To Chill Out or Warm Up?
I woke up feeling rested. Content to be with my daughter and home and yet my thoughts felt like they were on a hamster wheel threatening to go down a drain. I took a moment to take stock of what I’d eaten in the last few days, whether I was hangry, my energy level, and then my muscles. After clearing the first three off my checklist for any possible triggers I noticed all my muscles were engaged in a low grade tension. Eureka! I was unconsciously bracing myself against the chill in my loft. I put a sweatshirt on. Only then did I notice how cold the surface of my skin was too as I warmed up within minutes and my thoughts calmed very soon after. This isn’t a normal occurrence mind you, where I find I’m cold and it’s leading to anxious thoughts. What does happen a little more frequently though is if I find my mind whirring and I check in with my physical sensations I’ll find that I’m holding tension within myself like I’m trying to levitate. (I’ve personally witnessed this kind of full body tension** in some, ok, most, if not all, of my clients at some point or another.)
Recently, a client I’ve been seeing on and off for years came to see me because he’d been experiencing a migraine for the past week. Since he and I started working together he hasn’t experienced a migraine since mid 2017 so even though he has a history of migraines this occurrence seemed unusual. After further inquiry it turns out one of his home working spaces is in a very cold space. He’s been working there on and off for months now but his work space is even colder than usual during the day because it’s been freezing temperatures at night. I believe he was experiencing what I experienced. He was cold but he didn’t think he was that cold but over time his muscle tension from being cold accumulated in his neck, shoulders and back and triggered a migraine that lasted a week!
For those of you who’ve been paying attention the last few years, know I’m a fan of Wim Hof. Why aren’t I yelling from the top of the Empire State Building, “Embrace the Cold!”? Because that’s not the point. Aside from diligent practice to control the autonomic nervous system, what Wim Hof does and my choice to put on a sweater are both practices in mindfulness. Sometimes the solution is internal and sometimes it’s external. It’s always a matter of choice.
Emotional well-being can be grounded in physical well-being and physical well-being can be grounded in mindfulness.
“If your mind is at sea, you cannot enjoy the harbor; If your mind is in port, you can’t enjoy the sea! Wherever your mind is, take your body there; If you can’t do that, bring your mind to your body!
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Until next we meet.
**Physical well-being grounded in mindfulness applies on all fronts: when moving in everyday life: exercising, sitting or standing to work for many hours and so forth. It even applies when getting massaged. So often when I’m working with someone on my massage table I’ll notice what I can only describe as an unyielding in their muscles and joints. When I check in with the client it turns out their mind is very busy.