Using the Body and Breath to Get Out of Your Head

We often practice mindfulness in stillness. Here, Cara Bradley shares how mindful movement and breath awareness can help us shift away from stress.

Adobe Spark/ Mariia Korneeva

Welcome to the first article in a new series from Cara Bradley where she will explore how we can use our breath and body to cultivate “mental fitness,” clarity, and calm. 

Do you ever feel like a brain on a stick? You know that sensation of being stuck in your head, disconnected from what is happening below the neck? It’s not a comfortable or productive way to live, yet, it’s all too common. In this new series, we are going to take a journey below the neck and explore how paying attention to our body state can help us change our mental state. By refining our awareness of inner body signals, we’ll become more skilled at adjusting how we feel emotionally and mentally—sometimes in a matter of minutes. 

Over the course of this series, we will cover body-based practices and protocols to: 

1. Make quick mental-state shifts for when we need an on-the-spot solution.

2. Train our body and mind to feel stronger, calmer, and clearer for longer. 

We’ll do this with  tools and practices for well-being that I call Mini-Wins and Cross-Training. This will help us get mentally fit. 

What is Mental Fitness?  

Mental Fitness…