

DOWNLOAD THIS FREE ‘WEEKLY SCHEDULE’ SUPPORT MATERIAL TO HELP YOU CREATE TIME.

 
These changes could be in the form of reducing the amount of junk food we consume.  It could be the amount of TV we watch.  Maybe the amount of bad fats, sugar and caffeine we consume could be considered and altered.

Could we reduce time spent on technology and replace it with exercise?  Maybe you feel you cannot fit a mindful somatic movement session in to daily routine.  But consider, how much time do you scroll through social media or watch TV?  Could you replace 20-30 minutes of that time for YOUR health and well being?  When you do this, you are investing quality time in your current and future health.  Surely your health and well being are more important than how many ‘likes’ you received on a social media post or what is happening on a reality TV show?!

How can Mindful somatic movement help you regain control of your life?

How can a movement practice REALLY help you control your life?  If you have been practising somatics for some time, you will know it is more than a movement practise.  Anybody can learn movement.  Somatics however is a mindful movement practise which helps increase the communication between your mind and body.  It helps to restore homeostasis to your soma or whole person.  As we have learnt, it is very easy to allow external factors to influence our internal state and create a soma which is ‘out of sync.’  Regular Mindful Somatic movement helps you to sense, feel, notice, perceive and interpret what is happening within your soma.  It also helps you maintain balance, composure and harmony at times when events around you can challenge your emotional and physical health and well being.

People who practise mindful somatic movement long term are able to calm down and stabilise more quickly and effectively.  The combination of pandiculation, slow movement, somatic mindfulness and deep breathing are key components.  As a result, it reduces the levels of proteins known as pro-inflammatory cytokines.  If you are exposed to high levels of these proteins long term it may cause harmful inflammatory conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, obesity, bowel disorders, depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, insomnia, reduced memory, premature ageing and dementia.  For more information on stress and inflammation, check out my blog entitled “The close link between stress and inflammation.” https://totalsomatics.com/the-close-relationship-between-stress-and-inflammation/

Your external environment also plays a huge role in stabilising your internal environment and allowing you to create homeostasis.  So could you spend time in nature?  Could you get away from the crowds and enjoy the sounds of nature?  Could you leave your work station at lunch time and go for a walk outside?  During your walk, allow the natural sunlight to hit your skin whilst you inhale the fresh air?  If you live in an apartment in a busy city, maybe you could purchase an indoor plant and move your furniture around which will allow more light and space into your living area.

In a social media world, we can quite easily get caught up in our mobile device and lose the ‘art of conversation’ very quickly.  It then creates a level of social anxiety and the reluctance to socialise with ones outside our immediate family.  So could you create a regular lunch break with friends?  Can you remember the last time you have a really good belly laugh?  Sometimes life can become very serious and we can often focus on the negative aspects in the world….but there are some good points to focus on.  Remember whatever we focus on grows.  If we are continually highlighting negative points in society and the world, we will begin to see things in a negative, disheartening and tainted view.  If we have a balance view and look for the good in all areas, our emotional compass will shift.  To learn more about this subject, check out my blog entitled “You are what you think.” https://totalsomatics.com/you-are-what-you-think/

Take control today!

Would you like to change your daily habits to improve your health and well being?  Maybe you feel that you are ticking along quite nicely.  However, we all suffer with pain, limited mobility and poor posture at times.  Would you like to know how we can reduce these symptoms and regain full control of our health and well being?  Would you like to get off the hamster’s wheel of stress, pressure, pain, insomnia and anxiety?  Would you like to become educated and empowered with skills and techniques to take back control of these challenging triggers and life events?

The Total Somatics Approach to Health and Wellness Online Program (www.TotalSomatics.com) has been created to educate and empower you.  The online program covers areas such as mindset, mindfulness, somatic movement, Nutrition with Dr Sarah Wilson and myself and plenty of support material to guide you through your daily practise, making it applicable to every day scenarios, so you become somatic in all areas of your life.  To learn more, go to www.TotalSomatics.com

Would you like to know more about the subject Somatics?  Download my FREE eBook entitled “Somatics - What is it?  How can it help me?”

https://totalsomatics.com/free-ebook-somatics-what-is-it-how-can-it-help-me/

If you have any further questions, feel free to contact me at support@totalsomatics.com

Take care,

Heidi Hadley xx

www.TotalSomatics.com