In 2023, I was going through extreme trauma. To say I was in my head a lot is an understatement. Judgment, fear, worry, shame, rumination – there was literally no room left in my mind for normal living.
I couldn’t notice the sunset. I couldn’t notice someone in need. I couldn’t find the humor or simply enjoy my life – because all my focus was drawn inward, trying to fix or avoid what I was feeling.
Here’s what I’ve learned since then: when the mind is overloaded, the answer isn’t usually more mind.
When things got hard enough, I signed up for a yoga pass at my local studio. Three years and 400+ classes later, I still can’t do a headstand… but what I can say is that my nervous system is calmer and my head is quieter.
The funny thing about yoga is that if you’re thinking about something else, you fall over. It’s genuinely hard to balance on one foot while replaying a difficult conversation in your head. You have to bring your attention to your body – or tip over. An hour of doing yoga doesn’t change a single circumstance in my outer life, but it does do something remarkable to all my mental storytelling. Things just don’t seem quite as big a deal after I’ve spent some time bringing my focus inside my body.
A few months ago, I took this even further with online private Pilates lessons with Jessica Carney. I had a functional medicine doctor tell me years ago that I had virtually no connection to my core – (likely the result of two traumatic C-section births). She’d ask me to engage my pelvic floor or abdominal muscles, and I literally couldn’t get the message to travel from my brain to activate those muscles.
Jessica spent weeks guiding me through the simplest movements – repetition after repetition. To an outside observer, it may have looked like I was just lying on the floor. But those drills began to reignite pathways and wake those connections back up in ways that just being part of a group class hadn’t been able to offer.
Now my posture is better. I’m standing taller, walking differently. I bend over differently. I engage my core even when putting on my shoes. And now my body is doing it naturally, all day long, without me even thinking about it.
Pilates demands presence from me just like yoga. The second I mentally check out in Pilates, I start cheating the movements by using other muscles. By bringing in presence and awareness, I notice my mind is quieter, and my thoughts are more spacious when I’ve completed the session.
Getting out of your head happens when you get in your body.
When you find yourself overthinking or ruminating, the instinct is usually to add more mind to the problem – research it, analyze it, talk it through, find the reasons and the whys.
None of that is wrong, but it’s worth noticing when you’re already overloaded in one direction.
Sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is get into your body instead.
Go for a walk.
Go to the gym.
Dance.
Hug someone.
Tune into your five senses.
Eat something nourishing.
Take a shower.
It doesn’t have to be dramatic.
When you bring the body back into the equation, the mind balances out.
What is your favorite way to get back in your body? I’d love to know!
You are loved!
Delightfully,
brooke
P.S. If you’re curious about pilates – specifically the mind-body connection piece – I can’t recommend Jessica Carney enough. She takes online clients, and her approach is unlike anything I’ve experienced. Slow, specific, and genuinely tailored to your body. Working with her has changed how I move through life.
P.P.S. I’m convinced that yoga and pilates can both be treated as moving meditations. If traditional sitting meditation hasn’t worked for you, then perhaps consider one of these practices as an alternate way to let go of ruminating thoughts.
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